We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum is A Kind Of Magic: Review

With music from the iconic British rock band Queen, the story follows a dystopian Earth known as the iPlanet, with no musical instruments, but ‘Ga Ga kids’ who follow mainstream online conformity.

The kids and the conformers have set rules to follow the all-powerful, all-machinelike, Killer Queen who is played by Loose Women panellist and musical theatre star Brenda Edwards.

Despite this bizarre futuristic world, a small number of rebels, also known as the Bohemians, fight for freedom, expression, and Rock n Roll.

Now I never thought a musical featuring cyber-like high school kids, and Freddie Mercury would ever take place, but it did - and it works.

I am a huge Queen fan, so I was eagerly excited to see what the show would entail, and if it lived up to the previous reviews I read online.

The story begins with Galileo Figaro – played by Ian Mcintosh – who noticed he was a little different to his brainwashed, cyber loving peers at school.

He just wanted to sing, dance and well, break free – which was his opening song on stage.

Later, he was joined by likeminded Scaramouche – a girl who was no stranger to the bullies in her school and testified against the social norm.

The story was witty and light-hearted – every person in the audience seemed to enjoy the duo’s relationship, and it was fun watching their character progression on stage and meet the fellow cast.

The show featured 24 of Queen’s best loved hits including We Are The Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Gaga and was written and directed by Ben Elton, who made his stage acting debut in the role of the ‘Rebel Leader’.

The songs were performed immensely throughout, and you could really see the expression in the cast members’ face – it looked like they enjoyed being in the spotlight as much as we enjoyed watching them.

My favourite part of the entire show was when we were introduced to the Bohemians – a bunch of misanthropes who lived in the ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and had familiar names such as Meatloaf, Bowie, Amy Winehouse and no other than Britney Spears, who was played by the hilarious Adrian Hansel.

It was a great atmosphere in the Coliseum; the room was filled with laughter and smiles and Act Two came around quicker than expected.

Without revealing the whole story, it was discovered that there was a chosen person to break the Radio Ga Ga kids free from the Killer Queen, and this person had to be the face of Rock n Roll, who had magic links to the world before – a world where Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon stood.

The finale was incredible; and the audience cheered and danced along to the fantastic cast members singing We Are The Champions and of course, We Will Rock You.

But it didn’t end there.

The encore of the show, which we were all able to stand and singalong to, was no other than Bohemian Rhapsody.

As we all belted out the words with such passion, the electric guitar riffs began, and the legend himself, Mr Brian May, took to the stage to perform his guitar solo.

Brian May (Image: NQ)

Emily and I were completely starstruck at this point – we couldn’t believe our luck that we were watching Brian May right in front of our eyes.

And then, Roger Taylor joined him on stage.

To say I was able to see such an incredible production along with real members of Queen performing in front of me is an experience I’ll never forget.

We Will Rock You is an exciting, humorous and A Kind Of Magic production everybody can enjoy, regardless of age, sex or gender.