Cross a caustic-tongued dance diva, a motormouth comedian and an iconic British rock band and the results were always going to be a little odd.
But the show that Arlene Phillips, Ben Elton and Queen have dreamt up is as surreal as a musical can get.
Set 300 years in the future in the land of Planet Mall, where music and individuality is banned, We Will Rock You is a tale of an underground group of Bohemians who are in search of the last musical instruments on the planet.
Its creator Ben Elton says: “We will rock you is not a title, it’s a promise.”
The show has been playing at the Dominion Theatre in London’s West End for the past six years, featuring songs such as Radio Ga Ga, and Bohemian Rhapsody. But now the cast is now preparing to bring it on the road and will be crashing into the Birmingham Hippodrome from July to September next year. Brian May is also promising to make one surprise appearance.
“The Midlands is just an organ of rock,” says Ben Elton. “Think of all the bands that have come from the area.”
“We had Noddy Holder come to our first ever show and that was just brilliant. I’m such a massive fan of Slade”.
Elton, made famous in the 80s for his wacky comedy such as Black Adder, was panned by critics - the “self-appointed arbiter of taste”, as he calls them - for selling out by writing We Will Rock You. But he is clearly a man who is passionate about the show.
Unique
He speaks regularly to Brian May and Roger Taylor, and the script is constantly evolving. He says: “I have no idea how many times I’ve seen it now, and we are unique in the fact that as a group of creators we are so hands-on.
“I don’t know if there are going to be any Birmingham jokes, there might be, I haven’t decided yet,” he adds.
Choreographer Arlene Phillips is equally hands-on. At the age of 64, the Manchester-born creator of dance group Hot Gossip has a monopoly on many of the shows currently in the West End. Flash Dance, The Sound of Music, Starlight Express, and Rock You, as it is dubbed, are all her handiwork.
“As I am on Strictly, that is how I am always. I am strict. People are scared of me but that’s fine with me. It’s my job to make sure every show is brilliant.”
And for Arlene, Rock You is particularly close to her heart. She directed Freddie Mercury in his video for I Was Born To Love You, where hundreds of dancers took over Canary Wharf as it was in the 1980s.
“He was just so wonderfully extravagant, an absolute show man,” she says.
Freddy’s mother wrote to Ben after the first performance of We Will Rock You. She said: “He would have loved it because it was set in the future and he always looked to the future. If music be the food of life, then rock on”.
And that is probably the most truthful way of looking at the show.
Tickets are on sale now. Visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com for details.
l Youngsters from Coppice Performing Arts School performed their version of We Will Rock You at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre last night. See page 11
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