We Will Rock You Tour

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/1/19 at 11:45pm

Anyone seen this? Its coming to MSG & Im kind of curious to check it out.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/1/19 at 11:58pm

SouthernCakes said: "Anyone seen this? Its coming to MSG & Im kind of curious to check it out."

This is so funny.  I was just thinking the same thing when I clicked on BroadwayWorld.  We should both go buy a lottery ticket.  I am actually seeing it this Sunday.  It is in Jacksonville for one night.  It wasn't selling well,so tickets were part of their annual Columbus Day Sale, with tickets $20 including fees (if buy over phone or in person). (I'm seeing Lee Ann Rhimes in December for her Christmas show the same way) I have read a lot of negative things about the show but for $20, how bad could it be? The seat location is good, orchestra, row o, first seat on aisle. When you say MSG, that is Madison Square Garden?  All of those seats?  They haven't sold 1000 seats at our Florida Theatre.  I'll let you know what I think.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/2/19 at 12:46am

It’s at the “Hulu Theater” 💩 not the arena! Yeah it’s on TDF for $40! Figured why not...

[ggersten]

Posted: 11/2/19 at 10:56am

How bad could it be? Well it is only an opinion, and I only saw the West End production back in 2014, but it could be very bad, even with great Queen songs. But for 20$, you can see for yourself. That may be a small price to say you saw it. (Do factor in, however, other costs like parking). I, personally, would not pay any amount to see it again. I did pay once and so have no basis to tell you to not pay to see it once!

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/2/19 at 11:24am

ggersten, thanks for the feedback.  There is no paid parking and it gets me out of the house.  My real concern is the audience who will think they are at a concert and stand, instead of sitting and watching a musical.

Updated On: 11/2/19 at 11:24 AM

[ggersten]

Posted: 11/2/19 at 12:08pm

The UK audience treated it as a theatre piece. The show teases Bohemian Rhapsody constantly but saves it for a singalong encore. They had singalong performances in other days.
But that was a UK audience. I dont know how the LA and Vegas audiences were

You may enjoy the heck out of it. Thousands have. I enjoyed the heck out of Bat Out If Hell. But whereas that show was inane insane and over the top, I found We Will Rock You just dumb and silly and a bit dull - more waiting for next song. Again, that is only my opinion and experience.

But for 20$? I might take that chance for a new experience. You probably would pay more for a Queen tribute band at a club.

As an aside. The show was suggested to a community theatre company I was with, and a Broadway performer friend of the company said he would disown us if we did the show! He had been in it.

Updated On: 11/2/19 at 12:08 PM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/2/19 at 12:10pm

I more concerned with the production value etc. it’s a Canadian non union tour.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 11/2/19 at 8:44pm

Having seen it 3 times back in the day of it's London run I knew what I was getting into when I saw the tour. That being said even I had issues following the show. It's really really a sad production. First off the set design is noting but 4 pieces of chain link fence they move around to form lines or boxes. The costumes are  High School at best. The actors are over trying but the bad was very good. 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/3/19 at 11:33pm

SouthernCakes said: "I more concerned with the production value etc. it’s a Canadian non union tour."

Saw this tonight.  I'll start with the production value, etc...since you asked.  There are no sets to speak of.  Just 4 chain link fence stands.  Occasionally, there are some movable props.  The rest, flashing lights and poor projections.  The costumes and wigs are kind of cheap looking.  The band plays on the upper part of the stage.  The show was just tired, even with all of those great Queen songs.  The book is just laughable.  The cast tries really hard.  They all seem really young.  I couldn't tell if there was bad acting or just reciting bad lines.  The standout in the cast was the actress who played Killer Queen.  She had a really great voice.  The lead, who played Gallieo, was cute and sang well.  But his acting was spotty.  Again, it could have been reciting bad lines.  Before the show started, all of the people around me, thought they were seeing a Queen cover band or the story of Queen.  I had to disappoint them all and tell them the plot.  The old man next to me kept on asking me things during Act 1.  Thankfully he and his group left at intermission.  Even though, I paid only $20, at times, I felt that I overpaid. The book was just that awful.  Queen deserved so much better. Thankfully, I did enjoy most of the Queen songs.

Updated On: 11/3/19 at 11:33 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 11/4/19 at 12:29am

Well, ArtMan, now you have the answer to your question about how bad could it be....

Question: Other than the person next to you asking about what the heck was going on - how was the audience behavior, since that was your stated concern.

FYI - Queen may have deserved better, but Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved with the development of the show.  

Updated On: 11/4/19 at 12:29 AM

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/4/19 at 1:40am

ggersten said: "Well, ArtMan, now you have the answer to your question about how bad could it be....

Question: Other than the person next to you asking about what the heck was going on - how was the audience behavior, since that was your stated concern.

FYI - Queen may have deserved better, but Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved with the development of the show.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            To my surprise the majority of the audience seemed to realize that this was not a concert, but a theatrical performance and remained seating.  You had some cell phones out recording,, people texting like it was all about them.  The usual suspects you find now at any show.  There were occasional  shout outs and hoots and hollas to the cast, but this is Jacksonville   and they still haven't been able  to escape their redneck/hillbilly ways.   Towards the last of Act 1, a really drunk couple ran to seats near me that didn't belong to them.  They were really drunk and bringing attention to themselves, waving their arms around.  The male had some good body action moves to the songs and I thought he was younger, just drunk.  After intermission, thankfully they left.  I got a good look at them.  They were possibly younger than me, but looked 15 years older due, I'm sure, to the heavy drinking and possible drug use.  With them out of the way and the old man and his group leaving, I seemed to enjoy Act 2 better.  Not that the book was written any better, but I got to get rid of what was around me annoying the hell out of me.  I can only recommend if you get a really cheap ticket, or better yet free.  And that you are a Queen fan.

[MisterBill2]

Posted: 11/4/19 at 11:03pm

ArtMan said: "SouthernCakes said: "The show was just tired, even with all of those great Queen songs. The book is just laughable. The cast tries really hard. They all seem really young. I couldn't tell if there was bad acting or just reciting bad lines. 

I came here to see what people thought of WWRY. I saw it on the Anthem of the Seas cruise ship a few years ago (it is the production show on that ship, sailing out of NJ) and I thought it was one of the worst shows I've ever seen (and many years ago when I used to see lots of shows with TDF, I saw a LOT of bad shows). One thing I have told people when I had a chance to warn them about the show is that the book is mind-numbing bad and I was thrilled to see your comment here. Plus as someone points out, they don't do Bohemian Rhapsody until the encore, even though the story is ostensibly based on the song!

We sailed on Anthem a second time a few months after my initial cruise and tried to check out the show again. I didn't last more than 5 minutes. I wasn't sure it people were laughing at dialog because it was funny or because it was so bad. I think the latter. There is a reason why the show has never made it to Broadway and I still cannot believe that Royal Caribbean has it on their main cruise ship sailing out of the NYC area. Sorry, I digress.

That said, when I got up after seeing the show and told my wife "this is the worst show I have ever seen", a woman next to me said that it was the best thing she had ever seen. So it does have its fans, presumably people who can ignore the terrible dialog and just focus on the music. But a tribute band would have been a much better choice if you wanted to hear the music.

Updated On: 11/6/19 at 11:03 PM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/4/19 at 11:25pm

I’m more interested in this actual tour. I know the show sucks.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 8:46pm

I was just reading the BroadwayWorld article on the We Will Rock You tour.  It states that the North America tour will "launch next week at the Hulu Theatre in New York".  I'm almost positive that the cast that are pictured is the same cast I saw last Sunday in Jacksonville.  So how is the North American tour launching in New York when I saw it Sunday in Jacksonville?

Updated On: 11/6/19 at 08:46 PM

[inception]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 8:54pm

What you saw was just a preview, I'm sure by the time it reaches NY they'll have worked out the kinks.

PSYCHE!!

Yeah, looks like the same show. It plays 2 nights here in Vancouver in January. Thank-you for sacrificing yourself to save the rest of us from seeing this.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 9:18pm

Is the original creative team involved at all or is this tour a completely new production? Are the sets and costumes the same as before?

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 9:29pm

This was my first time seeing the production so can't answer any questions on the original.  I will say whoever the photographer was on those pictures is very talented.  From the pictures, the sets and lighting  look kind of impressive.  It definitely didn't look like that Sunday night.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 9:37pm

That bad?

[Impossible2]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 9:38pm

It is the 3rd worst show I have ever seen just behind Cats and Falsettos x

[ggersten]

Posted: 11/11/19 at 2:13am

Bump for pammylicious

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 11/11/19 at 7:55pm

ggersten said: "Bump for pammylicious"

Thanks they are calling it Queen the musical now. I guess I’ll get through it somehow

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/11/19 at 8:05pm

Pammylicious said: "ggersten said: "Bump for pammylicious"

Thanks they are calling it Queen the musical now. I guess I’ll get through it somehow"

Are you sure you are going to the right show?  I saw it last week and it's called We Will Rock You.  Even on the Groupon site, where you say you purchased tickets, they call it We Will Rock You.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 11/11/19 at 8:05pm

double

Updated On: 11/11/19 at 08:05 PM

[AntV]

Posted: 11/16/19 at 7:02am

Anyone see this here in NY? I'm thinking of skipping it based on reviews here and online. I loved Bat out of Hell but this looks like it doesn't compare at all. Is the running time 2:45?

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 11/16/19 at 10:14am

Just saw this on Thursday and I will agree it doesn't compare to Bat Out of Hell at all. If you've ever seen people try to write a story as a joke where they shove in as many pop song lyrics as possible, this is basically what it is for 2.5 hours (it looks like they trimmed some songs off from the Wikipedia plot). Before this, I would've thought that to be enjoyable, but it just plodded along so heavily and the set gave you nothing interesting to look at. I will say that the performers were fantastic (especially the guy who plays Galileo) and this show is definitely just one to go to only for the music, but even some of the arrangements seemed to suck the life out of the songs.