We Will Rock You all over once again as musical set to arrive at Wolverhampton Grand

Theatres are back in business. After being shuttered for much of the pandemic, audiences are snapping up tickets and enjoying evenings out across the region.

Not that things are plain sailing. The cost of living crisis means people are buying tickets later, putting strain on venues’ cashflows. With wages falling relative to increases in pump prices, food, energy bills and more, people are finding it harder to get out and are cutting back on what they might normally go to see.

Big blockbusters, therefore, are at the heart of the offering for venues able to attract top quality shows. At the Grand Theatre, in Wolverhampton, a mega-show is just around the corner as it looks forward to welcoming a show that has dazzled in recent years.

Rock stars Brian May and Roger Taylor and polymath writer Ben Elton were behind the hit show We Will Rock You and it will soon be heading to the region.

Indeed, what better way to follow the worldwide box office movie success of Bohemian Rhapsody than with the 2022 UK & Ireland tour of the smash hit Queen and Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You.

Queen fans and lovers of musical theatre alike are advised not to miss this production, which promises to deliver the rock, spirit and spectacle of one of the world’s best-selling bands, Queen. Given the immense success of previous productions, this year’s We Will Rock You tour is sure to be another runaway success.

Since 2002, over 18 million theatregoers in over 20 countries have been thrilled by this epic show. Having enjoyed an incredibly impressive run of 12 years at London’s Dominion Theatre, followed by many triumphant tours and the tenth anniversary world arena tour in 2013, We Will Rock You will dazzle audiences at multiple venues across the UK & Ireland on a seven-month tour, which began in February.

We Will Rock You is set in a distant, dystopian future where Earth is called Planet Mall and its inhabitants wear the same clothes, think the same thoughts and exist in a braindead haze. This system forbids musical instruments and composers, whilst rock music is all but unknown. The musical tells the story of Galileo, Scaramouche, Killer Queen and the other Bohemians.

The audience can join them on their journey to discover the Holy Grail of Rock and restore the free exchange of thought, fashion and, most importantly, live music.

Speaking about the process he underwent to write the show’s script, Ben Elton, one of Britain’s most successful writers, says it became clear to him that the story had to comprise an abstract quality ‘that reflected the feel of the word and music, rather than its literal content’.

He says: “This was not pop music, but rock music. Some of the most famous rock ever written and legendary music should have a legendary context. I began to think of legends, both new and old, from King Arthur to The Terminator; heroic myths in which brave individuals take on the vast monolithic force of evil systems.”

The musical’s narrative is certainly bold and its success is therefore unsurprising. If previous reviews are anything to go by, then this tour promises to be a must-see: The Daily Telegraph observed: "There was wild applause at the climax of the show… and it only got louder."

The Financial Times commented: "The sheer power of the best Queen numbers strikes hard," while the Daily Express was short and sweet in its assessment of the production, branding it simply "spectacular".

Equally as impressive as the show created from their musical canon are Queen legends themselves, Brian May and Roger Taylor, who had early reservations about staging a musical.

“We were not initially convinced, not being fans of the ‘Musical Theatre’ genre on the whole,” says Brian. “The show needed to work in a theatrical context and retain the rock, whilst also incorporating the spectacle, uniqueness and humour embodied by Queen.”

This was certainly an important aspect to include for Roger, who affirmed that, “We (Queen) took the music seriously, but we never took ourselves seriously. We always had the ability to laugh at ourselves. Some of the stage gear and even some of the music is quite humorous. The whole middle section of Bohemian Rhapsody was – we did a lot of daft things and a lot of experimentation.”

It was therefore important to do something new. Brian continues: “If we were going to go into this arena, the challenge was that we would somehow try and make it our own.”

Fortunately, this challenge was both accepted and triumphantly overcome.

Brian remembers: “There was a point where I realised there was a whole new area of creativity opening up to us if we wanted it – a whole new canvas to paint on.”

And We Will Rock You is certainly creative, with a book written by Ben Elton, whom Roger describes as having "such a great active mind that never ever stops churning out ideas".

The show is fun, light and humorous, yet also contains those softer and, at times, heart-rending moments, which allow an audience to emotionally invest. Ben describes it as "intriguing, challenging, achingly romantic, brutally cynical and at once both sad and hilarious".

We Will Rock You undoubtedly blends all of these elements and, as Ben intended it to be received, Roger describes the show as "silly, but funny and making quite a lot of serious points while it goes on its rather daft course".

Echoing Brian’s determination to create something "new in every sense", he says the intention was "to keep it a bit gritty and make sure it’s not a typical show".

If you haven’t seen the show before, then you’ll soon find out that they completed this task with flying colours.

The song We Will Rock You remains one of Queen’s greatest hits, if not the greatest.

It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009 and was inspired by Queen’s close relationship with their devoted fanbase.

Seeing all their fans ‘crammed in’ and wishing to participate, May thought that it would be a good idea to come up with a song that their audience could stomp, clap and sing to. He wrote We Will Rock You in the hope they would get involved.

“It was the simplest thing that I could think of at the time that a crowd could do together and it was born of our live shows where people were all crammed in and wanted to participate, and I just thought ‘What can they do?' They can stamp, they can clap and they can sing a simple kind of mantra.”

The song became an icon and the band never looked back.

The musical, meanwhile, couldn’t seem more relevant today. Set in a world where individuality is no longer valued and being performed on a stage which is ‘breathtaking in terms of equipment’ and ‘totally cutting-edge technically’, the show arguably speaks to a modern audience more than ever.

With today’s focus on technological advancement, reading and the marriage of minds seem to have become outdated activities and Brian recognises the musical’s significance today.

“I think it’s a very good comment on the way things are going. Ben’s idea that individuality is being eroded every second of the day and soon it will be impossible for people to write their own music, think their own thoughts, write their own poetry is very perceptive.”

To Brian, Radio Ga Ga "represents the malady which is taking over the world. It’s almost like that old ‘men versus machines’ thing, which we also addressed a few albums ago".

Just as We Will Rock You explores themes relevant to those growing up in today’s world, the tour offers younger generations, who may not have heard this music before, the opportunity to discover the iconic musical genius that is Queen.

Brian says: “I had this very strange thought that it’s quite possible that this particular musical might be the thing through which people know our music in 300 years’ time.”

Speaking about the band’s relevance today, he’s pleased that the Queen legend has endured.

“I’m quite shocked at how fresh this stuff still sounds and it makes me very happy, obviously,” he says.

Queen’s back catalogue is clearly standing the test of time and this new tour of We Will Rock You is sure to be a stand out spectacle which will offer fantastic performances and incredible production value.

Brian adds: “We’re confident We Will Rock You fans will love revisiting the world’s first true rock theatrical and a whole new generation will now discover the VIBE!”

The show must go on and this is not to be missed. We Will Rock You UK plays Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre from May 23-28 and tickets are available at wewillrockyou.com and grandtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/we-will-rock-you