A Reflection: We Will Rock You!

Musical theatre junkies were forced into mourning last week as it was announced that beloved West End staple‘We Will Rock You’ is set to close after 12 years. In tribute to the game changing show, I wanted to take the time to reflect on what made ‘We Will Rock You’ such a fan favourite.

After 12 years, ‘We Will Rock You’ is closing. The show was originally written by Ben Elton and is a jukebox musical; a production framed around the songs of a popular music act. In this case, it was obviously Queen.

 It became the longest running show at the Dominion Theatre and was one of the biggest West End exports of the last decade. People everywhere love it (I’m not going to reveal how many times I’ve been to see it, let’s just say it runs into the double figures.) So what was it about the show that so entranced audiences?

For anyone who’s being living under a rock, the show tells the story of a dystopian future where all music everywhere is banned. As a band of true bohemians lead the struggle to restore fashion, live music and freedom of thought to the world in which they live, we watch the characters learn, love and grow.

Not surprisingly as a jukebox musical of a band of which some members survive, two of those members, Brian May and Roger Taylor soundtracked the production. It meant that we got Queen classics such as ‘Another One Bites the Dust,’ ‘Radio Gaga’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in musical theatre form.

It’s been phenomenally successful; it’s been seen by an estimated 16 million people. However it was actually never a favourite of the critics. When it was first released the Mirror famously declared that “Ben Elton should be shot” for ever putting pen to paper.

So why has it proved so enduring? The plot certainly plays a part in it. As human beings, we have a certain attachment to music; it brings out something in us that nothing else does. The idea of it being taken away seems gut wrenching and it makes us connect with the characters.

However this is one case where I would say the music outshines everything. Those Queen songs are loved by so many people and I think ‘We Will Rock You’ was so successful because it provided the audience with a new way of listening to and interpreting them.

‘We Will Rock You’ reminds us of the power of the jukebox musical. Like ‘Mama Mia’ before it, people went in wanting to be entertained in a new way by the songs they’ve loved for years. That is why everybody is so sad that the sun has finally set on ‘We Will Rock You.’