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Post by Being Alive on Jun 8, 2023 0:04:19 GMT
Went tonight and had a blast actually.
Is it good? No.
Are the voices great? Largely - we could sack off Brenda though cuz ooft that was a bit rough.
Is Ben Elton completely hopeless? Yes
But it fills the stage in the best way of any musical I've seen at the Coli, it's banger after banger after banger, and I had a great time.
3 stars. Will never go again 😂
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342 posts
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Post by Figaro on Jun 8, 2023 6:23:26 GMT
I think this reviews this time around are worse than 21 years ago!
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Post by ceebee on Jun 8, 2023 6:41:55 GMT
Went tonight and had a blast actually. Is it good? No. Are the voices great? Largely - we could sack off Brenda though cuz ooft that was a bit rough. Is Ben Elton completely hopeless? Yes But it fills the stage in the best way of any musical I've seen at the Coli, it's banger after banger after banger, and I had a great time. 3 stars. Will never go again 😂 Love this review. I was literally about to post to ask what people think who've seem it, as I saw a clip of BoRhap online and frankly it looked pretty sad and strained with Brian May banging out his party trick solo for the millionth time. Thankfully you've confirmed that it's not good, Brenda is overcooking it, presumably Lee is invisible but likeable, and Ben Elton is, well, Ben Elton. But at least it fills the stage! I'm reassured and will go tonight with no expectations other than to enjoy the silliness of it all. |
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Post by max on Jun 8, 2023 8:46:26 GMT
"Bohemian Crapsody" - inews
"We Will Rob You" - Standard
Both 1 star
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Post by fiyerorocher on Jun 8, 2023 8:49:28 GMT
Yes the only reason to see this is the vocalists. They are stunning (with one exception). The audience members who think they can match the talent of those vocals are possibly the worst part of the show. Evidently theatre etiquette has not improved with the recent news coverage. One group talked at the top of their voices for all of Act 2 and I was so close to throttling them.
Personally I wasn't blown away by the set or the choreography. The cast seemed small and were dwarfed by the vast stage. And I know I haven't seen it in maybe 15 years but was the plot always that dire? Surely we can put Freddie Mercury's songs to better use than telling the story of a bland straight, white boy destined to save a group of people he's not even a part of. At least, unlike Bat Out Of Hell, it doesn't take itself too seriously - although at times I wish it would take itself just a little more seriously because it's definitely at risk of veering off into panto in a few scenes.
Still, I enjoyed it. Hard not to with those songs being sung by such talented people.
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5,139 posts
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 8, 2023 21:04:23 GMT
Don't get me wrong, it's rubbish, but I still had a lot of fun.
Not everything needs to be Sondheim. Sometimes you need something you can let your hair down to with people singing their faces off at you and that's what this is.
Rubbish, but fun rubbish.
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Post by danb on Jun 8, 2023 21:28:48 GMT
Yes the only reason to see this is the vocalists. They are stunning (with one exception). The audience members who think they can match the talent of those vocals are possibly the worst part of the show. Evidently theatre etiquette has not improved with the recent news coverage. One group talked at the top of their voices for all of Act 2 and I was so close to throttling them. Personally I wasn't blown away by the set or the choreography. The cast seemed small and were dwarfed by the vast stage. And I know I haven't seen it in maybe 15 years but was the plot always that dire? Surely we can put Freddie Mercury's songs to better use than telling the story of a bland straight, white boy destined to save a group of people he's not even a part of. At least, unlike Bat Out Of Hell, it doesn't take itself too seriously - although at times I wish it would take itself just a little more seriously because it's definitely at risk of veering off into panto in a few scenes. Still, I enjoyed it. Hard not to with those songs being sung by such talented people. Funny isn’t it but it was the exact opposite that sold ‘Bat’ for me. These people are selling this absolute nonsense to me with such earnest conviction, whereas I’ve never been convinced by the tongue in cheek-ness of WWRY. Its cast & the music have been its only redeeming features. |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 8, 2023 22:14:43 GMT
So bad, it's good.
The vocals are guaranteed to blow your mind. The plot is as shaky as the set and graphics and the sound was good but not at Bat quality. Jenny O'Leary as Killer Queen was sensational, Lee Mead surprisingly good and convincing as Khashoggi. I found Ben Elton quite amusing despite his dodgy acting, but the evening belongs to Elena Skye and Ian McIntosh.
Audience loved it - it's clunky and the set could have done with a refresh but the music carries it.
The best 2 star night out you'll enjoy this year.
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Post by fiyerorocher on Jun 8, 2023 23:42:12 GMT
Yes the only reason to see this is the vocalists. They are stunning (with one exception). The audience members who think they can match the talent of those vocals are possibly the worst part of the show. Evidently theatre etiquette has not improved with the recent news coverage. One group talked at the top of their voices for all of Act 2 and I was so close to throttling them. Personally I wasn't blown away by the set or the choreography. The cast seemed small and were dwarfed by the vast stage. And I know I haven't seen it in maybe 15 years but was the plot always that dire? Surely we can put Freddie Mercury's songs to better use than telling the story of a bland straight, white boy destined to save a group of people he's not even a part of. At least, unlike Bat Out Of Hell, it doesn't take itself too seriously - although at times I wish it would take itself just a little more seriously because it's definitely at risk of veering off into panto in a few scenes. Still, I enjoyed it. Hard not to with those songs being sung by such talented people. Funny isn’t it but it was the exact opposite that sold ‘Bat’ for me. These people are selling this absolute nonsense to me with such earnest conviction, whereas I’ve never been convinced by the tongue in cheek-ness of WWRY. Its cast & the music have been its only redeeming features. It might work for BooH if their story held up to any kind of scrutiny, but that plot is so full of holes it's basically lace. It's no cleverer than WWRY, and in my opinion it's actually more ludicrous, but it tries to pretend like it makes sense. WWRY I think has more or less the right tone to pull it off, other than the moments they push it too far towards farce. |
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Post by fiyerorocher on Jun 8, 2023 23:43:54 GMT
So bad, it's good. The vocals are guaranteed to blow your mind. The plot is as shaky as the set and graphics and the sound was good but not at Bat quality. Jenny O'Leary as Killer Queen was sensational, Lee Mead surprisingly good and convincing as Khashoggi. I found Ben Elton quite amusing despite his dodgy acting, but the evening brings to Elena Skye and Ian McIntosh. Audience loved it - it's clunky and the set could have done with a refresh but the music carries it. The best 2 star night out you'll enjoy this year. Oh very intriguing that Jenny was on! Was that scheduled or due to illness, do you know? I did think Brenda's voice sounded like it was going the night before. |
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Post by Figaro on Jun 9, 2023 0:15:13 GMT
So bad, it's good. The vocals are guaranteed to blow your mind. The plot is as shaky as the set and graphics and the sound was good but not at Bat quality. Jenny O'Leary as Killer Queen was sensational, Lee Mead surprisingly good and convincing as Khashoggi. I found Ben Elton quite amusing despite his dodgy acting, but the evening brings to Elena Skye and Ian McIntosh. Audience loved it - it's clunky and the set could have done with a refresh but the music carries it. The best 2 star night out you'll enjoy this year. Oh very intriguing that Jenny was on! Was that scheduled or due to illness, do you know? I did think Brenda's voice sounded like it was going the night before. Scheduled! |
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Post by colelarson on Jun 9, 2023 9:05:23 GMT
Went to the Thursday Matinee, was a packed London Coliseum!
The music of Queen is great the story not so and a few out of date jokes! Awesome to hear the music live but as others have said on the forum there seems to be a few sound issues, at times you couldn't hear dialogue and the band drowned out some of the singing!
We had Jenny O'Leary as Killer Queen (in the programme it says Brenda does not do Thursday Matinees) and she played off well with Lee Mead who played "bad" convincingly as Khashoggi and loved his version of "Seven Seas Of Rhye".
I actually found Ben Elton quite funny but still can't beat Nigel Planer as Pop!
Elena Skye and Ian McIntosh as the leads were well suited opposite each other and loved their version of "Hammer to fall".
My favourites were Christine Allado as Meat and Adrian Hansel as Brit. Their chemistry was fab and their musical numbers were the clearest to hear!
The BIG punch of the Queen music, live band and set really suits the stage as previous Summer musicals at the Coliseum have been lost on the vast stage like My Fair Lady and Hairspray.
Nice to see a Full Size Freddie statue and proper Motorbike appear on stage. But as others have said quite funny to see stage hands pushing things back and forth!
Glad I saw it and only paid £20 I can't believe the prices listed! But would I go again....probably not!
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Jun 9, 2023 12:18:16 GMT
More heavy discounting - missed out last time but similar offer just received and booked two £95 row B side stalls @ £20 for next Sunday's matinee.
Not sure if it's classed as seat filling so won't name provider.
Looking at the official website it's actually a lot more booked up than My Fair Lady was at this stage last year.
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Post by mrnutz on Jun 9, 2023 12:49:26 GMT
So annoyed that I paid full price for this months ago! 😂
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1,736 posts
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Post by fiyero on Jun 9, 2023 20:04:23 GMT
More heavy discounting - missed out last time but similar offer just received and booked two £95 row B side stalls @ £20 for next Sunday's matinee. Not sure if it's classed as seat filling so won't name provider. Looking at the official website it's actually a lot more booked up than My Fair Lady was at this stage last year. If it’s the same deal which just convinced me to book they have shared on Facebook so I think it’s fine to share: showfilmfirst.tixculture.com/london/shows/27103-we-will-rock-you |
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Post by longinthetooth on Jun 9, 2023 20:51:44 GMT
I've been to just about all the Coliseum's summer musicals and have only paid full price once. I've either gone up on the day to Leicester Square, or waited for a late deal on line. WWRY is no different.
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Post by A.Ham on Jun 9, 2023 21:27:35 GMT
So annoyed that I paid full price for this months ago! 😂 Likewise! Mum messaged having seen a couple of reviews and said ‘do we still want to go?’ 😱 |
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Post by mrnutz on Jun 10, 2023 9:43:01 GMT
I've been to just about all the Coliseum's summer musicals and have only paid full price once. I've either gone up on the day to Leicester Square, or waited for a late deal on line. WWRY is no different. I don't know what I was thinking! Must have been feeling uncharacteristically flush in December 2022. |
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Post by Figaro on Jun 10, 2023 11:26:18 GMT
Apparently this Show has broken all records at the coliseum box office.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Jun 10, 2023 12:03:15 GMT
Apparently this Show has broken all records at the coliseum box office. Is there any other show so hated by critics but so loved by the paying public ? I saw WWRY on its last tour and it was sold out at a weekday matinee in Ipswich and almost sold out at Wimbledon weekday evening. |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 10, 2023 14:08:44 GMT
Apparently this Show has broken all records at the coliseum box office. Is there any other show so hated by critics but so loved by the paying public ? I saw WWRY on its last tour and it was sold out at a weekday matinee in Ipswich and almost sold out at Wimbledon weekday evening. I was thinking the same thing - it's a similar story to Bat Out Of Hell in that the critics trash it and write it off, but they misjudge the paying public. Fans of the music will happily pay to hear their tracks sung live by great voices, and will tolerate or even enjoy a lame script. I guess it's the same cheesiness that makes Rocky Horror so popular. I enjoyed my night at the Coliseum on Tuesday - it was cheesy, corny, desperately bad in places in terms of an attempted storyline, but some great voices made the evening fun. It was nice not to be put through an emotional wringer for once! |
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Post by Rozzi Rainbow on Jun 12, 2023 18:06:20 GMT
I went on Saturday afternoon and had a brilliant time. I went to the Dominion many times, and loved last year's tour, so it was great to see the show back in London.
I was pleased to get a front row seat - but with the size of the orchestra pit, the stage felt a long way off! I liked how they used the pit as a way of getting on and off stage (as the band are above the back of stage). As others have mentioned, some of the costumes are a bit different - I liked Galileo and Scaramouche wearing "Gaga High" logos at the start. I thought the use of the video screens to show much of the set was effective.
As usual, there are some additions/changes to the script which bring it a bit more up to date (everyone being glued to their phones etc.) but I think the whole "legend of WWRY" and "is this reality speech" Scaramouche makes at the end just confuse things even more (but to me it still make a lot more sense than BOOH). But as others have said, it's still a lot of fun.
I LOVED the Freddie statue appearing on stage.
Bohemian Rhapsody was amazing - we were all singing along and a lot of people got their torches out which was great to see. It seemed to finish quite abruptly though - I liked the final messages on the screen, but missed the last curtain call, it's a shame the band don't get to come down at the end.
I'd never been to the Coliseum before, I only discovered where it was relatively recently. I would definitely be going again if I lived closer - but it's a very long and expensive day from the top of Yorkshire!!
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Post by woobl on Jun 13, 2023 10:45:16 GMT
Apparently this Show has broken all records at the coliseum box office. Is there any other show so hated by critics but so loved by the paying public ? I saw WWRY on its last tour and it was sold out at a weekday matinee in Ipswich and almost sold out at Wimbledon weekday evening. Famously, Les Mis was pretty slammed back in the day, but the audiences voted with their cash and rest, as they say... |
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Post by A.Ham on Jun 16, 2023 15:28:24 GMT
So Mum and I went to see this last night. What can I say?! We’re both big Queen fans and we’ve seen Queen with Adam Lambert several times in recent years, which I think made watching the show last night harder given how good that pairing is. Nothing beats seeing the real thing!
We’d seen the reviews and other posts here, so went in with low expectations – which were just about met. If I’m honest I thought it was pretty dire. The story is ridiculous, not helped by long book scenes of nonsense dialogue, cheesy puns and punchlines you could see coming a mile off. Ben Elton was basically himself, and really quite irritating. If we’d had aisle seats, I’d have taken a loo break when he launched into These Are The Days… It’s one of my favourite Queen songs with particularly poignant lyrics that you assume are Freddie reflecting on his life, so Ben’s version was painful to sit through.
Jenny O’Leary was unexpectedly on covering Brenda Edwards, so that was also disappointing, although from the other posts I’ve read, she’s considered as good as Brenda – she did do a good job, but comparatively speaking rather than anything for me to get hugely excited about. I enjoyed Don’t Stop Me Now and Another One Bites The Dust in Act II, with her and Lee Mead as Khashoggi, they were both high points in an otherwise lacklustre show.
Ian Mcintosh and Elena Skye did a good job too, although I found their book scenes overly long. Once they were singing, they both had impressive voices, particularly Ian at the end during We Are The Champions. Another highlight was Christine Allado singing I Want It All (with Adrian Hansel), and also on her own singing No One But You, which I think as I’m less familiar with the original meant I was comparing it less to the record or other performances I’d seen.
Thankfully the audience behaviour was ok, only the occasional bit of chatter, but is it any wonder people don’t know how to behave at the theatre, when at this (and not just in the encore, when its ok at many shows), they’re being actively encouraged to clap, wave their arms and sing along? We had great seats in centre stalls row H, so no quibbles over the view, but it’s galling to have paid £95 a seat months ago only to be bombarded these past couple of weeks with emails offering me massively discounted tickets. I’d have minded less if it’d been a great show, but £20 is about what I felt it was worth! I didn’t even buy a programme which is very unlike me, but I didn’t feel minded to shell out another tenner.
The band were great and Mum especially enjoyed Act II, but I came away feeling a bit disappointed in Brian and Roger, whom I have a lot of respect and admiration for. Did they actually sign off on this? It’s such a shame when the Queen catalogue is so brilliant and iconic, that this is the best they could come up with. Sadly not one to add to the ‘must see again’ list. Just about 2/5 if I’m feeling generous.
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Post by kyvai on Jun 16, 2023 15:45:54 GMT
I also went last night - and I loved it!!!!
I enjoyed the original back at the Dominion and very familiar with the original cast recording as well. We’ve also seen Queen+Adam Lambert, and actually I wouldn’t compare the two, they’re different beasts. I feel this production was a brilliant version of the musical honestly, vocals and choreo all outstanding. Jenny O’Leary was formidable, I was very happy to see her rather than Brenda Edwards, she was giving shades of Kaela Settle, top notch. Christine Allado blew me away, honestly, she outsang Kerry Ellis on the OLC and I never thought I’d say that. Lee Mead as the big surprise for me, apparently he can do villain very well, and his comic mincing in Seven Seas of Rhye was great. Ben Elton was Ben Elton, yes, but does anyone expect anything else? I quite enjoyed a lot of the references they’d updated the show with. Costumes were great and I loved the set, nothing looked cheap at all, and nothing particularly unusual about seeing the ensemble or stage hands move stuff surely, that’s very standard!
I was front row stalls, phenomenal view and sound, and had a whale of a time. And joined in singing Champions and Bo Rhapsody at the end, it’s a jukebox, when they invite you, it’s fine, that’s the ONLY time it’s fine, but it’s fine.
I think this is a fine version of what it is. It’s cheesy, self-indulgent but also self-deprecating, it’s not high brow and it was never meant to be a coherent story I don’t think! If you go in expecting something else I can see the disappointment
Reading the negative reviews,
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