Cast
Galileo - MiG Ayesa
Scaramouche - Lauren Samuels
Killer Queen - Brenda Edwards
Khashoggi - Sean Kingsley
Britney - Rolan Bell
Meat - Lucie Jones
Pop - Kevin Kennedy
Teacher - Chloë Brooks
Rebel Leader - Dean Read
Ensemble
Ashley Cooper
Michelle Crook
James Alexander Gibbs
Grace Holdstock
Matt Holland
Waylon Jacobs
Matthew Jeans
Antony Lawrence
Alice Mogg
Aaron Ashley Parker
Kane Oliver Parry
Stephanie Powell
Micha Richardson
Catriana Sandison
Danielle Steers
Sasha Wareham
Emily Whitehead
Now, before I throw myself into this review, let me hold up my hands and admit i'm not actually a big fan of juke box musicals. Having said that, I have actually seen, and really enjoyed, 'Jersey Boys' on Broadway so I decided that maybe I shouldn't judge before I see! So when my friend asked if I wanted to go to the arena tour, being a Queen fan, I thought "why ever not". So here we are. This brings me very nicely to my first point...
The songs often seem to appear at random. Now, I am not insulting all of the soundtrack placement here. For example, I Want To Break Free, Under Pressure and Seven Seas Of Rhye are among the songs that did fit into the story and supported plot points. On the other hand, Fat Bottomed Girls, Who Wants To Live Forever and No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) were not particularly necessary despite all being incredible songs. Considering that to Queen fans No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) is a very important song as an ode to Freddie Mercury, I feel it could have been placed better rather than The Bohemians saying "All the best stars died young..." then listing many late performers.
Lighting. Arena lighting really is something else. During the overture, the lighting was so incredible that I could have seen Queen themselves walking onto that stage which was clearly the desired effect so, on that front, well played. As with everything though, a couple of negatives. One being that there was absolutely no warnings for the several strobe lights that were used during the show. Lucky for us there were no accidents but some people may not have been so lucky. My second negative is actually a personal peeve...there was UV lighting on the audience throughout the show. I was wearing a white t-shirt. This meant I was rather distracted during the show and, in the end, had to put my hoodie on as my eyes were hurting. Not cool.
Casting. Always my favourite bit to talk about! Firstly, I thought MiG Ayesa was absolutely fantastic. Such a perfect casting as Galileo as his energy never faltered throughout the performance and his vocal performance never suffered as a result of his stamina. I especially enjoyed his performances toward the end as his voice never sounded too far from Freddie's and his understanding of the songs was spot on. As the performance went on, I began to enjoy Lauren Samuels' portrayal of Scaramouche more and more. When she performed Somebody To Love at the start I really wasn't so sure but she stepped up and grew as the character grew and I then found myself loving her. Kevin Kennedy as Pop was brilliant. I have not seen such a perfect casting since seeing Killian Donnelly play Raoul in 'The Phantom Of The Opera'. I find the 'star' often lets the cast down so I was quite sceptical about seeing Kennedy on this tour but I was very pleasantly surprised. He really seemed to understand the character and his comic timing was faultless. This is the bit I never like so much. I really enjoyed when Lucie Jones (of 'X Factor' fame) sand No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) but aside from that, I found her character of Meat rather two dimensional and when she wasn't bouncing off Rolan Bell she was rather flat. Speaking of Bell, as Britney, my friend pointed out (he has knowledge of the musical) that his voice was actually too high for the role. He also had a Jamaican accent during his acting parts but lost that during the song. Ensemble as usual, I loved you. Arlene Phillips (of 'Strictly Come Dancing' fame) did an outstanding job with the dance routines. So simple but so effective especially in the routines set in Cyberspace. Very quickly to credit Brenda Edwards. Not much to say but wow, what a voice. Spectacular performance.
Finally, the Arena itself. Firstly, I felt this show wasn't as built for and Arena tour as I expected especially as Sheffield Motorpoint has a smaller stage than you would see in a West End theatre. Also, I was at a matinee show. Being in an arena, this didn't really pull off too well as it was possibly only half full at most. The mix levels of vocal alongside the band weren't sorted out until a fair way through the first act which meant a lot was missed near the start. Lastly, there was no "Welcome to the Motorpoint Arena, may we remind you that all mobile phones should be switched off and flash photography is not permitted". This meant many audience members were taking flash photos ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE SHOW. That frove me up the wall.
So there you have it! Sorry for another lengthy post. I did find this experience extremely enjoyable and would definitely see the show again!
We'll remember forever x
WOULD YOU WATCH THIS AGAIN: YES
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO A FRIEND: YES
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