This production had dual casts in the principal roles. In the interest of fairness to all, we reviewed both casts. Terry Mountstephen reviewed the Bohemian cast and Brian Godfrey reviewed the Yuppies cast.
Bohemian Cast
Pelican Productions’ We Will Rock You opened with smoke haze, stars projected across the Arts Theatre’s back wall, and searchlights sweeping over both stage and audience, instantly evoking the energy of a rock concert.
Ben Elton’s jukebox musical, built around the songs of Queen, imagines a future where individuality is banned, instruments outlawed, and all music is computer-generated by the giant corporation Globalsoft. A rebel group, the Bohemians, search for the lost sounds of the past, pinning their hopes on outsiders Galileo and Scaramouche to restore the power of rock and free the planet from Globalsoft.
Galileo, played by Patrick Longden, gave an excellent performance, combining naïveté, comic timing, and strong vocals. His chemistry with Scaramouche, portrayed by Chloe Molineux, was palpable, especially in the gradual build-up to their kiss. Molineux proved a powerhouse singer from her first number, ‘Somebody to Love’, and her sharp humour and touch of cynicism brought Scaramouche vividly to life. Together, the pair’s vocals blended beautifully, making their duets a highlight of the show.
Henry Green as Brit was a real standout. Unafraid to embrace the character fully, he nailed the trademark moves and owned the stage, despite a minor mic issue. Mady Romijn as Brit’s girlfriend Oz showed intensity, kindness and tenacity and delivered a captivating vocal performance. Freddie Windle played the old hippie, Buddy, with cheeky charm, highlighting the character’s historical storytelling and handling the occasional naughty one-liners with ease. Killer Queen (Juliette Keir) produced some fun moments but occasionally lacked the sharpness, power, and sexy menace the role demands. Lachlan Nash brought menace and comic flair to Killer Queen’s right hand man, demonstrating some strong vocal moments in ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’.
Accents were clear and consistent throughout. At times, though, the cast could have allowed an extra beat before moving on, as some one-liners were lost beneath audience laughter and reactions. The ensemble – all 23 of them – showed great talent and support to the leads. Special mention here to the Teen Queens (Emma Pool, Charlie Miller, Sophie Laycock and Kenya Styles) for their sassy flair, great accents and perfect mean girl characterisations. Their harmonies with Molineaux in ‘Somebody to Love’ were also notable.
Carla Papa’s choreography gave the ensemble ample chance to shine, demanding precision, timing, and high energy — all of which were delivered. ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ was a particular high point. Queen’s music is notoriously difficult, but this cast rose to the challenge. Musical director Michael Griffiths did a great job in coaching and rehearsing the cast. The ensemble’s harmonies in numbers like ‘Radio Gaga’ were strong and well received. Standout numbers included ‘Hammer to Fall’, where the blend of Patrick Longden (Galileo) and Chloe Molineux (Scaramouche) was outstanding, and Bohemian Rhapsody, delivered with full-throttle power as a finale that earned a standing ovation.
Director Vanessa Lee Shirley made excellent use of levels and space, with a simple but versatile set of four stair units that could be rearranged to create new environments swiftly, ensuring that transitions never slowed the pace. Right through the show audience interaction felt natural, with the crowd happily joining in for ‘I Want It All’ and ‘We Will Rock You’. From the very beginning lighting (designed and operated by Mark Oakley) was a highlight. They were used to great effect, heightening the atmosphere, though a few moments saw performers slightly out of their light. Sound balance was less consistent and at times the echo effects detracted rather than enhanced the singing.
This production captured both the cheeky fun of Ben Elton’s script and the exhilaration of Queen’s music. With clever staging, strong direction, and a cast led by superb performances from Patrick Longden, Chloe Molineux, Henry Green and others, We Will Rock You proved a crowd-pleasing celebration of Queen. By the finale, the atmosphere was electric — a true rock party that had much of the audience on their feet.
Yuppies Cast
Let it be noted that the wonderfully hard working and energetic Ensemble remains the same in both casts, so this reviewer is only concentrating on the main roles which make up the Yuppies cast.
Casey Mifsud is the personification of hero (just doesn’t know it yet), Galileo. He reminds one of John Travolta’s portrayal of Danny Zucko in the film version of “Grease”. There is a delightful naivety and coyness that sneaks in from time to time throughout Mifsud’s performance, whilst he still manages to maintain a strength and emotional depth to the role. Mifsud’s vocal range is incredible – Bass all the way through to falsetto. Freddy Mercury would be so proud. If Pelican ever decide to perform “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief – the musical”, here’s your Percy!
As Scaramouche, Kayla Symonds also does marvellous justice to Queen’s songs, making her a true Rock Queen. Her duets with Mifsud are sheer magic. Symonds portrays sassy wonderfully and has a very believable rapport with Misford. Their chemistry is powerful.
As Buddy (Holly and the Crickets), the Archivist, Sam White steals the show, especially in Act Two. His sense of comic timing is impeccable, wonderfully wringing out every laugh to be had, quite subtly at times. We just love him! The motorcycle scene in Act Two involving him, Mifsud and Symonds delivers comic gold from all three.
Another audience favourite, and deservedly so, is Zach Bartlett as Brit. Watch out for this young man: his sense of physical comedy is excellent and ‘rock’ style vocals are magnificent – where does all that ‘grunt’ come from?!?!
As his other half, Oz, Belle Letic holds her own with energy and character portrayal matching Barlett’s. Her rendition of “No One But You” is one of the loveliest that this reviewer has heard.
Having just played a villain, this reviewer knows a good maniacal evil laugh when he hears one and Hanno de Klerk as Killer Queen’s right hand man, Khashoggi, has one of the very best. His villain is well modulated (a little along Bond villain lines) and simmering with evil, but with a very skilled delivery of his laugh lines, making every one count.
The true villain of the piece, Killer Queen, can sometimes be taken over the top and come out incredibly screechy and annoying. Not so with Caitlin Laventure’s portrayal. Looking every bit a 1930s Silver Screen femme fatale, she underplays the role well, with evil intent smouldering and dripping from her lips rather than hurling it at the audience – nice choice. Her vocals tend to start a little softly but that may be due to the sound balance needing to come down a little.
Yuppies, you are indeed young and upwardly mobile – keep up the extremely good work!
