If only that were the case. The often sad role of a reviewer is that in order to create a proper review, the reviewer is required to pick everything apart, and sometimes if there are glaring issues with the concept of the show, or the script is poor, it can detract from the overall enjoyment. This happens even while everyone around you is loving every minute. They are there for Queen, the mega, epic music of Queen. Maybe if I wasn’t there in a reviewing capacity, I would have been standing at the end applauding, and not seated, clapping in a quietly appreciative way and not getting, genuinely, a disdainful look from a chap for remaining seated.
Or maybe not. While I am a huge fan of Queen, I cannot look past what is a poor script, poorly conceived and terribly executed concept and the greatest failure of using a stunning collection of 24 incredible songs I have seen.
However, let’s do the positives first, as, despite that paragraph, there are a lot of them and even some exceptionals. What is exceptional is the look of the show. This is a sublime visual feast with costumes from Kentaur evoking the futuristic world and the bohemian look of the piece. Also, the video production, from STUFISH/Willie Williams, while sometimes having some quirky moments, is an equally visual feast, providing the backdrop to scenes instead of set changes. There is really no criticism aimed at the look of the piece.
Equally, there is little problem with the performances, some are superb, Elena Skye as Scaramouche for example. A quirky colourful character, and a performer, who effortlessly gets the style, when a few others don’t. She is also an absolutely tremendous singer. Her performance of Somebody to Love is the best solo of the production. Elsewhere, Jennifer O’Leary is a proper larger-than-life Killer Queen, belting out her numbers with brilliance, and fantastic in one of her best, Don’t Stop Me Now, a nicely played scene.
It has to be said that the ladies provide the best performances in this production, the men much of the
time do not quite have the singing power of the ladies. Ian Mcintosh for example as Galileo, for much of the time lacks power, although his performance of We Are The Champions shows the power is there, you wonder why he often feels underpowered. It has to be said as well that his role’s saddled with the worst that this show offers script-wise. However, more on that later.
Working as a team, both David-Michael Johnson as Brit and Martina Ciabatti Mennell are both clearly having great fun as Brit and Meat respectively and have some nice numbers together. The latter also performs No One But You (Only the Good Die Young) really beautifully.
As for the music itself, all the artists brilliantly perform it, and the band, led by Zachary Flis, is exceptional throughout. The music culminates in an unsurprising moment at the end of the show, but believe me, the creation of that ticks the exceptional box.
So, where does it all go wrong? Well, I never expected to be blaming the brilliant comedy writer Ben Elton, but, blimey, this isn’t his best work. The biggest initial issue is the actual concept and execution. For this show, we live in a futuristic world that has lost music, the world of rock, and Ernie and his gold tops are a thing blowing in the wind. Except…? Hang on, all the characters, and I mean, all the characters, including those who are upholding the ban, are singing these “lost” songs. How can that be? As plot holes go, I don’t believe we are ever going to get out of it, so let us ignore that one.
Elsewhere Elton’s script has a habit of using lines from songs, and for a while, it is amusing, but by the time we are deep into act two, it is oh so tiresome. This is a pain that the “dreamer” Galileo (McIntosh) suffers the most. Sometimes less is more.
There is also the initially clever idea of the mispronunciation of words, so-called lost in time. So, here we get the likes of “videotape” and “television” mispronounced and many more in a very long scene with the Bohemians. It is an idea that works initially, but’s overplayed, and never gets what feels like the perfect punchline of actually pronouncing one of these words right in the same scene.
Also, this mispronouncing doesn’t really work at this point in the show as up to then nobody seemed to have trouble saying words, either old or new. They somehow pronounce Euro Disney correctly for a ridiculously poor joke, for instance, but cannot say Brian right? I guess all Brian’s in the world have died out, but Mickey Mouse lives on.
On yet another issue, Euro Disney, partly highlights another crazy moment in the script, where they know about this theme park and Paris, and Wembley, but hang on, a character says “America, what’s that?”. Sorry, even for a futuristic bit of fluff, this is pure nonsense.
There is, while I am in a book kicking mood, the aforementioned videotape, in the possession of Cliff played by Michael McKell. This is the music holy grail apparently, but over the years Cliff does not know what to do with it. Then Scaramouche takes the tape, and yes, puts it in that video player in plain sight, and after watching, Cliff, who didn’t even know how it works a moment ago, comes up with all this stuff about how videotapes had a history of getting tangled and eaten by machines. What?!?
Sorry, with the utmost respect to Ben Elton, this script is often appalling, and apart from a few hilarious lines, that are mostly for Cliff, woefully unfunny. We definitely didn’t need to be seeing any covid jokes in this to break the already broken concept and desperately fractured world of the show. It is nice to know that M&S has survived in the future and sells such high-quality suits though.
However, enough of this, we will always have Queen, and even despite the lame book, the music keeps this show alive and the Queen loving audience dancing in their seats as they reverberate from this super loud show.
You don’t need me to suggest going or not, you will have decided already as thousands have already for this nearly sold-out show. If you don’t overthink it, or indeed think about it at all, you will have a brilliant evening of musical entertainment.
⭐⭐⭐½
Performance reviewed: Monday 22nd March 2022 at the Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton.
