Tuesday 2 December 2008

Emilia's Review


















My Experience of We Will Rock You

After a day full of train journeys, central London traffic and mad changes at tube stations I stepped onto Tottenham Court Road and stood in front of the Dominion Theatre, took a few pictures and then suddenly it hit me…I was about to see one of my favourite west end performers and, somehow, a hero of mine, live on stage. I was about to see Rachel Tucker!


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I was simply too much of an eager theatre geek to waste time buying drinks or food and rushed straight to find my seat to ensure I was safe and in for a night with no unexpected catastrophes! (Hold on, I have told a little white lie…I did manage to purchase a programme on my way in, I’m hoping you will forgive me seeing as I possibly couldn’t leave a night like this with no souvenir!)

I did have pre – conceived thoughts on what I would think of WWRY…from what I had heard and read about it, the show honestly didn’t seem like my cup of tea (no matter how much I adore musical theatre) but I had to give it a go, after all, anything with Rachel in was bound to be good wasn’t it?! :)

Well I have to tell you, my pre – conceived ideas were the furthest from what my real opinion turned out to be. After just half the first act (if not the first number) I was completely in a trance! It was sensational, the clever sense of humour, the classic Queen melodies and the terrific acting…it all seemed too good to be true, and then of course I heard it (!!!) an empty stage but out of nowhere there it was, that terrific Belfast accent and before I knew it a trap door had opened up and there she was, Rachel Tucker who I had only seen dressed so decently in her little yellow “Nancy Dress” on the BBC and she was here 5 rows away from me on the Dominion Theatre stage wearing nothing really but a rebelliously bohemian corset, stockings, boots and a simply brilliant wig…needless to say, I was smiling from ear to ear with the satisfaction of knowing that I was probably one of the only people in the audience who knew that the show was just about to get a whole lot more fantastic than it already was!

Her vocals were top notch, her acting completely flawless and I have to comment particularly on “No One But You”…if you’ve heard how good she is on the recording that David and Andy featured on the blog, it doesn’t even compare to the live thing!! It was a stunning version and her melodic changes were ingenious and incredibly impressive, needless to say I wasn’t the only person who was applauding with all her might at the end of Rachel’s solo performance.

The rest of the production was just as good, but I do have to agree with David, Rachel’s character of “Meat” was not in it anywhere near enough.

At the end of the performance, I stayed until they all started running off into the wings after the encore of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and absolutely legged it (!!!) to the stage door where I waited for a short time until I saw a glimpse of Rachel through the door and I immediately felt sick with overwhelming excitement and nervousness. When she walked out and was speaking to another cast member she realised I was clearly waiting for her and she gave me the warmest smile, greeted me and then I went into a babble telling her how brilliant her performance was and how I was an avid member of her blog and had actually been messaging David the night before about how I was travelling down to see her, she laughed and told me how happy she was that I enjoyed the show, she was so genuine and down to earth you would feel right at ease with her, not as if you were talking to (in my opinion) one of the most talented women that the British public has seen in a long time.


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Herself and Ricardo (who I have to say is simply brilliant, no words to describe his talent) posed for photos with me and signed my programme which I will treasure for a long time.


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I feel I need to say thank you to the incredible cast of WWRY 2008 who perhaps gave me the best birthday present, ever! It was simply mind blowing, and I am honoured to say I got to see it and I got to meet two of the leading roles, well done and thankyou x

6 comments:

Rosie said...

Amazing review, so happy you had such a good night, although i have to say it may just be impossible not to.

Am going back soon, cannot wait!

Andy said...

I'm glad you had such a great time Emilia and thanks so much for your fantastic review.

Anyone who hasn't seen this show is really missing out.

Anonymous said...

now i've seen it andy, i cant help but agree with you 100000%!
thanks for the comments on the review, i tried my best hahah

David said...

Excellent review Emilia -- one of the best we've had. Particularly liked this line: ''one of the most talented women that the British public has seen in a long time.''
So true!!!

Helen Murphy said...

This is a brilliant review, I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks Emilia! And lovely photos as well!

Anonymous said...

Lol i loved every minute of we will rock you! And i seem to hinting alot about christmas! so hopefully ill go a second time! if not im saving up to go with one of my best friends!