Throwback Thursday - We Will Rock You

Hi Everyone!

I have the absolute pleasure this week of bringing you our second Throwback Thursday and this week I'm taking you back to Rachel's We Will Rock You days.

For those of you who are new to Rachel's story, shortly after I'd Do Anything (IDA), Rachel landed the role of Meat (Meatloaf) in the West End production of the Queen musical. This was Tucker's debut role in London's West End. During her run she was also lucky enough to understudy Scaramouche, a role she played on many occasions too.

However, the clip I'm bringing you back to now isn't her famous rendition of 'Only the Good Die Young'. It is in fact a cover of the Katrina and the Waves' winning Eurovision entry from 1997 - Love Shine A Light. Rachel was asked to sing lead vocals on this performance as the 2008-2009 cast of We Will Rock You entered it into the West End Eurovision competition.

Please enjoy a new closer version of the video I have only just come across myself today:

Have You Bought Your Tickets Yet?

It's hard to believe that this is our 100th post in barely six weeks!

There is just so much to write about Rachel -- past, present and particularly future that we may yet reach 1000!

It will come as a shock to no-one that Andy and I have secured tickets for Rachel's opening night, and we know that many of you have too. If you've bought tickets for the big night, or any subsequent performance, do let us know by leaving a comment.

If you haven't taken the plunge yet, here is some more information on the show itself:

'We Will Rock You' opened on 14th May 2002 and is booking until October 2009.

It is the longest running show at the Dominion and has received a standing ovation at every single one of it's 2300 performances to date.

In the UK alone, almost 4 million tickets have been sold, an average of 620 000 per year.

'We Will Rock You' has also opened in 21 other world cities, including Tokyo, Moscow, Madrid, Las Vegas and Melbourne. It is scheduled to open in Bangkok this month.

As an indication of the wide audience the show attracts, the purchaser of the 1 millionth ticket in London on October 2006 was a 61-year old grandmother who was buying a ticket to treat her 4 year old great grandson to see the show.

“This show is all about legend,” says co-creator Ben Elton. “We take the legend of Queen and create our own fantastical story of young kids battling the mighty corporations who want to suppress their individuality and their love of music. They need a hero who can help them in their struggle, and we have two – the dreamer Galileo and his sassy sidekick Scaramouche. Guess who ends up winning?”

“The weird thing,” says Brian May, “ is that somehow Ben has created a show that although we’re not in it, people come out of the theatre thinking they’ve somehow seen Queen.”

“QUEEN’S MUSICAL IS KIND OF MAGIC... SPECTACULAR... WHAT AN EVENING...MAGNIFICO”
The Sun

“THERE’S NO ESCAPING THE IRRESISTIBLE PULL OF THESE SONGS, OR THE VISUAL AND AURAL ASSAULT ON THE SENSES THAT THE SHOW ACCOMPANIES THEM WITH”
Sunday Express

“EXHILARATING AND GREAT FUN”
Time Magazine

“THIS SHOW SHOULD RUN FOREVER. SENSATIONAL”
Daily Mirror

“A NEW BREED OF MUSICAL. IT’S BRILLIANT”
BBC Newsnight.

DAVID SAYS:

I recently dug out my Queen Greatest Hits 1 and 2 CDs and gave them a whirl. I have to say that the songs featured in the show have stood the test of time incredibly well and I'm very excited about seeing WWRY even before adding the awesome Rachel factor.

Five weeks may seem a short time to rehearse and perfect such a major role, but our girl is a consummate professional and Rachel's 'Cabaret' performance alone illustrates just how much this lady can deliver.

We know Rachel will be absolutely awesome as Meat and if for some unthinkable reason you can't manage the opening night, make sure you reserve your seat as soon afterwards as possible.

Don't wait for our opening night review -- you already know what we're going to say!

Tickets £27.50 - £55 from Dominion box office or by telephone on: 0870 169 0116 (Booking Fee).

Official 'We Will Rock You' Site:

WE WILL ROCK YOU

'Whats On Stage' Article

The 'Whatsonstage' site have published a small article today on Rachel's big news.

Nothing in it that we don't already know, but it's interesting that they also quote the 22nd September as Rachel's opening night.

The author however doesn't quote any source for this information, so it's possible they may be following our source (The Dominion Theatre) on this one.

We would therefore still urge caution when purchasing tickets. As before, we'll keep you updated.

Further down the post you will find various links to similar articles on other sites.

IDA’s Rachel Tucker Joins Queen’s We Will Rock You
Date: 10 July 2008

Rachel Tucker has become the latest failed Nancy to be cast in a West End role since the conclusion of the BBC’s I’d Do Anything reality TV competition in May. From 22 September, Tucker will star as Meat in Queen musical We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre.

One of the Irish ‘Nancys’, Tucker made it as far as the semi-finals on I’d Do Anything, competing to win a starring role in Cameron Mackintosh’s upcoming revival of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! at the West End’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a prize which eventually went to Jodie Prenger (See News, 2 Jun 2008). Tucker was the ninth of the final dozen voted off by the public.

Prior to I’d Do Anything, Tucker was already a professional performer, with credits including Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night in the West End, and Rent, The Wizard of Oz and The Full Monty elsewhere.

Set in the future, We Will Rock You tells the story of a world in which globalisation has meant the death of real music in favour of computer-produced cyber stars, a status quo which the rebel Bohemians, harking back to the Golden Age of rock (embodied by Queen), are trying to overthrow so that they can write and perform their own music. An unintentional hero ends up saving the kids of Planet Mall from the tyrannical Killer Queen and discovers the place of living rock.

We Will Rock You has a book by Ben Elton and features 32 of Queen’s greatest hits including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Under Pressure", "Radio Gaga" and, of course, "We Will Rock You". It’s directed by Elton, choreographed by Arlene Phillips and designed by Mark Fisher and Willie Williams.

Tucker takes over the role of Meat from Lucy Sinclair. The current cast also features Ricardo Afonso (as Galileo), Sabrina Aloueche (Scaramouche), Mazz Murray (Killer Queen) and Alex Bourne (Kashoggi). We Will Rock You is currently booking at the Dominion Theatre until 3 October 2009, more than seven years after it opened to largely damning reviews on 14 May 2002 (previews from 26 April).

- by Terri Paddock

A few other sites are now starting to pick up on the news that we broke 5 days ago. Their write up's are very similar to the 'What's On Stage' one above so we didn't think it was worth posting all of them but here are the links for those that are interested:

Show and Stay

Official London Theatre Guide

Indie London

OK Magazine

Broadway World

London Theatre Breaks

Daily Star

The Stage

BBC News Website

In The News

SYDMONTON

Information on Sydmonton has so far been as rare as hen's teeth, but there is a very brief mention in this morning's 'Independent' newspaper.'

Correspondent Janet Street-Porter, who was at the event, seems to have been impressed.

Her verdict may or may not please die-hard 'Phantom' fans.

Thank you for the musicals

Last weekend, at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton Festival, he unveiled his latest work in progress, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. I'm not allowed to reveal the plot – but judging by what I saw, he's on to another winner, when it opens in late 2009.

With Phantom the longest-running show ever on Broadway, seen by 100 million people world-wide, you can see why Lloyd Webber is writing a follow-up.

We might be facing a recession, but musical theatre provides one form of escapism we don't want to give up. The success of TV reality shows like How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, have led to new box office records for West End theatres.

A Little More Information

Now that Rachel's big news has started to sink in, we thought it might be a good idea to find out a little more about the role of 'Meat' in the show.

If like us you haven't seen 'We Will Rock You' before, here's a little basic information. I should say at this point that we'd welcome info from anyone who has seen the show and can give us a better idea of Meat's role. Please feel free to email dlar193076@aol.com

The show is of course based around the songs of UK rock band Queen, who were absolutely huge in the 1970s and 80s. Younger readers may wish to ask their parents what they were like, but I can tell you from personal experience they produced some of the best rock songs in the history of music.

'We Will Rock You' was conceived as a musical by UK author and comedian Ben Elton, along with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor.

The show opened in London's Dominion Theatre on May 14th 2002 and has been running ever since, making it the longest running musical at the venue.

The character of 'Meat' sometimes referred to as Meatloaf, is the leader of the Bohemians and her role is extremely demanding, both in terms of vocals and stamina. Currently played by Lucy Sinclair, the original Meat was Kerry Ellis.

Rachel is likely to be appearing in five songs in Act One and eight in Act Two. 'I Want It All', one of Queen's most widely known songs, will be an act one duet featuring Meat and Brit, followed by the hard-rocking 'Headlong', the ballad 'Only The Good Die Young' and the fun fifties pastiche 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love.' Rachel will feature heavily in all these numbers.

Act Two sees our girl perform in 'Flash', 'Seven Seas Of Rhye', 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives', We Will Rock You', 'We Are The Champions', 'We Will Rock You (Fast Version)' and the finale 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'

Needless to say, peak fitness is a must for the role, but as Rachel has demonstrated through her marathon number of performances in 'The Wizard Of Oz' and the rowing challenge on 'I'd Do Anything', this isn't going to be a problem.

Some of you have asked when Rachel is going to have her opening night and others have asked about ticket availability.

The simple answer to those questions is that we don't know yet, but as soon as we do, you will too.

What we can tell you is that Andy and I will be there. It may surprise you to learn that we have actually never met. Despite this, I can safely say that Andy is the best work colleague I have ever had, and it is a privledge to run Rachel's blog alongside him.

You will have no problem spotting us at the performance though -- we will be the two happiest blokes there. We have had complete unwavering faith in Rachel since we first met on the Internet Forums and to see that faith rewarded on a West End stage will make us the proudest bloggers on the planet.

EXCLUSIVE !!!!! MASSIVE MASSIVE NEWS !!!!!!!

YES!!!!! We can officially announce that Rachel has secured her first dream part in London's West End!

Our girl has accepted the part of Meat in 'We Will Rock You' at the Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road.

Rachel tells us that rehearsals are due to commence in August... so not long before we finally get to see our girl live her dream!

Here at Rachel's Fan Blog, we want to say a massive massive CONGRATULATIONS!!

We hope Rachel's fans will be as delighted as we are with this fantastic news, and once all the staff here have secured tickets, you're all more than welcome to join us on her opening night!

We never had any doubt that Rachel would fulfill her West-End dream sooner rather than later, and we're so proud of her achievement.

See you all there!