March the 21st saw the opening night to a 3 show stint of this year’s Music & Theatre Productions annual production and what a show it was! It was liberating for our cast to break free and feel under pressure as they tackled the updated musical which has now been touring worldwide for over 21yrs raising funds for the Mercury Phoenix Trust charity.
The musical tells the story of a unique rabble of rebel Bohemians who struggle to restore the free exchange of thought and fashion and live music. Set in a dystopian distant future where everyone dresses, thinks and acts the same they seek to break the iron grasp of the mighty Killer Queen; encouraging the youth to open their eyes, look up to the sky and see!
This year the cast, accompanied by a phenomenally talented live student band, was fronted by two sensational singers: Myriam G and Hannah R who, when presented with the choice of gender representation of the roles embraced our double fronted female depiction. We are so incredibly proud of how they took to the challenge of this script, the amount of songs they belted out and their incredible chemistry on stage!
Supporting our fabulous leads was our headbanging and hair flowing Jamie C playing Buddy, journeying them through the Hinterland and welcoming them to the Hard Rock Cafe. Whilst with wicked glee and determination the sassy Killer Queen played by Magenta B and our dapper Khashoggi double-act (Molly E & Libby M) did everything in their power to zap their free thought from their brains and maintain Globalsoft control. Despite their convincing rivalry on stage, we can assure you they’re all fabulous friends and this merely reinforces their wonderful acting talents!
After fleeing the grasps of the Globalsoft lab you would have spied our rebels being embraced, quite literally, by the rebel representatives: Badass Britney Spears (Addison C) and Ozzy Osbourne (Hannah S). With their determination and enthusiasm they got a fair few laughs and definitely encouraged some fantastic audience participation.
It goes without saying that this show was made equally spectacular by our sparkly shorted dance troupe who shimmied and stomped, punched the air and step-ball-changed their hearts out. This year also saw the return of the live band and a special mention goes to the fact that every single member was a student from years 7-13. Playing well over 20 songs and truly embracing the vibes of a musical with their enthusiasm, flair and talent. Our incredible technical team, ran by our sixth formers, had everything from lighting, sound and organising backstage running like clockwork.
A fantastic show, thoroughly enjoyed by all. We can’t wait for next years production.