After the triumph in Milan with 38 performances at the Allianz Theatre, "We Will Rock You", the "rock-opera" written and directed by Queen, which brings to the stage all their great successes sung and played live, beat all records at the Teatro Rossetti in Trieste, a sort of temple of the musical in Italy, with one of the most demanding audiences because it is used to seeing the greatest world productions. In five days of performances, from 27 to 31 January, "We Will Rock You" totalled 8698 paying spectators for a gross of 349,000 euro, almost 100,000 euro more than the previous record, held by Arturo Brachetti with the show "L'Uomo dai Mille Volti". This was the case in the theatre that will soon host - to give an example - one of only 7 performances of 'West Side Story' in the world, and that applauded the cast of 'We Will Rock You' with an almost unpredictable enthusiasm every night.
While the musical's debut in Bologna, on Thursday 4 February, promises to be very hot, with the Teatro EuropAuditorium already practically sold-out in every performance, the wait is rising for its arrival in Rome, from 11 February at the Teatro Brancaccio, A CD based on the musical and containing all the songs sung by the Italian cast is in the works: Brian May and Roger Taylor, who had already expressed their admiration for the actors and the band of the Italian production on several occasions, after listening to the recordings made live in Milan in January, have given their approval for the production of an official CD, in which the Queen songs that are part of the musical will be sung by the Italian performers of 'We Will Rock You'.
The audience greeted this atypical musical with unprecedented warmth. In fact, there has never been a lack of standing ovations from thousands of enthusiastic spectators since the day of its debut (sold out) on 4 December in Milan, in the presence of Brian May e Roger Taylor, Queen's guitarist and drummer, who followed the concept of the Italian production from the earliest moments, curated together with them by the Barley Arts by Claudio Trotta.
The cast of 30 singers, actors and dancers, one eight-piece band playing live every night Queen's unforgettable hits, high definition screens e the extreme cleanliness of the sound with over 50,000 watts of power, are the winning features of a musical that has no equal in the genre: decidedly rock'n'roll in form and substance. In fact, the Italian production reproduces the same acoustic and visual impact as originally conceived by Queen, owners of the audio-visual concept, for the original design of the show.
Galileo e Scaramouche are the predestined ones who will bring rock music back to life on the Planet, opposed by a ruthless Killer Queen, head of the multinational Globalsoft, and his collaborator Khashoggibut helped by friends Bohemiana group of rebels among whom are Brit e Ozand the surreal librarian Pop unique in preserving and passing on the ancient memory of the happy times when music reigned supreme on Earth.
Trying their hand at the various roles, under the skilful directed by Maurizio Colombi - actor and former author of another successful musical Peter Pan - are some of the most interesting names on the Italian theatre, music and television scene such as Martha Rossi e Martina Ciabatti in the role of Scaramouche, Loredana Fadda and Mary Dima (Oz), Paolo Barillari (Brit) e Valentina Ferrari (KillerQueen), Salvo Vinci e Gianluca Merolli (Galileo), Carlo Spanò e Salvo Bruno (Khashoggi) and finally Maximilian Column, the first to enter the scene, in the role of Pop. Each of them can boast a CV made up of musicals, theatre experience, television series, cinema and live music, which aptly illustrate their undeniable skill and stage presence.
La band of 8 elements accompanying each performance, playing Queen songs live, is directed by Roberto Zanaboni, who can boast a long career that includes collaborations with musicians of the calibre of Mina, Fossati, Ruggeri, Ramazzotti, Rino Gaetano and Zero, composing soundtracks for film and theatre, and participating in orchestras in prominent television programmes. Guitarist in the band is Tristan Avakianalready part of the musical produced in Canada.
Brian May, at the end of the selections for We Will Rock You, emphasised 'the very high artistic level of the cast selected in Italy and the great professionalism of artists capable of singing Queen's songs live (in English), acting in Italian', while Roger Taylor noted that 'the dream of bringing the musical with Queen's songs to Italy could only come true after finding the ideal partners: Barley Artswith 30 years of experience in the production of live music shows and Maurizio Colombia theatre director with a rock attitude'.
Written and directed by Ben Elton, with Brian May e Roger Taylor as supervisors, We Will Rock You includes 24 of the greatest hits of the Queen and reflects the live performances of the historic band. It has been described as 'the only Musical with rock in it'. Ben Elton, in a note sent a few hours before the debut, expressed "all the affection and best wishes to Maurizio, Claudio, the cast and company. I know you will be CHAMPIONS!"
BOLOGNA EUROPAUDITORIUM 4 to 7 February 2010
SHOW TIMETABLEThu, Fri and Sat at 21.00; Sun at 16.30 and 21.00
INFO: EuropAuditorium Theatre Tel 051.372540/6357199 www.teatroeuropa.it
TICKETS: Poltronissima € 65 - Armchair € 55 - Balcony € 40 + prev
RESERVATIONS: in the Vivaticket and Ticketone circuits, in the authorised branches of Banca Popolare
in Emilia Romagna and in the usual pre-sales outlets.
ROME TEATRO BRANCACCIO from 11 February 2010
SHOW TIMETABLEThu and Fri 9 pm; Sat 5 pm and 9 pm; Sun 5 pm
INFO: Brancaccio Theatre: tel 06.98264500 www.teatrobrancaccio.it
TICKETS: Poltronissima € 65 - Armchair € 55 - I°Galleria € 40 + prev
II° Gallery € 30- III° Gallery and Barcacce € 20 + prev
RESERVATIONS: Brancaccio Theatre and Ticketone
www.wewillrockyou-themusical.it
