QUEEN MUSICAL POSITS AN ORWELLIAN FUTURE
We Will Rock You puts Bohemians on a mission to save free thought
SUDBURY Actor Sean Sennett spent his 25th birthday on a stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City — making his off-broadway debut.
“It was the most incredible experience I have ever had in my entire life,” Sennett said. The Windsor actor landed a role in the Queen jukebox musical “We Will Rock You,” which made a stop in his hometown of Windsor last year.
“You just look out at the end of the show and everybody has their phones out and you know, their flashlights on swinging them through the air and it's just mesmerizing, like a sea of stars or something — it's just unbelievable.”
We Will Rock You — which is performing in Regina on Monday and Tuesday — is based on the music of Queen with a book by Ben Elton.
It tells the story of a group of Bohemians living in a post-apocalyptic Orwellian state in the distant future, where everyone thinks, dresses and acts the same. The Bohemians are on a mission to restore the world of free-thinking, fashion and rock music.
“It's really a rockin' show,” Sennett said. “It sort of feels like a concert, but you get that theatre experience as well, because like Freddie (Mercury) said, any of his stuff that's performed is a theatrical experience rather than a live concert.”
Sennett plays “Paul Mccartney”, as the Bohemians choose their names from past posters that have lasted through the century. He describes Paul as off-kilter and a little crazy with a “sweet mohawk.”
“Since it's so far in the future and they've been disconnected from, I guess, proper society, there's just this animalistic nature to them that's sort of like rock 'n' roll in their gut,” he said.
Since September, Sennett has been touring North America, resting most nights in a coffin bunk in the bus's sleeping quarters with 12
of his castmates as the show rolls from city to city.
“It's exhausting, that's for sure, when you have shows in different cities every single day,” he said. “We had a stretch where we had seven different shows in seven different cities.”
He said the experience so far has been “fantastic,” citing the birthday show as a tour highlight. His family flew from Windsor to New York City that day to watch Sennett take the stage at the Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden.