A ROYAL ENDORSEMENT
Queen rocker approves of Canadian score revamp for iconic We Will Rock You musical
When Stuart Morley arrived in Calgary from London on July 29, he was a man with a mission.
The musical director had been asked by none other than Queen co-founder and guitarist Brian May to oversee the first week of rehearsals for a Calgary version of the band musical We Will Rock You that is being mounted by Annerin Productions.
May made it clear to Morley that he wanted the production to be the best version yet of the iconic show that opened in London in 2002. When We Will Rock You closed 12 years later, in 2014, it had become the 15th longest-running musical in West End history.
It was indeed an onerous assignment, but Morley had a secret weapon in his suitcase. He’d been working on a brand new score for the musical.
“It was Queen’s manager Jim Beach who rang me and said there was a new North American touring version of We Will Rock You being mounted in Calgary. (He asked) ‘did I think my new score was ready to incorporate into it’ because they were eager to speak to me,” said Morley, who conferred with May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor before agreeing to bring his new music to Canada.
“I’ve re-Queened the score. I’ve made it more like the original Queen. I went to Queen’s studio and I listened to old vocals. This new score is far more accurate and authentic. When they were creating the original score for the musical, they made it more theatrical than authentic.
“I’m a purist, so I want to bring the score back to its roots. I’ve been given access to tapes no one else has been given to work with. I feel this new version of the musical can be something not even Brian and Roger thought it could become,” said Morley, who added that he spent a lot of time with Brian and “learned a great deal from him about the passion these men have for this band.”
Morley first joined We Will Rock You in 2007, five years into its London run, and stayed with it until it closed. Since then, he’s created versions using the original score in Brazil, Australia, Denmark, Hungary and on Royal Caribbean cruise liners.
We Will Rock You is the story of a futuristic society that has wiped out individualism. Its people are essentially robots, but a band of Bohemians lives on the outskirts of the city waiting for a rock god saviour to appear.
“The story behind We Will Rock You has become even more relevant than when Ben Elton originally wrote it, so the story, as well as the music, will have a greater impact,” Morley said. “Queen’s music has always had an enormous influence and impact. We went to a recent Queen concert. You knew no one had been dragged there and it was a complete cross-section of concertgoers. There were older fans who’d grown up with Queen and there were new fans of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.
“Queen’s music is timeless. I am one of the biggest Queen fans there is, so I am living my dream.”
JP Thibodeau, the director of the Canadian touring production, was happy to have Morley around for the first week of rehearsals.
“We are the guinea pigs for his new score. His enthusiasm and excitement for the project was instantly contagious.”
They used a sample tape of the song Kind of Magic Morley had found to create a five-part harmony for the show.
“We worked on it and he sent a tape of it to Brian back in London. Brian tweeted that real magic was happening ...,” Thibodeau said. “It was an incredible reaffirmation that what we’re doing here is the right thing.”
Krystle Chance will be reprising her role of the Killer Queen, which she recently played in a Niagara Falls, Ont., production of We Will Rock You.
“Working with Stuart that first week was really eye-opening. He was able to explain and break down the lyrics of the songs,” Chance said.
I’m a purist, so I want to bring the score back to its roots.
I’ve been given access to tapes no one else has been given to work with. I feel this new version ... can be something not even Brian (May) and Roger (Taylor) thought it could become.
“It brought my storytelling to life much deeper and better than before. Even this early in the process, I know I’m making this role more vibrant and vital.
“To hear Stuart talk about listening to original tapes of Freddie Mercury is a bit surreal. It’s awe-inspiring.”
Also from the Niagara production, Trevor Cole will reprise the role of Galileo, the young rock prophet. “To get input from a man who has worked on so many different versions of this show and who has now rewritten the score means what we are creating in Calgary (is) unparalleled. He knows the show, the music and the lyrics intimately. Stuart really fired us all up before he left. We now know why these songs were written.”
Morley says the star of We Will Rock You has always been Queen’s music. “The story is there simply to support the music. Audiences come to hear these iconic tunes, so you have to give them the best versions possible.”
The musical will première on Sept. 2 in Winnipeg before touring for a few months in the U.S. It returns to Canada with dates in Ontario in November and Alberta in December.