Last week, the Junior Production of We Will Rock You brought the house down as pupils performed classic hits by Queen in the popular musical.
Louis Holland, as hippy Pop, opened the show and introduced us to the world of Planet Mall, the new Planet Earth. His ‘far out’ performance was hilarious throughout, and he set the scene brilliantly. Then we met the GaGa Kids, played by the whole of Year 7, who were learning about the music of the future under Teacher Sam Waller. Their expressions and dance moves really brought their characters to life, especially Henry Johnston who performed an amazing solo in the second act.
Shortly after, we met our two main characters; Scaramouche and Galileo, played by Milo Griffiths and Greg Dowden. Both of the boys did an incredible job, with Greg singing I Want To Break Free and Milo singing Somebody To Love, including the high and low notes! Impressively, the boys memorised, delivered and sang many lines with such confidence. These boys were perfectly cast by Mrs Hine and Mr Miller, and certainly impressed members of the Music Department!
After noticing they don’t fit in with the Planet Mall way of life, Scaramouche and Galileo were imprisoned by the Secret Police, played by Year 8, and led by Louis Poundall’s Khashoggi, along with surly henchmen Alisdair White and Archie Arnold.
The next scene opened, and we were introduced to the Killer Queen, perfectly embodied by Henry Kunzig. Not only were the costuming, hair and makeup incredible, but the characterisation of the Killer Queen was spot on - saucy, sassy and scary! His performance of Killer Queen was sensational and Mr Kunzig certainly has a future on the stage.
Galileo and Scaramouche eventually managed to escape their imprisonment and found the Bohemians; the rebels who are in search of real music and actual instruments. Alex Taylor-McDowall, Bertie Wallace, Hector Suter, Johnny Pearson, Monty McLaren-Clark, Finn Cherry, Freddie Ellis, Oliver Lund, Josh Knight and Jake Shortland embodied the Bohemians and portrayed the true rebel spirit brilliantly. Billy Fundell and Sam Frost also played Bohemians Meatloaf and Britney Spears and did a fantastic job, especially with their accents.
Eventually, the Killer Queen and Khashoggi caught up to the Bohemians and imprisoned them while Galileo and Scaramouche followed Pop on a journey to the place of heroes. They soon found the statue of Freddie Mercury at the Seven Seas of Rhye, which, along with the rest of the stunning set was painted and dressed by Nicola Sutherland and Miss Hine. The statue pointed the way to Wembley Stadium, the resting place of the last remaining instruments.
The show closed with performances of We Are The Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody which did true justice to Queen and Freddie Mercury.
Despite battling the elements, with one performance being cancelled due to the weather, everyone did such a brilliant job with their lines and singing, and the show was an utter success.
Thank you so much to Mrs Hine, Mr Miller, Miss Hine and Ms Davies for organising such a fantastic performance, and to all parents, pupils and guests who came to the School to enjoy the show.
