Went to see for the 2nd time the amazing musical by Ben Elton "We Will Rock You". 1st time I saw it was in June 27th 2003.
Site of the musical: We Will Rock You
Twitter: "We Will Rock You" on Twitter
Facebook: "We Will Rock You" on Facebook
YouTube: "We Will Rock You" on YouTube
MySpace: "We Will Rock You" on MySpace
Both times I went to London to see live concerts, 1st Bon Jovi in June 28th 2003 in Hyde Park. And in 2009 to see 2 shows by the amazing Pink in the O2 Arena on May 1st and 2nd 2009.
I was free on the day before the live shows so I chose to see this musical. A teacher of mine told me he loved this musical. This was before 2003 and as I also love the band "Queen" I had to go see it.
The 1st time in 2003 I was really amazed and this time was with some new actors and was also amazing. This time "Galileo" was played by a portuguese actor named Ricardo Afonso.
Here it is the biography of Ricardo Afonso:
"
Ricardo is originally from Portugal, arriving in England in June 2005. He is delighted to be back performing the role of Galileo in We Will Rock You, having previously played the role between 2007and 2009. Most recently he performed as lead vocalist in Strictly Come Dancing- The Professionals tour. Prior to that he played the role of Willie Lopez, in the workshop of the new musical Ghost directed by Matthew Warchus, and has appeared twice in The Night of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall.
Recording credits include: Dreamer for the album based on the Terry Pratchett book Only You Can Save Mankind, composed by Leighton James House; The Meerkat Muchachos for the album Bush Tales, composed by Matthew Jameson. Ricardo is also one of the regular singers for the ongoing summer concerts A Rock and Symphonic Spectacular since 2007.
Ricardo fronted the cast of We Will Rock You in the opening of the handover ceremony for the Olympic Games 2012, live on BBC1 and in front of Buckingham Palace. This is still one of the most exhilarating moments of his career.
In Portugal his voice-over and recording credits include: Spirit in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron for Dreamworks; Robin Hood in Shrek for Dreamworks; Mighty Ducks for Disney; Beauty and the Beast for Disney; 102 Dalmatians for Disney; Ducktales for Disney and the album Pokemon.
Along with Ruy Fingers, he composed the songs for the Portuguese TV series Super-Pai, which they then co-produced into an album achieving silver record.
Ricardo is also no stranger to seafaring. From 2004 to 2005 he worked on many production shows aboard the Queen Mary II and Queen Elizabeth II for Cunard, and Prinsendam for Holland America.
Ricardo is represented by Regan Rimmer Management.
"
"We Will Rock You" has an amazing story. Here it is taken from the official site the story of the musical:
"
The time is the future, in a place that was once called Earth. Globalisation is complete.
Everywhere, the kids watch the same movies, wear the same fashions and think the same thoughts. It’s a safe, happy, Ga Ga world. Unless you’re a rebel. Unless you want to Rock. On Planet Mall all the musical instruments are banned. The Company Computers generate tunes and everybody downloads them. It is an age of Boy Bands and of Girl Bands. Of Boy and Girl Bands. Of Girl Bands with a couple of boys in them that look like girls anyway. Nothing is left to chance, hits are scheduled years in advance.
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.
But Resistance is growing. Underneath the gleaming cities, down in the lower depths live the Bohemians. Rebels who believe that there was once a Golden Age when the kids formed their own bands and write their own songs. They call that time, The Rhapsody.
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see.
Legend persists that somewhere on Planet Mall instruments still exist. Somewhere, the mighty axe of a great and hairy guitar god lies buried deep in rock. The Bohemians need a hero to find this axe and draw it from stone. Is the one who calls himself Galileo that man?
He’s just a poor boy. From a poor family.
But the Ga Ga Cops are also looking for Galileo and if they get him first they will surely drag him before the Killer Queen and consign him to Oblivion across the Seven Seas of Rhye. Who is Galileo? Where is the Hairy One’s lost axe? Where is the place of living rock?
Any way the wind blows.
10TH SMASH-HIT YEAR AT THE DOMINION THEATRE
"
How about some Facts and Figures:
"
OPENED MAY 14TH 2002 LONDON DOMINION THEATRE
10th year at London Dominion Theatre
Longest running show/event at the Dominion Theatre
9th longest running show in London's West End
Open ended run now booking until July 2011 (UK)
So far over 3230 performances (UK)
3230 standing ovations (UK)
Average 620,000 tickets sold every year
5,424,000 tickets sold (London)
Over 12,000,000 tickets sold worldwide
CURRENTLY PLAYING:
- LONDON – Dominion
- NETHERLANDS, Utrecht (Opened SEPTEMBER 3, 2010)
- SWEDEN, Stockholm (Opened SEPTEMBER 12, 2010)
- GERMANY, Berlin (Opened OCTOBER 21, 2010)
AWARDS:
Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, UK – 2003
- Best New Musical
- Best Actor in a Musical (Tony Vincent)
- Best Actress in a Musical (Hannah Jane Fox)
- Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Sharon D Clarke)
- Best Director for Christopher Renshaw
Capital Gold Radio ‘Legends’ Awards, UK - 2003
- Best Live Performance of the Year
Dora Awards, Toronto, Canada – June, 2007
- Outstanding Production of a Musical
(David and Ed Mirvish and the Kimsa Group in association with Queen Theatrical Productions, Phil McIntyre Entertainment and Tribeca Theatricals).
Olivier! Awards, UK, 2010
- Nominated – Most Popular Show, Audience Award
MORE FACTS AND FIGURES
In LONDON
The London production, which led the way for world-wide productions in Australia, Japan, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, US (Las Vegas), and throughout Asia is now in its ninth year on stage at The Dominion Theatre. It is booking ahead to July 2011.
In August 2005 the show officially became the longest running musical to play at the Dominion, one of the West End’s biggest theatres. It took the record from the previous title holder, Robert Stigwood’s Grease, which ran at the Dominion for 3 years and 3 months. In setting a new performance record at the theatre, We Will Rock You overtook The Dominion’s previous box office hits Beauty and the Beast, which played for 2 years 7 months, and Dave Clark’s Time, formerly the third longest-running show at 2 years.
We Will Rock You’s lengthy run at the Dominion also puts it ahead of the filmed version of The Sound of Music, which stayed on screen at the Dominion for a little over 3 years.
We Will Rock You has become one of the West End’s most enduring successes, outlasting other West End hit shows such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Our House, Bombay Dreams, Tonight’s The Night, Spamalot, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, Flashdance, Joseph, and Never Forget.
As an indication of the wide audience the show attracts, the purchaser of the 1 millionth ticket in London on October 2006 was a 61-year old grandmother who was buying a ticket to treat her 4 year old great grandson to see the show.
ACROSS THE WORLD
It is estimated the show has now been seen across the world by an audience of over 12 million people.
"
Famous Faces
"Famous celebrities who have seen the show include:
Princess Anne
Bryan Adams
Freema Agyeman
Susie Amy
Sam Aston
Blue
Dani Behr
Boy George
Susan Boyle
Richard Branson
Michael Caine
Brian Conley
Anthony Costa
Richard Curtis
Darius
Judi Dench
Robert De Niro
Neil Diamond
Anita Dobson
Declan Donnelly
Ade Edmondson
Harry Enfield
Sheila Ferguson
Sarah Ferguson
Foo Fighters
Dawn French
Kirsty Gallagher
Jorge Garcia - Lost
Sir Bob Geldof
Rupert Grint
Lenny Henry
Noddy Holder
Jools Holland
Iron Maiden
Katherine Jenkins
Suranne Jones
Ulrika Jonsson
Leslie Joseph
The Josephs - Any Dream Will Do
Peter Kay
Martin Kemp
Peter Kenyon
Anthony Kiedis
Patrick Kielty
Jason King (JK)
Beyoncé Knowles
Danielle Lloyd
Matt Lucas
Lulu
Jenny McAlpine
Davina McCall
McFly
Paddy McGuiness
Elle McPherson
Ant McPartland
Ricky Martin
Meg Matthews
Lisa Maxwell
Liza Minnelli
Demi Moore
Sir Patrick Moore
Ken Morley
Al Murray
Coleen Nolan
Graham Norton
Bill Oddie
Rosie O'Donnell
Donny Osmond
Elaine Paige
Jimmy Page
Michael Parkinson
Pink
Priscilla Presley
Vic Reeves
Sean Penn
Sir Timothy Rice
Shane Richie
Tim Robbins
Paul Rodgers
Wayne Rooney
Susan Sarandon
Jennifer Saunders
Suzanne Shaw
Teddy Sheringham
Shilpa Shetty
Maria Shriver
Britney Spears
Sir Jackie Stewart
David Tennant
Emma Thompson
Brooke Vincent
Tina Turner
David Walliams
Paul Whitehouse
Ian 'H' Watkins
Victoria Wood
Robbie Williams
"
Next posts are from Pink at the O2 Arena, London, UK on May 1th and 2nd, 2009. My story of those shows will be on the next posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment