5 Reasons WE WILL ROCK YOU is Better Than the Super Bowl

The national tour of We Will Rock You, presented by Theatre Under the Stars, is continuing to rock Houston audiences for another week. This high-energy show, with a score made of Queen's hit songs, is sure to have you clapping for hands, stomping your feet, and signing along. Kick your winter blues in the face and check out this fun and frivolous night of theatre before it's too late. Forget the Super Bowl, grab your friends, and go to a party you won't regret. Here are my top five reasons that We Will Rock You is better than the Super Bowl:

You won't gain weight watching We Will Rock You! Research has shown no matter what team you are rooting for, the endless buffet of snacks at the typical Super Bowl party is bad for the waistlines of Americans. This problem becomes even worse when the team you are rooting for is losing. According to the January/February 2014 issue of Weight Watchers Magazine, "fans take in about 16 percent more sat[urated] fat when their team loses." Conversely, at We Will Rock You, you'll be dancing in your seat, clapping your hands, laughing, screaming, cheering, and stomping your feet. In essence, you'll be burning calories. You won't get the same workout you would from running on a treadmill, walking, or visiting your gym, but you'll have reasons to feel less guilty about picking up a cocktail from the bar than your friends pounding down cheese dip and hot wings at their Super Bowl parties.

WE WILL ROCK YOU has real music! If you stay at home to watch the Super Bowl, you'll get to hear Bruno Mars croon some medley of songs that all sound exactly alike for about 15 minutes. If you visit The Hobby Center for a performance of We Will Rock You, you'll get to have your mind blown by some of the most energetic and charismatic rock vocalists you'll ever experience. Not only that, across the almost two-and-a-half hour show, these vibrant and energetic performers perform songs that you already know you love. Don't take a risk on Bruno Mars' half-time show being a total dud. Experience unforgettable performances of hit songs like "Somebody To Love," "I Want It All," "We Are The Champions," and "We Will Rock You." Also, don't you dare think about leaving before the cast sings "Bohemian Rhapsody."

You'll actually care which team wins in We Will Rock You! Let's face it Houston, nobody in our neck of the woods really cares who wins the Super Bowl. Sure, sure, Peyton Manning deserves to earn a Championship ring and all that hoopla. I mean, we have a team we'd like to see win, but the Super Bowl is missing one important thing: Bulls on Parade! So, it's really just whatever. On the other hand, everyone loves to root for the underdog heroes in a battle of good versus evil. Yes, you'll be able to figure out which team wins in We Will Rock You before the show even begins, but you'll actually have a blast cheering them on the whole time.

Instead of being told what product you should buy, We Will Rock You encourages you to break free and be an individual! Everyone always clamors about the commercials during the Super Bowl. Budweiser frogs and drips of burger grease running down some scantily clad woman's cleavage dominates water cooler conversation for a couple of days following the Super Bowl. But it's time that we wake up. All this humor and sex is working to make us mindless drones that sacrifice our true desires to better serve large corporations. Essentially, this is what Ben Elton's rebel bohemians in We Will Rock You are fighting against. Don't be a zombie; choose individuality. Dance, sing, and rock out at We Will Rock You this week. You won't regret it. And if you really just have to see those silly and exorbitantly priced commercials, they'll all be on YouTube by Monday morning. Also, they'll be crammed down your throat for months during your regularly scheduled television programming.

You can celebrate different American traditions... the tradition of rock n' roll and musical theatre! Americans love anything that is distinctly American, and there is no denying that the tradition of rock n' roll was birthed in the United States. During the late 1940s and early 50s, artists inspired by blues, jazz, gospel, and country mixed and matched elements of these types of music to create a new genre. Even if the band Queen is British, if it wasn't for those American pioneers, the genre of music they played wouldn't exist. The same can even be said for book musicals, as American artists pioneered that craft as well, with shows like SHOW BOAT and OKLAHOMA!. Really, American Football is just a blatant rip-off of rugby, but rock n' roll and musical theatre are crafty and intelligent mediums inspired by other forms, but both have changed and evolved to be something wholly original and novel which is why both are quintessential forms of American art and culture.

At the bottom line, we've all seen a lot of Super Bowls and forgotten most of them. Leave the lame Super Bowl party behind and venture out to We Will Rock You. It is anything but unmemorable. Grab your tickets now before this opportunity has passed you by.

WE WILL ROCK YOU, presented by Theatre Under the Stars, plays the Sarofim Hall at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby Street, Houston, 77002 now through February 2, 2014. Performances are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For tickets and more information please visit http://www.tuts.com or call (713) 558-TUTS (8887).

All photos by Paul Kolnik. Photos courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars.