WE WILL ROCK YOU coming to Toronto in 2007

WE WILL ROCK YOU 


The London and international smash hit musical WE WILL ROCK YOU makes its Canadian premiere on March 14, 2007. A unique collaboration between rock titans Queen and Ben Elton, WE WILL ROCK YOU has been London's No. 1 show since opening in May 2002.  Now in its fifth year in the West End, this immensely popular show has also conquered Australia, Germany, Spain, Russia, Japan and South Africa.  Already playing to over 5 million fans, WE WILL ROCK YOU is on the road to becoming one of the most successful rock musicals ever.  And now David and Ed Mirvish are bringing WE WILL ROCK YOU to Toronto in a brand new Canadian production that will begin March 14, 2007 for a limited run at the Canon Theatre.  Tickets go on sale Monday, November 20, 2006.

"We have been closely following WE WILL ROCK YOU's success in London and many other world capitals," says Canadian producer David Mirvish.  "The show is a true phenomenon.  Having seen it three times myself and having experienced first-hand the frenzy with which audiences react to the show, I know that, like me, Toronto audiences will go "Ga Ga" over this popular piece of musical theatre."

"We are excited to be working with the show's original London producers and creative team, including legendary rockers Brian May and Roger Taylor and the multi-talented writer/director Ben Elton, to build a brand new Canadian production.  This show will provide immense opportunities for Canadian artists and a thrilling, energetic and unforgettable night out for audiences."

CASTING SEARCH

The search for the Canadian cast begins immediately.  Preliminary auditions for singers and dancers will take place across the country.  Open auditions will be held in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver throughout November.  Details are at the end of this release.  

INTERACTIVE WEBSITE

A new interactive website, www.wewillrockyou.ca <http://www.wewillrockyou.ca> , will carry full audition updates as well as other news about the Canadian production.  To launch the website and to encourage the public to become a part of the WE WILL ROCK YOU community, a contest is being held to win a trip to London to see the West End production of WE WILL ROCK YOU.  Log on today to enter the contest.

WE WILL ROCK YOU: THE STORY

WE WILL ROCK YOU tells the story of a future Earth where globalization has eliminated all creativity and idiosyncrasy.  Set 300 years in the future, everyone watches the same movies, wears the same clothes and thinks the same thoughts.  It's a safe and happy "Ga Ga" world where music is computer-generated by the Killer Queen.  All musical instruments are banned.  But resistance is growing.  A hero is needed.  Is the one who calls himself Galileo that man and can he help them break free?

BACKGROUND

Produced by Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions, Queen and Phil McIntyre Entertainment, WE WILL ROCK YOU delivers a show that reflects the scale and spectacle that marked Queen's live performances and earned the band its pinnacle position in rock history.  The collaboration between Tribeca and Queen reaches back to a chance encounter between band members Brian May and Roger Taylor and De Niro at the Venice Film Festival in 1996.  De Niro approached May and Taylor asking if they had ever considered creating a musical based on their work.  It was the genesis of the project that was to become WE WILL ROCK YOU.

When it opened in 2002, WE WILL ROCK YOU dominated the musical categories in London Theatregoers' Choice Awards presented by whatsonstage.com, the only London Theatre Awards decided by the public and voted by over 16,000 theatregoers.  WE WILL ROCK YOU swept the Awards, winning each of the five categories in which it was nominated: Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, as well as Best Director.  In addition, when London's top radio station introduced their own listener awards, WE WILL ROCK YOU was voted the Best Performance of the Year.  The only musical to be nominated in the category, WE WILL ROCK YOU triumphed against competition that included live concert performances by Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

WE WILL ROCK YOU brings together a production and design team behind some of the biggest international theatre productions and rock tours.  WE WILL ROCK YOU is written and directed by acclaimed novelist and TV scriptwriter Ben Elton and features 32 of Queen's greatest hits.  Elton previously collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the West End musical The Beautiful Game and won an Olivier Award for his play Popcorn that ran in the West End for two years.  

Production designers Mark Fisher and Willie Williams have created set designs for Pink Floyd, Janet Jackson, The Rolling Stones and the acclaimed multi-media shows for U2.   Pushing the boundaries of his innovative designs even further, Williams' lighting concepts for WE WILL ROCK YOU involve more than $2 million worth of LED screens, specially shipped from Hong Kong to be featured in the production's unique set.  

Costume Designer Tim Goodchild has received three Olivier Awards for his work at the Royal Shakespeare Company and in London's West End and has extensive credits in theatre including over twenty productions for the New Shakespeare Company.  Goodchild has also designed for the Australian Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, as well as numerous opera productions.  

For choreographer Arlene Phillips, WE WILL ROCK YOU marks her reunion with the members of Queen, having directed two of Freddie Mercury's most flamboyant performances in the music videos Made In Heaven and Born To Love You.  Her work in the theatre has seen her choreograph some of the biggest stage musicals of the past two decades including Starlight Express, in which she was involved from conception, Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

Bobby Aitken has been the sound designer for numerous theatrical and concert productions world-wide including The Boyfriend, the award-winning musical The Fix, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Grease and has co-designed the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! Aitken has sound designed various productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as opera (Madame Butterfly, Tosca and Aida at the Royal Albert Hall).