Cast meets king of Queen musical

THE team behind Ballarat Lyric Theatre’s upcoming show We Will Rock You met the musical’s famous writer last week in Bendigo.

Iconic British comedian Ben Elton took to the Ulumbarra Theatre stage with his stand-up on Wednesday night, before chatting to Lyric’s cast and crew ahead of their July season of the futuristic show which is inspired by, and celebrates, the music of Queen.

We Will Rock You director Stephen Armati said Elton was “very generous with his time.”

“He gave us great insight into the show, its origins, its reworks and wished us well for the season, encouraging everyone to come and celebrate a good night out in Ballarat now that theatre has reopened,” he said.

“We were all in awe. It’s not every day you’re around the presence of genius. He was very endearing. He spoke to all the members of the principal cast individually, and we all walked away very excited.

“We couldn’t believe we’d just met Ben Elton.”

The show’s rockin’ musical numbers include We Are the Champions, I Want to Break Free, Somebody to Love, Killer Queen, Don’t Stop Me Now, Under Pressure, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Another One Bites the Dust.

“We’re six weeks into rehearsals. We have the vocals down, and we’re into the choreography phase now. There’s a lot of laughter as we do script runs,” Armati said.

“It’s a really smart, funny show, so we’re excited that we’re now at 100 per cent audience capacity.”

Tickets for the show are on sale at hermaj.com.