Queen have just posted Episode 43 of their 50-part YouTube series, ‘The Greatest,’ as they continue to celebrate their 50th anniversary. In the new episode, the legendary band took a look back at their musical, ‘We Will Rock You,’ which played on London's West End over a span of 10 years in front of more than six-million people.
The ‘We Will Rock You’ musical was written by British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director Ben Elton, and actually made possible by Robert DeNiro after a chance meeting at the Venice Film Festival. Roger Taylor said DeNiro was starting the theatrical arm of Tribeca, his production company, and he really wanted the musical to be its first production.
Brian May talked about the musical:
“It is funny, and it's also... it has a kind of serious side to it, it has something to say, and better bring your handkerchief as well. I think there are some, some moments where you will feel something, something rather sad and feel something rather personal. Very often we've made very small changes to the lyrics and sometimes none at all. And somehow they just seem to fit the story incredibly well. Now this isn't an accident. You know, we've molded the story around the songs, and we’ve molded the songs around the story. It's not just like, let's sling some songs into a story at all. It's very much, I guess, we always took our work very seriously. So this is a genuine attempt, if you like, to make something which will stand for the rest of time as a musical, and perhaps some people in the future will forget that these songs ever had a life elsewhere. I don't know.”
[Source: Classic Hits Today]