Queen Promises Toronto It Will -- Wait For It -- Go 'Ga Ga' Over "We Will Rock You"

At a press conference held this morning at the Canon Theatre, members of the band Queen and comedian Ben Elton gathered to promote the musical "We Will Rock You," opening in March, 2007. The press conference follows days of auditioning in which Elton, as well as Brian May and Roger Taylor, whittled 60 finalists down to a cast of 30 or so.

Brian May commented on Queen's early career: "We were very against musical theatre. You know, this isn't My Fair Lady." Indeed. The story is set in 2300, when Earth is called Planet Mall and a small group of "Bohemians," lead by characters Galileo and Scaramouche, must restore the lost art of rocking.

A short video taken from the London performance showed highlights from the musical, although among these was a lyrical updating of "Radio Ga Ga" to include references to "internet" and "cyberspace"- the latter of which sounds more like 1995 than 2300.

Even so, Elton boasted, "We Will Rock You is not so much a title as a promise."

More information on the production can be found at the Toronto production's website.

Photo of the London production of We Will Rock You by D'Lish.