Upstage Productions at Ecole St Mary High School is bringing the music of Queen to life in this year’s musical production of We Will Rock You.
The play has taken two years to finally reach the stage after it was canceled due to teacher extracurricular sanctions in 2024.
Leigha Dunn, who plays Galileo, is in Grade 11 and Mia Bisson, who plays Scaramouche, is in Grade 10. Lukas Tamayo, who plays Khashoggi, is in Grade 12.
All three said it was great to do a musical production after “We Will Rock You” was supposed to run in 2024.
“It sucked.” Dunn said when asked about the cancellation.
“I was so sad. I was so ready for that,” Bisson added.
“That was really rough. Losing it last year,” Tamayo said.
The play, written by Ben Elton along with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, was one of the longest running plays in London’s West End.
“There are a lot of lot of songs, a lot of a lot of songs that everyone will know,” Bisson said.
“I’m excited for crowd to join in,” Dunn added.
Work on the play began in January and production has been ramping up.
“I think it’s been pretty smooth,” Dunn said. “We’ve been have all been keeping up on music on scenes.”
“Compared to last year it’s perfect because last year everything was cancelled for teacher strike,” she added.
Tamayo said that everyone in the play has been locked in.
“I feel like everyone has been on top of their stuff,” he said.
The production also includes a live band which rehearses with the cast in the band room at St. Mary.
“I love live band,” Dunn said. “A live band sounds so much better than our little computer tech thing that we had playing.”
“I think live band brings the story and the music more alive,” Bisson said.
“I agree cause then it’s not just us providing soul, it’s top to bottom of the entire song, soul and heart. It’s wonderful,” Tamayo added.
According to Wikipedia, the story is set exactly 300 years in the future in a vaguely Orwellianworld. Earth has been renamed as the “iPlanet” (sometimes called “Planet Mall” in older productions) and is controlled by the Globalsoft Corporation. On the iPlanet, mainstream commercial conformity reigns, in which Ga Ga Kids watch the same movies, listen to computer-generated music, wear the same clothes and hold the same thoughts and opinions. Musical instruments are forbidden, and rock music is unknown.
The students described it as a place with music, but the music has no soul.
“It’s a dystopian AI government. Yes, all music is produced by AI,” Tamayo said.
Dunn, whose character is one of the leads, holds the key.
“Except for the music that I find, which I see in my dreams,” she said.
“Which is the Queen songs—all of them—and all of the old, famous songs that everyone would know.”
The play also talks about the history of music.
“All the music is Queen music, but there’s a lot of references to music history all throughout the show,” Tamayo said.
“The references span from … Britney Spears to Kurt Cobain, right, and everything in between.”
Dunn said that the live band has been excellent to work with.
“It’s nice,” she said. “I’ve done a live band before with Broadway North last summer. That was my first ever one. It’s amazing.”
“It’s actually magic,” Tamayo said.”
The production is huge and the backstage crew started setting up for the show at the EA Rawlinson Centre a week ago.
“We have a bunch of people behind the scenes too,” Tamayo said. “We couldn’t do it without them. It’s more than just the cast.”
The cast is nearly 25 people, with 30 backstage crew members.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Bisson said.
“A show can’t be a show without everyone,” Dunn added.
They all said that the costumes for the play were amazing. The show also includes large sets
All three also appreciated the work of director Jason Van Otterloo.
Bisson said that Van Otterloo was the one who keeps everyone sane in a production this size.
“We can’t do it without him. Like, if we didn’t have him, this wouldn’t be going,” Bisson said.
Everyone has enjoyed working on the production.
“It’s just a pleasure every year to do it,” Bisson said. “It’s so much fun.”
Tamayo is embracing his final production in his high school career.
“It’s my last time doing it with the school and this was my high school experience. Upstage was high school for me,” Tamayo said.
“I met some of my best friends through Upstage and it’s my last time doing it. I’m so glad to go out with this wonderful show. It’s sad and it’s happy. I’m excited to pass the torch on to these little guys.”
Dunn agreed about the camaraderie.
“Everyone makes it feel like home,” she said.
We Will Rock You is from May 7 to 10 at the EA Rawlinson Centre, show time is 7:30 p.m. each day.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
