“We Will Rock You” is set 300 years in the future, when the only music the government allows is Computer Recorded Auto-tuned Pop (also known as C.R.A.P.). Then a group of bohemians discover a relic from the past: Queen.
“So a couple of young rebels try to save the world basically by finding rock and roll again,” sums up Ruby Lewis, who plays Scaramouche (name ring a bell?), one of those bohemians.
The government has attempted to eradicate individual thought—people don’t even have names, just assigned numbers to identify by. But that doesn’t jibe so well for Lewis’s character.
“She’s arrested for speaking her mind and singing her own stuff,” says Lewis, whose first song — her favorite — is “Somebody to Love.”
The show features 24 Queen songs. Some lyrics have been updated to fit into the modern-day world (for example, “Radio Ga Ga” mentions downloading music from the Internet). But the classics, like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are The Champions,” stay true to the band’s spirit.
“Unlike other jukebox musicals, the songs are how you’re used to hearing them,” says Lewis. “They’re not condensed versions, they’re not sped up or slowed down.”
Lewis encourages audience members to take part in the shows “concert vibe.”
“Stand up and sing along,” she says. “Wave your arms, get caught up in the world and the music.”
If you go
‘We Will Rock You’
Tuesday, Nov. 5- Sunday, Nov. 10
Boston Opera House
539 Washington St., Boston
$43-$154, 800-982-2787
broadwayinboston.com
