"We Will Rock You – Young@Part" by Centre Stage Theatre Arts

Landau Forte College, Derby.

"We Will Rock You Young@Part" is the authorized 70 minute edition of the musical for elementary and middle schools, and youth theatres. The song keys are changed where needed, songs and scenes are edited for time and content, while keeping the spirit of the original show.

Featuring Queen songs “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “We Will Rock You,” “Somebody To Love,” “We Are the Champions,” and many more. It follows two young rebels, Galileo Figaro and Scaramouche, as they restore rock ‘n’ roll to the iPlanet in a post-apocalyptic world by locating the only musical instrument in existence. They have to battle Killer Queen and her lackeys though to start with!

I've seen the young@part version before but this opening video backdrop was slightly different, as was the location of the missing musical instrument, so if you've seen another version, pop along to see this version as well.

It's a strong cast and all actors are under the age of 18, but I did have my favourites, and you know I love future star spotting while watching shows with a younger cast.

The two leads, Leo Fox-White (Galileo) and Poppy Harris (Scaramouche) were wonderfully cast and you could tell that this pair are friends off stage because the chemistry they have onstage can't be taught. Their arguments on stage were believable and so was the increasing friendship that ensued throughout the musical. You have to be comfortable in each other's presence away from the stage to create what I saw on stage. Great attitude from both young people.

Both have really good voices and when they harmonise they sound just as good as when they sing solo. There's a real difference between reciting the lines of a play and singing musical songs, but both perform the songs and embody the script, which make both songs and script delivery sound like they mean what they say and sing.

Another pair of characters I really liked as well were William Fleming (Brit) and Harriet Blackwell (Oz); again very strong actors and future character actors in the making.

Adam Patten (Buddy) was another who delivered his lines with comedy and conviction, making you feel that you were watching the character and not Adam, the actor. That is, for me, a very important talent to own, being able to make an audience see past the actor and believe in the image that actor is portraying. Loved the delivery of his comic lines.

Molly Wileman (Killer Queen) certainly did not need a microphone as she has such power in her vocals and script delivery and she also made sure that the audience took notice of her as she commanded the stage when she appeared.

Lily Osvath (Khashoggi) also made sure that she was noticed in character, turning Killer Queen's right hand woman into a panto-esque villain complete with villainous laugh.

A massive ensemble supported these main roles, but you know when there is always one person who just catches your eye with the passion and energy, and more often than not cheekiness, that they bring to the production and the stage; well there was one that I spotted. Arun Misty looked to be having an absolute ball on stage. He had several roles which he delivered with gusto, and it's that energy that he invested in his performance that caught my eye. Great job Arun!

I can imagine that there were a lot of nerves before the curtains opened, that's natural, and everyone came out and did exactly what they were supposed to have done. What may have made some of the cast nervous though was waiting for the music tracks to come in. I noticed one of the mains deliver the cue for one of the tracks which then took about five seconds for the music track to appear. Five seconds when you're on stage waiting for the track can seem an eternity, and that nervousness was telegraphed in that actor's eyes.

Probably went unnoticed by the majority of the audience, but that actor was left waiting. That actor didn't allow that wait thouigh to affect the rest of their performance which shows real professionalism, but I imagine their nerves were rocked ever so slightly as all eyes were on them.

I mention this because some of the music cues were late and needed tightening up. I do however appreciate that when I saw the show on Friday night, that this was their first show and normally find that this is picked up by the Director, and by the following performance (Saturday), all squeaky bum cheek moments are ironed out.

Love the set and staging (Roydon Charlesworth) which allowed multi level exits and entrances for the young actors.

What i also enjoyed were the costumes (Ariel Costume Hire). The GaGa girls all had the same costumes and the same wigs and that uniformed look really paid off, showing the GaGas as clones. This also created a visual image difference between them and the rebels, creating even more of a divide between "them" and "us".

Everybody loves the music of Queen, even though the songs are not as easy to sing as a lot of people may think; there are some really good singers here in Centre Stage Theatre Arts. What makes it even more difficult is that some of the lyrics are changed for the musical, so even if you know and love the hits of Queen, here the cast have to re-learn the new lyrics, which they did with great aplomb.

The production team of Lucy Cadney, Paul Hudson, Josephine Walker and Louise White should be really proud of this cast and the production because these actors managed to get their Friday night audience's weekend kick started brilliantly, especially with a storming version of "We Will Rock You" and the ensemble version of the classic "Bohemian Rhapsody".

"We Will Rock You young@part" is at Landau Forte College, Fox Street, Derby until Saturday 25 February. Get rocked this weekend!