"We Will Rock You" by Melton Musical Theatre Company.

Melton Theatre.

Written by Queen and Ben Elton, the musical tells the story of a globalized future without musical instruments. The year is 2300 and a handful of rock rebels, the Bohemians, fight against the all-powerful Globalsoft company and its boss, the Killer Queen; they fight for freedom, individuality and the rebirth of the age of rock.

Scaramouche and Galileo, two young outsiders, cannot come to terms with the bleak reality. They join the Bohemians and embark on the search to find the unlimited power of freedom, love and Rock! Oh, and the last buried musical instruments, just to make sure that rock music can be reborn.

The idea for the musical came after a meeting between the actor Robert De Niro with musicians Brian May and Roger Taylor, in Venice in 1996. De Niro's daughter was a big fan of the Queen and the actor asked if the legends of rock had never thought of creating a musical based on their songs. The rest, as they say, is history.

The musical includes many of Queens finest hits such as "Radio Ga Ga", "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "I Want It All", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Flash", "Fat bottomed Girls", "Under Pressure", "We Are The Champions", "Headlong" and of course, ‘We Will Rock You’.

Galileo Figaro is played by James Barlow, who makes his debut for TMMTC. James has one of those voices created for musical theatre, and looking at his musical theatre CV and the roles that he has played in the past, you can tell that his powerful voice has been put to good use, as it has here. Queen songs are like Abba songs, they're not the easiest to sing, although a lot of people may think they are, this is why there has never been a replacement for Freddie Mercury, maybe with the exception of Adam Lambert. Anyway, what I am saying is that James has a great ability to sing these songs, and his falsetto is so well controlled and with perfect pitch. His lower register is as good as his falsetto, and he sings with feeling. He's a great leading man and obviously loves the comedy side of this show because he also shows just how good he is in that field.

Scaramouche is played by Vikki Taylor. I saw Vikki play the role of The Dragon in last year's "Shrek" and commented at that time what a voice she has, and this time around we get to hear, not only a more rocky sound, but also the real soul in her voice. The rawness in the big duet with James on "Who Wants To Live Forever" sends tingles up your spine, giving gospel vibes. Scaramouche is one of those roles that you have to give attitude and Vikki has plenty of that in this role.

Killer Queen is played by another one of my favourite Leicestershire ladies, Tash Bailey. I've seen Tash in a few shows and charity concerts over the last few years and I love her voice and the way that she plays around with some of the songs in this show make the Queen lyrics sound very sexy. I've always said that several of the songs recorded by Freddie Mercury could have been written with women in mind to sing them; Vikki and Tash prove my theory right. Killer Queen has never looked and sounded so saucy as it does played by Tash, and her costumes ramp up that naughtiness!

Ozzy Osbourne is played by Hannah Castledine. One thing I have again discovered with TMMTC is that there are so many big voices, and here we have another one with Hannah. A big voice and a big personality all go into making Ozzy. I love the respect that this show gives to rock legends and when the name Ozzy was mentioned for her introduction to Galileo and Scaramouche, the whole cast turned and looked to the roof as a tribute to the great Ozzy Osbourne. Oz's song "Only The Good Die Young" is another song that started the hairs on the back of my neck to tingle.

Britney Spears adds some of the comedy, and with Oz, is responsible for bringing Galileo and Scaramouche to the Bohemians. Playing Britney is Josh Gallagher, who I last saw on stage as Bedevere in "Spamalot" last year. And again, another big vocal style, and what a fun character to play. Britney's outfit looked as if it had been bought from a branch of Ann Summers, and paired with the kilt, probably got quite a few of the ladies in the theatre a  little hot under the collar. Massively fun role played by a man with a big sense of humour.

Kashoggi is similar to the archetypal panto villain as he tries to silence Galileo and Scaramouche, but falls foul of the Killer Queen when he fails, and is played by Ryan Green. Another fine set of vocals that match the rock and soul of Queen's music. Love the musical timing with Killer Queen and Kashoggi in the scene where he tells her that Galileo and Scaramouche have been "lost" as Killer Queen starts singing "Don't Stop Me Now", meeting his downfall as a result of the confession.

Buddy  injects the comedy into this above average jukebox musical and is played by Andrew Hull. There's a very humorous scene where Buddy is telling Galileo and Scaramouche about some of the "old" things like a videotape, a poster, a Harley Davidson but pronounces them all quite phonetically; that scene still makes me smile broadly whenever it comes around. This production seems to have several lines in which I could not remember from other productions and there's one scene where Buddy, Galileo and Scaramouche are all on the Harley Davidson heading off to find the mysterious "axe" - that's a rock guitar to non-muso types like myself - which is quite saucy and really suits Buddy's character perfectly. I won't give any spoilers, you'll have to buy a ticket to find out.

The Ensemble/Supporting cast is made up of a terrific group who also had cameo roles alongside their ensemble roles....

Pete Etherington (AC/DC), Kate Felts (Yuppie/Teen Queen/Gaga), Hayden Green (Mick Jagger), Connie Hamper (Gaga/Pink), Bow Heaton (Yuppie/Gaga), JoJo Helstrip (Yuppie/Teen Queen/Gaga), Kiri Humphreys (Teacher/Doctor), Adam Keightley (Lady Gaga), Megan Lowe (Yuppie/Gaga), Cara Pett (Cyndi Lauper), Judy Marshall (Debbie Harry), Thomas Randall (Gaga/Floyd), Zoe Pole (Yuppie/Doctor), Rachel Roberts (Stevie Nicks), John Stewart (Madonna), Maddie Westwater (Yuppie/Teen Queen/Gaga), Emma Weston (Yuppie/Doctor), Melissa Wood (Gaga/Doctor), Becky Woodcock (Janis Joplin) and Flossie Wixey - brilliant name btw (Yuppie/Teen Queen/Gaga). 

Directed by Bernice Rowan, assisted by Dan Atkinson. This is not an easy show to do but Bernice and Dan have put together an incredible cast and have given us all a brilliant night out with some of the best rock music written and, I don't know how it works with a show like this, but have even included some new, and funny lines to keep the show fresh and funny. An undoubted success all round.

Choreographed by Victoria Adams. As with Directing this show, the choreography, with the big ensemble numbers, is no easy ride. The robotic routines were all crisp and the tap section with "Killer Queen" was wonderfully played out. The finale of "Bohemian Rhapsody" actually became quite emotional with everyone on stage as it really seemed like a tribute to Freddie.

Musical Director is Reece Crane. To start with I thought that there was use of backing tracks, but I was only sitting on the second row from the stage and if I hadn't seen the band myself would have swore that click tracks were being used, the sound was so authentic. The band consist of Alex Lamb and Adam Wright (Keyboards), Lex Forrester and Chris Loach, who also got up on stage to provide a sizzling solo (Guitars), Jon Heywood (Bass), Richard Dry (Drums) and Minesh Patel (Percussion). Queen's music for a while was heavy on the bass and drums and that rhythm section tonight sounded awesome.

The Costume Mistress is Charlotte Broomfield, and with a show like this with so many different characters, the diversity of the costumes was incredible, as well as very diverse!

Set supplier is by Dave D Events and looked amazing. I don't know if that also included the video backdrops, but they were, quite literally, out of this world and the timing and operation of this was absolutely spot on.

Theatre Technician is Josh Hammond.

Lighting is thanks to James Pritchard who did an amazing job, making this show an even greater treat for the eyes, at times worthy of concert standards.

Sound is thanks to Neil "Wes" Wesley. As with many large casts, it's an expensive job having everyone on stage mic'd up and with scenes like the "Killer Queen" section, even sitting on B Row, I could hardly hear the ensemble tap dancers singing. The main cast though were perfectly mic'd up volume wise, with just a few missed mic cues; but as I have said, it's a large cast and like I've said in the past in other theatres, the sound operator has to be part octopus to make sure that every mic cue is hit every single time. Volume wise for the main cast was absolutely spot on, which made sure that the audience, wherever they sat, would have heard every one-liner and joke with the greatest of clarity.

Stage managed by Trevor Adams, assisted by Stu Bartram with their crew of Owen McConnell, Stefan Kotarba, Ian Cliffe, Oscar Stephens, Izzy Hand, Richard Hand and Suzie Hand. Well, they do say that many Hands make light work, it also makes for some very smooth scene transitions as well!

There are some fantastic props involved, managed by the Props Team of Jude McNulty-Green, Hayden Green and Jane Lesley-Cunliffe.

The programme is also worth the price because it's very cast informative and is very eye catching in its' design by Georgie Bladon.

We must also mention those who work behind the scenes and those that are the faces of TMMTC who work as Chaperones, Front Of House Crew and Cast Assistants because they are also the cogs that make a theatre group run smoothly and all do an excellent job in every theatre group in every theatre.

This musical is not just a show for Queen fans, this show is for fans of amazing music, and the story is not too bad either for a jukebox musical. A stark warning to all internet freaks who may just be losing touch with the real world, as well as real music.

"We Will Rock You" is at Melton Theatre until Saturday 18 April. Get a ticket and get rocked!!!