We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre) 25.01.2013

The little Bohemian inside of me was back once again, and this time, thankfully, I wasn’t fangirling alone, as a friend of mine, Eszter, joined me (mostly because of Olly; she’s supposed to be the biggest Fan when it comes to him). When I had collected my ticket that day, I was already excited about the Cast Board, and I hoped it wouldn’t change when it came to who played Galileo: Oliver Tompsett.

Though at first I was a bit disappointed that my first (and so far, favourite) Scaramouche wasn’t on that day – Emma Hatton, – I wasn’t by the time that Rachael Wooding showed up on stage. She was absolutely amazing (though sometimes I had some difficulties to understand her british accent; sue me, I’m german LOL) and her voice was perfect that night, she made me shiver more than once, especially on her solo of “Somebody To Love”, where I, impatiently sitting on my seat, was waiting for that special part of the song almost at the end, where Scaramouche sings a long tone without breathing. And what can I say? Rachael killed it, and again I was starstrucked by how amazing someone can manage to hold a tone for more than just a few seconds. Very, very sadly, I never got the chance to tell her that myself, as I missed her at the Stage Door later that night, but I hope to do so the next time.
What I love most about the West End Performance of “We Will Rock You”? The fact that the Killer Queen and Commander Kashoggi – that night played by the beautiful and breathtaking Katie Paine and the again amazing Alasdair Harvey, – have that special connection with the audience, especially the ones who sit in the Stalls. A few times, when I saw Alasdair looking at me, I was always thinking that I was just imagining it. I mean: the guy wears sunglasses, and people with sunglasses ALWAYS irritate me LOL. But when at one moment of the show, he actually pointed and waved at me, I knew I wasn’t making anything up!
The other memorable moment: the wonderful and breathtaking Katie Paine. Holy cow, she killed me, sitting in the audience and hearing her voice being one of the best voices I’ve ever heard (and I heard Brenda Edwards in my first WWRY West End Show 3 months before, thinking she was the perfect singer/actress for that role!). And what you could see from the first second she set foot on stage: she loved being up there, she loved her job and everything that comes with it. She interacts with the audience, and I swear to God, she winked at me more than once, and I was like “Me? Do you really mean me or are you cross-eyed?” I was just so overwhelmed, that with everything around, the acting, the light show, the breathtaking singing, she still had time to take in the audience. And something about her made me completely forget about the way Brenda had played the role, just because she was so…perfect. She really was. And I actually really hope that the next time I’m going to be back at the Heartbreak Hotel, she’s going to be my Killer Queen again! 🙂
A very special feeling got me as the Cast started to sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Oh. My. God. That was – apart from my 1st “Rock Of Ages” experience – by far the BEST thing I ever had the honour to be part of: THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE SANG ALONG as Oliver Tompsett sang the first verse of that song, and he even stopped singing at one moment, and the entire audience ended the sentence. I was speechless (okay, apart from singing inside like my heart was exploding out of sheer love for this show), and absolutely overwhelmed by this. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and the whole room suddenly felt like a huge bohemian family. It was amazing. And the fact that Oliver was smiling THE ENTIRE TIME from “We Will Rock You” (when they found the guitar in the rock) to the end of “Bohemian Rhapsody” made this night absolutely perfect for me. He loves his role, there is no doubt about it. Actually, the entire Cast that I had the honour to watch on Stage that night, they all love their roles with all their hearts, and that is what really touched me that night, what touches me until today, almost 2 months later. And I think the Standing Ovations that night are speaking for themselves; they were the longest I’ve ever been part of.
After the show was over (which honestly always happens way too fast!), my friend Eszter and me found the perfect exit to get straight to the Stage Door, and there we waited for the actors. Actually, I wanted to meet all of them, if possible, but I was really sad when I realized I had missed Kevin Kennedy (Pop), Rachel John (Meat – god, what a voice, I always feel like crying and breaking down when she sings “Only The Good Die Young”, it’s so absolutely perfect, every single time!), Rachael Wooding (Scaramouche) and Alasdair Harvey (Kashoggi). It almost seems as if you just can’t have everyone, because when you talk to one, the other leaves if you have the bad luck and the alley behind the theatre is almost empty and no other fans are there to somehow keep them there for a few minutes. Luckily, I had the pleasure and honour to meet Oliver Tompsett, and he was just as I remembered him from the “Rock Of Ages” Stage Door: patient, kind, nice, always smiling and taking all his time to talk to you. My friend then gave him some chocolate from her home country Hungary, and somehow, he must’ve thought it was from me, too, because he thanked both of us and hugged both of us – oh, how I loved that moment, the Tompsett hug was so lovely and something I’ll always remember, because it was absolutely unexpected. If it was possible to love him any more, that was the moment it happened 🙂

The next person I – thank God – caught at the Stage Door was the amazing Katie Paine. I have to admit, without my friend I’d probably missed her, as I’m terrible in recognizing the Cast Members outside without all their Make-Up, which probably is the main reason I always miss almost EVERYONE. But when I saw Katie talking to two other fans, I took all my courage and walked up to her (sorry to the girls, I guess I badly interrupted their conversation…), telling her how absolutely amazing the show was, how I loved it more than any other show, and that her performance was breathtaking. She was – as expected, super nice and lovely, and she then surprised me by telling us “You were the ones in the Stalls, weren’t you?” That was the moment I completely fell for her and became a huge fan of her as a person. I was so overwhelmed that I hadn’t imagined the winking during the show, and that she actually remembered me/us, of all the people in the audience, and especially in the Stalls. We talked for a few minutes (I guess I talk too much when I’m excited), and I told her that I definitely have to come back in July to see the show and her again, and after me and my friend both took our picture with her, she said “Bye, see you in July!”. And after that, there is no way around it, I have to come back in 4 months 🙂 By the way, I absolutely LOVE our pic (I love all the pics of that night), and I normally hate every pic that is taken of me!

As my friend already wanted to go, I saw Wayne Robinson (Brit) coming out, preparing his bike to drive home, and before I could think again, I asked him if it was okay if we took a picture. He said “Yeah, of course!” and his smile was so super cute 🙂 The entire man is so cute, I can’t even, and his performance of Brit that night was even more priceless than it had been 3 months before.
And that was it. I still can’t believe I was part of that Show that took my breath away once again. Give me any WWRY show in the West End at any day, and I gladly would come, no matter the price. I can’t imagine that show being gone one day, as it’s such a huge part of my life, especially since I’ve seen it at the beautiful Dominion Theatre.