REVIEWED: 24-Hour Musical ‘We Will Rock You’,

First off, I have to admit that I hate musicals. I get easily embarrassed and cringe at The X Factor, so watching a musical put together in 24 hours was never going to be good. To top it off I was suffering from a horrific hangover, to the point where I vomited in my own coffee cup on the Northern line and had had to hold it for the entire journey. It was a new low. I arrived at the Garage Theatre feeling like I’d rather stick my head down a toilet than cheer along to ‘Radio Gaga’.

Nevertheless, I persevered and dragged my flatmate along with me for moral support. The show began rather shakily with an ensemble song and dance from the cast which was a bit awkward due to being far too close to the audience, and all moving slightly out of sync while casting furtive glances at each other to check if they were doing it right. But gradually, they began to pick up steam and even I did some rhythmic stomping to ‘We Will Rock You’. Ahem, Director, cast me please! There were of course several occasions where lines were forgotten and songs massacred. But God bless them, they tried.  My personal favourite cast member was a tall ginger chap with glasses who gets a special shout-out for his unique body popping and for having no shame. There were also quite a few people who were actually quite good at singing, and despite the script being generally a bit weak, there was one use of the phrase ‘eager beaver’ which pleased me greatly.

As someone who doesn’t regularly attend musicals I have to say that I thought the Musical Theatre Society did reasonably well. Bearing in mind that in less than 24 hours they auditioned, choreographed, rehearsed and then performed a show, I think it was a job well done. Having multiple people play the main roles was an excellent idea, and allowed everyone a proud moment in the spotlight. It was good old-fashioned, unpretentious fun and it made a nice change to see freshers making friends without getting drunk and rubbing up against each other in clubs I commend the society and the freshers alike for their effort. With plenty more musicals coming throughout the year, there’s no doubt things will only get better!