We recently went to the musical We Will Rock You in Chicago. I saw it ten years ago in London with my boys, but Prince Charming had never seen it.

I know I enjoyed the production more the first time around, even if my memory details were foggy. Certainly there were no references to Katy Perry or Lady Gaga this first time I saw it. They update the lines a bit to be more current, and to add humor.

What I got a kick out of were the two ladies behind me. They first got my attention when about a third of the way into the play, one piped up, “Oh, I know that song. It’s a Queen song. I have one of their albums at home.”

I grinned.

All the songs were Queen songs. Granted not all were big radio hits, but this musical has been going on for twelve years. The words “We Will Rock You” are a known Queen anthem. The signage around the theater and the merchandise for sale at the kiosks had shirts that said “Killer Queen”, “We Are The Champions”, “We Will Rock You”, and other Queenisms.

Yet the more I listened to these two women, it was evident that they were just here to take in a play and they didn’t know the background.

I wanted to turn around and show them the playbill that stated in big letters “We Will Rock You-The Musical-QUEEN and Ben Elton,” but that would have ruined the fun for all of us.

The main characters has Queen lyric names, but many of the “rebels” were other rock stars of days gone by, like Buddy Holly, Ozzy Ozbourne, and Aretha. It’s my hunch that these gals thought this was an era homage, like Rock of Ages, the tribute to music of the 80’s (and not so great, I’m told.)

At intermission, the lady doing most of the talking simply stammered, “I’m speechless.” I wasn’t sure at first if that was a favorable reaction or not, but as she continued, I knew she was in awe of it all.

I suppose I am being too hard on these theater goers. If my parents had attended the show, they probably would not have known all the songs, but they would have read the cover of the playbill and figured it out that this was a Queen musical.

The story does pay reverence to the king, the one before Michael Jackson, and the story concludes at the gates of Graceland. The King, Elvis, is not part of the storyline, but his legend is. Obviously the boys from Queen held Elvis in high regard.

The show wraps up with a rocking “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions” number with the full cast. They all take a curtain call for the final encore to provide Bohemian Rhapsody, the mecca of the Queen musical.

As we stood up to leave, the ladies were gushing praise. “Truly, I am speechless. How they tied it all together. So amazing.”

I hope the gals went home and played their Queen records and recognized more of the songs. Actually, that’s none of my business. They had fun. We had fun. We all enjoyed a night at the theater and a night of Queen music, whether they knew it was Queen or not. I don’t think Freddie Mercury would care. After all, he gave us all Somebody to Love. Thanks, Freddie. Rock on.

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