Loughborough Echo, Loughborough Echo Fri, 2008-02-01 00:00

Loughborough Echo - 1st February 2008 Christchurch group really do rock you! When Christchurch Theatre Club promised We Will Rock You to Loughborough, they really weren't kidding. For the sell-out show had the packed town hall auditorium bouncing like a Brian May barnet with their production of the Queen and Ben Elton penned musical. A strong cast was spearheaded with aplomb by Benjamin Hardy as Sha... sorry, Galileo Figaro, and in particular Lucy Brown as his faithful chick Scaramouche, whose Somebody To Love was a real standout among the openers. Following in the footsteps of a performer like Freddie Mercury is no mean feat for the most seasoned pro. But all the principal cast members - such as Lucy Gamble, who made Meat Loaf tastier than ever before, the deadly Deborah Bray as Killer Queen and Lee Costelow as the strung-out hippy Pop - resisted the temption to go the karaoke route and really made the songs their own. And plaudits must also go to the live band behind the set, who really gave the soundtrack the fist-pumping feel of a live gig. So the show, which sold out seven months before its run at Loughborough Town Hall even began, did not disappoint. This reviewer, with my specialist subject of music, enjoyed picking out the pop culture references in the lines (indeed, I still to this day often wonder who let the dogs out?), and behind the powerfully performed musical numbers, the dialogue was delivered with clarity, timing and a smirk o the face at most times. And Christchurch Theatre Club got their just desserts for their efforts from the appreciative audience, when they recieved a standing ovation for the show - from which all of the profits are being donated to The Freddie Mercury Phoenix Trust For AIDS Research. For their next production the theatre group swap rock covers for no covers at all in The Full Monty - and on this showing, it'll be well worth a peek.