Again
Queen have entered new grounds and again with inevitable success. For
years Brian and Roger have been working on this enormous project and it
all came together after Ben Elton joined the team and created the right
story.
On May 13th I arrived in
London to join a group of Dutch Queen Fans on the 14th to see the World
Premiere of We Will Rock You - The Musical. I've been a Queen fan since
1974 and one of my greatest wishes was to meet the Queen members outside
a performance. For years I've been longing to meet Freddie's mother as
well, but some way or another these dreams did not come true -
yet.
In the afternoon of May 13th I decided to take a look at the Dominion
Theatre to get some of the atmosphere. There I met one of the most
talked about Queenfans, Basje Asselbergs from the Netherlands. Though my intensions were to only
see the World Premiere this guy did his utmost to convince me to buy a
ticket for the last try-out as well. In this way he would have a
companion to see the show and I would have a chance to preview
the musical before the premiere. I decided to buy one of the last standing tickets
so I could also see the last try-out, not knowing it would become the
start of miraculous visits to this musical, giving me the
opportunity to meet our heroes.
The show wouldn't start for some hours and with Basje I went
to the back of the theatre where we were joined by some other people.
There we waited and waited and finally we met Neil Murray, Spike Edney
and Ben Elton. All such great guys and though in a hurry they found some
time to chat. I managed to be photographed with Spike and Ben standing next to me. I also met some of the Musical cast, like Tony
Vincent. A great chap. If it wasn't for Basjes interference I never
would've taken action to meet these people at the back entrance
of the Dominion.
My standing ticket proved to be a "winner" because that
evening, when I stood at the back of the Theatre in a corner near a door
that lead to the corridors, I suddenly saw Brian May peek into the
theatre hall. He was so close I could actually touch him (which of
course I didn't!) Next to Brian there was Roger Taylor. Seconds after
the lights went out, Brian and Roger walked by me (as close as one can
get) and I realised that part of my dreams had come true.
The show was stunning.
The live music, the songs, the players, the story, the effects, the
atmosphere... it was perfect. And after seeing Brian and Roger this
close... Could this get any better? Well, it would!
After the show again I went to the back entrance of the Theatre and
though it took hours - finally when almost everyone seemed to have left
the building - Brian May came out of the Theatre and instantly I walked
towards him and without hesitation he shook hands with me. I had a little
chat with him and he signed my We Will Rock You ticket ! He proved to be
a very nice guy indeed.
I could hardly believe I finally met and had
spoken with Brian May - THE BRIAN MAY from Queen, who is the creator of
songs like White Queen,
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Why Don't We Try
Again, We Will Rock You, Dream
of Thee and The Prophet's Song. A true Genius. I would wish this night could have lasted a lot
longer.
The
next day I met the first members of the Dutch Queen Fan group that -
just like me - had
tickets for seats of the first two rows in the Dominion Theatre of the
World Premiere of the Musical. We all stayed in the same hotel so it was
great fun to meet the others. That afternoon we went to the Theatre
together and especially for that evening I wore a shirt on which I had
printed a home made WWRY logo. This proved to be a unique one and it was
filmed by a dutch television station who had a camera crew standing next
to the red carpet in front of the entrance of the Theatre. They
broadcasted my apppearance on Thursday May 16th.
Inside the Dominion Theatre we all bought merchandise and went to our
places. When we looked up to the balcony we could spot Roger and also
Freddie's mother Jer Bulsara and his sister Kashmira Cook. Again another
part of my dream came true. Finally Brian and Anita took their seats and
while the theatre was filled with Queen fans he received a great welcome
with applause from all of us.
Though I knew what was coming, the experience was totally different
sitting this close to the stage and being there with all those fans. Not
in the least the fact that I was one of the lucky people who got a
ticket for this World Premiere. Again the show was great.
After the show most of us went to the nightclub where the afterparty was
to take place. Celebrities entered, Robert de Niro somewhere in between
of his bodyguards, Roger Taylor, Brian May, Bob Geldof, Rudi Dolezal,
Hannes Rossacher, Ruby Wax and Jacky Gunn. We stood there for hours but
it didn't take that long to make my dream to fullfill some more, because
suddenly John Deacon left the nightclub, just some feet away from me. He
was the last person I'd expected to see, but now I finally had met Brian,
Roger and John, outside a tour.
And after midnight... there she came out of the nightclub... Jer Bulsara,
along with Kashmira Cook. A friend of mine shook hands with
Freddie's mother and of course I didn't hesitate to do also. Shortly
after this she went back inside to wait for her car, which proved to be
Freddie's Rolls Royce. As if being guided by Freddie Mercury himself I followed her
and managed to have a short conversation with her. What is there to say
in such a surprising moment but to thank her for everything Freddie has
done for me and all of his fans. She listened with a smile on her face and when I
asked she and Kashmira even put their signature inside the We Will Rock
You booklet of the musical. I proudly showed her my home made Queen
shirt and she nodded looking very happy and even clapped her hands to
show her appreciation.
When she'd left I walked back in a daze, shivers down my spine thinking
"is this the real life - is this just fantasy". Finally the Dream had walked back in a daze, shivers down my spine thinking
"is this the real life - is this just fantasy". Finally the Dream had become
Reality. |