We Will Rock You

WE WILL ROCK YOU

The Next Stage’s Oliver Laight explains how the company built the framework for the famous Queen-themed show.

Starting life as one of the most successful shows on London’s West End, We Will Rock You is now touring the UK, bringing its inimitable brand of Queen-themed entertainment to theatres up and down the country, presented by Phil McIntyre Productions. Stufish Entertainment Architects was brought back in to take the creative lead on the tour, with video design by Treatment and lighting by Rob Sinclair. Stufish has been a part of the We Will Rock You story for a number of years, having designed the original 2002 show and every other official replica production since. Fo r the 2019 iteration, the goal was to move this touring version into a completely digital panorama. Utilising video screens, the set can form different shapes and levels as a way of creating different scenes on stage. With a variety of venues set to host the touring production, the set had to have the ability to fit onto a number of different sized stages. Brought in to provide staging and set production services for the tour were The Next Stage, MDM and Total Fabrications. “We built all of the custom frameworks to fit LED panels onto the set, the support structure for the tracking/flown video screens and the transport carts for these assemblies,” commented The Next Stage’s Oliver

Laight. “Later in the build period, we were asked to build the Killer Queen Throne, a 4 ft tall, rolling riser with telescopic steps up to it. This provided numerous challenges as the piece had steps that retracted into the unit, and LED lighting that all needed to be packaged into it. It also had to have a top deck that could tilt to account for raked stages.” The Next Stage was first approached to work on the project in May. “We had completed a couple of projects for Broome Productions’ Andy Gibbs before – notably sets for theatre productions of Catherine Tate Live and the TV show Early Doors,” explained Laight. “We received initial design concepts from Stufish Entertainment Architects. The design went through a couple of versions, but with only minor changes each time. This design package was very comprehensive with scene by scene breakdowns and an animation of how the set pieces had to move around during the show. The final production was very true to the concept.” Wel l thought out packaging was crucial. “This is something that The Next Stage specialises in,” noted Laight. “Custom transport carts were built with location cones and latches to hold all of the pieces in position to avoid the LED assemblies from being damaged in transport.” The large LED screens were built into modular sections, which allowed for a faster load

in/out. “The assemblies needed to be strong enough to support the panels but light enough to be lifted in and out of the carts,” added Laight. Th e Next Stage working with Total Fabrications, which built the scenic trucks that are moved around during the performance. “Half of our video assemblies were fitted onto these trucks,” said Laight. “Mervyn Thomas and Nigel Tranter were a pleasure to work with and, thanks to an exchange of CAD models and ideas, a simple solution for fitting these assemblies together was agreed upon. During the build stage, before the video assemblies were powder coated, they were test fitted onto the trucks to make sure there were no issued when it came to the fit up, a couple of weeks later.” Th e LED panels were provided by Blue-I. “They were kind enough to loan us a few to aid the design process,” recalled Laight. “Prototypes of the LED assemblies were built and having the product allowed us to test-fit the panels to make sure everything lined up as it should, and we could get the pixel pitch correct. Malcolm Mellows from Blue-I and his team were very accommodating when we came to fit all of the LED panels at their Milton Keynes site.” La ight summed up his final thoughts on the project. “We are really proud of this project and feel that it is some of our best work to date,” he commented. “Integrating LED video products onto staging elements is something we have a lot of experience in. This job was the perfect showcase for these skills.” TPi Photos: Johan Persson www.queenonline.com www.stufish.com www.thenextstage-uk.com