Pardon me if this sounds like total crap or if I suddenly open up a gigantic can of worms or something, but here's something that's been bugging me for a little while now ...
Queen's songs (obviously) have a relatively campy nature, which they preferred not to be labeled as "musical theatre," and yet now we've got WWRY ... with those lovely campy songs. So my point is, do you think this is a sort of "betrayal" (for lack of a better word) of the original entertaining purpose of the music itself, or is it merely a "more-power-to-you" situation?
Pleeeease don't kill me over this. It's just an idea, and I'm not even calling it a smart one. So there -- answer as you will.
I think that the Musical has divided Queen fans so much that you will never get a good discussion of your point.
Personally, I think the musical is a trend they thought they could jump on, and to their credit, it's been successful. If they had done this before Mama Mia, then I might be more positive towards the musical and think of the band as innovative; now, I kind of view it as a money-making venture.
Campness has never entered my mind, really.
No, campness has never really entered my mind as a fan....if I were a neutral where I listened to the Queen chart stuff and wasnt a serious fan then maybe.
I like the idea and don't feel it degrades the songs or anything. My only gripe has been from listening to some of the cast recordings.. they really sounded bad to me. But if people enjoy the show, that's great.
There's only so much that can be done with a back catalog of music and I think this is a clever way of keeping the songs alive. Maybe some new fans will be inspired to check out the originals and fall in love with Queen :)
Freddie obviously loved theatricallity and campness, whether you separate the two or not, I think he would have probably enjoyed this idea.
If the fans are divided, surely that means you should get good discussion. One sided discussions aren't much fun, now are they?
I don't think they've jumped on the bandwagon - they were thinking about this along time ago ('86), but never got round to it, 'cause of the situation with Fred and wanting to record the last 3 albums. Then they had the break after Fred went (understandably), did MIH, did their own things again and then the time was right and the right finance came along. Remember Abba had been finished for quite a while before they did the musical. Can't be easy to do it while the band is still 'active'. People on here are moaning about Brian being consumed by the musical. What would it be like if Fred was still here and the musical got in the way of new Queen albums?!?!? (I don't think that would have happened. Which is my point - they could''t have done this earlier, and certainly not before Mama Mia).
I think for someone like Jim Beach it's all about the money (well, not ALL, might be a bit harsh on him, but he is the true management side of things). Brian and Roger recognise that you can't do something on the scale of WWRY without serious backing and then the merchandise etc that goes with it. But I truly believe that everything Brian and Roger do is driven by the music or artists they want to work with, not by money. I include Pepsi etc in this. WWRY with 5ive might stretch this theory though! But then again, they must've seen something in them to make them want to do it. People slam the Pepsi thing and say "why would Queen want to get involved with Pink, Beyonce and Britney?". Well, maybe because they're the hottest artists etc. And you've got to give these girls a certain amount of credit for what they've achieved. I might remind people that Tina Turner and Tom Jones never wrote songs, but they're well respected. Ok, so I would concede that they're much better singers than, say, Pink or Britney etc, but still, I think these girls deserve more credit than they get here.
I don't think the musical degrades the songs and I think that the vocalists and band are fantastic. The soundtrack album I've got (UK one) does them justice. They're not all amazing, but the 3 original leading female parts - Scaramouche, Meat and Killer Queen - really nailed their songs. Particularly Scaramouche on STL, and Meat on No-One But You. Would've loved to have heard Fred sing NOBY!