Brian Justin Crum News

Beginning September 12, the hit 'For The Record' series will present a two-month limited engagement of their critically-acclaimed evening inspired by the films of Baz Luhrmann at West Hollywood's DBA.

Queen and Ben Elton's 'We Will Rock You,' created by Ben Elton with music supervisors Brian May and Roger Taylor, is coming to the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre, and with it comes a rock attitude.'We Will Rock You' opened last night, Wednesday, July 16, and runs through August 24, 2014. Check out photos from opening night below!

Queen and Ben Elton's 'We Will Rock You,' created by Ben Elton with music supervisors Brian May and Roger Taylor, is coming to the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre, and with it comes a rock attitude. 'We Will Rock You' opens tonight, July 16, and runs through August 24, 2014.

Queen and Ben Elton's 'We Will Rock You,' created by Ben Elton with music supervisors Brian May and Roger Taylor, is coming to the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre, and with it comes a rock attitude. 'We Will Rock You' opens Wednesday, July 16, and runs through August 24, 2014. There is one preview on July 15.

Sometimes jukebox musicals need to stay in the jukebox. There are some exceptions where it works. When it's a good review like “Smokey Joe's Café” or when there's a fun book like “Mamma Mia”. But when you take the songs of a classic rock band (such as Queen) and jam them into a completely contrived and nonsensical, thread thin plot the result (as with “We Will Rock You” currently at the 5th Avenue Theatre) is a barely entertaining mish mash of songs that left me less entertained and more embarrassed for those involved. Now I love me some Queen. I'm a little too young to have been aware of them in their hay day but like many others discovered them after their run as their enduring songs continue to live on. Which is why I feel they deserve better than the show they got. A show where we're in a not so distant future and people live their lives online (not so different from now) and because of this, rock and roll has been outlawed. (And there's the main plot hole because what's on the Internet but lots and lots of music.) So when a hunky idealistic dreamer, Galileo (Brian Justin Crum) who keeps hearing the lyrics from long dead rockers meets another outcast Scaramouche (Ruby Lewis), the two set out to escape the clutches of the all powerful Killer Queen (Jacqueline B. Arnold) and find other rebels who want to bring back rock. And how will they do this? Um, play music. Yeah, that's ultimately what drives the bad guys away, music. But then we've had music through out the whole show including from the bad guys. See, plot hole. And if this ridiculous story filled with so much bad, one repeated joke (how many times can we mention that the male leader of the rebels goes by the name Britney Spears?), sitcom humor and clunky exposition laden dialog from book writer Ben Elton weren't bad enough, but then they take these wonderful Queen songs and force them into the narrative often times changing the lyrics to try and make them fit. For example, they take the title song from the movie “Flash Gordon” and bastardize it so it's now all about giving the captured rebels electro shock therapy. Or how about Killer Queen singing “Fat Bottomed Girls” because, well I'm still not certain why she was singing it other than to check that iconic tune off the list. Did no one listen to the lyrics of the songs while trying to write the show? They're all quite narrative to begin with. And Elton couldn't come up with a story that fit in with those narratives? I mean he's even got characters names Galileo and Scaramouche but “Bohemian Rhapsody” (the thing all the bohemian rockers are striving for in the story by the way) isn't even performed until the end of the show as an after thought encore. The cast does what they can. In fact they amp their energy and intent up to about a 17 in order to try and give this story some punch. Crum and Lewis certainly have incredible voices worthy of Freddie Mercury and they completely shred any numbers given to them. Arnold too has a gorgeous voice but doesn't seem as invested in playing the villain in this over the top melodrama. But I have to mention Ryan Knowles who not only lent some incredible pipes to his numbers but some delicious comedic timing and heart to his character making him completely “ROCK”. But even the infectious energy of this amazing cast can't polish away the stench of this turd try as they may. The show is a somewhat fun ride but ultimately weighed down with such a horrible book and bastardized songs that it just feels insulting. Queen deserves better and smarter as do audiences, which is why I give “We Will Rock You” a NAH with my three letter rating system. Others may have enjoyed it but I just found it not worth the effort. “We Will Rock You” performs at the 5th Avenue Theatre through July 13th. For tickets or information contact the 5th Avenue box office at 206-625-1900 or visit them online at www.5thavenue.org.

The worldwide smash hit 'rock theatrical', Queen and Ben Elton's We Will Rock You, built around 24 of Queen's biggest hits will rock The 5th Avenue Theatre July 8-13. We Will Rock You is produced by Queen Theatrical Productions, Tribeca Theatrical Productions, Phil McIntyre Entertainment and NETworks Presentations.

There is not a lot to say about We Will Rock You. The plot is bizarre, the characters and dialogue are weak, and only the great music keeps it afloat.

Book problems? Yes. But there's a really talented group of performers involved in this one.

In advance of the upcoming tour stop in Washington, DC - playing from June 3-8, 2014 - cast member Brian Justin Crum (Galileo) answered a few questions via email for BroadwayWorld.Com about the show, his experience with it, and his musical theatre career more generally.

It's not every rock band or musical act that could successfully create musical based on its many widely varying songs. There has to be a certain uniformity, power and resonance to the music, all of the music, carrying through many songs, rather than just one or two 'greatest hits.' And they have to be songs that can be strung together to create a cohesive whole that works as a musical with a plot, story, characters, etc. If there's any proof that it can be done, and done smashingly well, it's found in We Will Rock You, the 'rock theatrical' created through the combination of British writer Ben Elton and the music of Queen.

Queen and Ben Elton's smash musical WE WILL ROCK YOU, built around 24 of British rock group Queen's biggest hits, including 'Another One Bites The Dust,' 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love,' 'We Are The Champions,' 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' and 'We Will Rock You,' opens at the Warner Theatre (513 13th Street NW) on Tuesday, June 3, and will run eight performances until Sunday, June 8. For tickets ($55-75), visit ticketmaster.com or warnertheatredc.com.

If there's any 'jukebox' musical that should be wildly over the top it would have to be one connected with the 70's and 80's rock group Queen. It just makes sense. Their music always had a sort of 'larger than life', heroic quality to it to begin with. So, it's only natural that WE WILL ROCK YOU (book by Ben Elton), the stage adaptation, delivers a perfectly cheesy science fiction plot that forecasts a dystopian future where instruments and composers have become outlawed. With a thumping ten-piece band pumping out the score, this amusing and undeniably wacky production is rockin' the Fabulous Fox Theatre.

In this week's edition, we caught up with Cortney Worfson, who is starring as 'Nicola' in Kinky Boots- currently playing at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

The worldwide smash hit 'rock theatrical,' Queen and Ben Elton's We Will Rock You, built around 24 of Queen's biggest hits, opens at the Music Hall at Fair Park tonight, March 4, 2014. We Will Rock You is produced by Queen Theatrical Productions, Tribeca Theatrical Productions, Phil McIntyre Entertainment and NETworks Presentations.

Brian Justin Crum and Ruby Lewis, stars of Queen's We Will Rock You, currently touring North America, will debut their concert PopRock at Rockwell Table & Stage on February 25th.

Today's SIPs come from Broadway's self-declared 'Manly Mormons,' gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday, MATILDA's Lesli Margherita sharing her own feelings on football's big day, plus shots from KINKY BOOTS, the national tours of WICKED, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, ROCK OF AGES, WE WILL ROCK YOU, and more!

The national tour of WE WILL ROCK YOU, presented by Theatre Under the Stars, is continuing to rock Houston audiences for another week. This high-energy show, with a score made of Queen's hit songs, is sure to have you clapping for hands, stomping your feet, and signing along. Kick your winter blues in the face and check out this fun and frivolous night of theatre before it's too late. Forget the Super Bowl, grab your friends, and go to a party you won't regret.

Theatre Under the Stars is rocking the new year with the National Tour of Ben Elton's book musical WE WILL ROCK YOU, which proudly boats the songs of Queen as its score. The show had its world premiere in London in 2002, and celebrated its 10th anniversary on May 14, 2012 at London's Dominion Theatre. Despite being panned by critics, this raucous, loud, and irresistibly fun rock musical has proven to be an audience favorite. Last night's Houston premiere of the piece was a sparkling example of why this show has had such staying power.

The notoriously harsh London critics predicted a very short lifespan for WE WILL ROCK YOU, a musical centered on the rock band Queen's hits, when it opened May 14, 2002 at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End. The Guardian felt the production came across as 'ruthlessly packaged and manufactured,' with its plot finding 'more unlikely ways to wring out another Queen song' into the two and a half hour performance.

We Will Rock You, a musical featuring the songs of Queen, has been one of the most successful shows in London's West End for quite some time. Now, it is touring America, bringing familiar songs and a fun story around the country. It's spending the week in Raleigh, in the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, brought to you by North Carolina Theatre and Broadway Series South. The show is a true rock musical, complete with loud music, lasers, and sweet guitar riffs.