03-09-2001 – MTV News – Queen Musical?

Scaramouche! ‘Queen: The Musical’?

Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Killer Queen.” “We Are the Champions.” Are these Queen songs not the perfect marriage of heavy metal and show tunes? Of course they are.

During the lifespan of the band, Queen’s presentation skewed towards the heavy “There’ll be a lot of Queen songs with some new ideas in there.” — Queen’s Brian May

metal part of the equation. But now, nearly 10 years after the death of frontman Freddie Mercury and 15 years after the last Queen performance, it appears there will be a full-fledged musical based on the band’s songbook.

Queen guitarist Brian May told the London radio station Capitol Gold that he and the other surviving members of the band would contribute to the production of a show with a script written by British comedian and onetime Andrew Lloyd Webber collaborator Ben Elton.

“The rumor is that we’re doing a musical, which is true,” May said, according to a spokesperson for Queen’s American record label, Hollywood Records. “Ben Elton has written us a fantastic script. Young people will be in it. There’ll be a lot of Queen songs with some new ideas in there.” The show would not tell the story of the band, he said.

May said he hoped the musical — to be produced by Tribeca Productions — could hit Broadway after debuting in London, where it’s planned to open later this year or in early 2002.

Queen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this month.