West End leading lady and Loose Women panelist Brenda Edwards will star alongside musical theatre stalwart Lee Mead this summer, in Queen and Ben Elton’s sensational smash-hit show We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum.
The rock theatrical returns to London 21 years after it exploded into the West End for a strictly limited 12-week season from 2 June – 27 August.
Brenda Edwards will star in the role of Killer Queen. She previously played the part in both the UK tour and the record-breaking Dominion Theatre run. Brenda first found fame on the second season of The X Factor, where she made it all the way to the semi-final. She has since had leading roles in hit musicals including Mama Morton in Chicago, Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act The Musical and Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray.
Lee Mead will star in the role of Khashoggi. As winner of the BBC One series ‘Any Dream Will Do’ in 2007, Lee was awarded the prize of the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His theatre credits include Billy Flynn in Chicago, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde and Fiyero in Wicked.
Ben Elton said: “I’m thrilled that the wildly talented Brenda Edwards and Lee Mead are starring in We Will Rock You. They’re guaranteed to blow your mind and after that they’ll blow the roof off!”
Brenda Edwards said: “I’m delighted to be stepping back into the shoes of the legendary Killer Queen and this time at the iconic London Coliseum! I can’t wait to work with Ben again, the hugely talented Lee Mead and the rest of the amazing company.”
Lee Mead said: “I’m so excited to be joining the cast of We Will Rock and can’t wait to bring Queen’s legendary songs back to the London stage. We start rehearsing in April – bring it on!”
Following critical acclaim for their performances in the UK tour, Olivier award nominated actor Ian McIntosh and Elena Skye, reprise their roles as Galileo Figaro and Scaramouche. Further casting to be announced.
The musical features 24 of Queen’s greatest hits and a hilarious script by Ben Elton – who returns to the director’s chair for this London homecoming – ‘We Will Rock You’ rivals the scale and spectacle of the band’s legendary live performances.
It has been 21 years since We Will Rock You premiered at London’s Dominion Theatre in 2002, where it was seen by six million people over 4600 performances during an astonishing 12-year run, becoming one of the most successful musicals in West End history and the longest runner at the Dominion by a margin of nine years. It also found unprecedented popularity around the world, playing to a global audience of 20 million across 28 countries.
We Will Rock You tells the story of a globalized future without musical instruments. A handful of rock rebels, the Bohemians, fight against the all-powerful Globalsoft company and its boss, the Killer Queen; they fight for freedom, individuality and the rebirth of the age of rock. Scaramouche and Galileo, two young outsiders, cannot come to terms with the bleak conformist reality. They join the Bohemians and embark on the search to find the unlimited power of freedom, love and rock!
