“We Will Rock You,” July 11 through July 21

Thursday, July 11, through Sunday, July 21

Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, 311 Riverview Drive, Clinton IA

Delivering what the British Theatre Guide deemed "lashings of energy" and "spectacle worthy of a rock video," the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre will treat patrons to an audience with the Queen – or rather, simply Queen – in the imaginative musical revue We Will Rock You, a July 11 through 21 celebration of the legendary rock and pop band boasting two dozen timeless hits including “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” “Somebody to Love,” and the iconic title tune.

Conceived and created by Ben Elton, We Will Rock You is set 300 years in the future in a globally corporate world. Planet Earth has been renamed the Planet Mall, and its leader – the sinister Killer Queen – has banned all non-computer generated music. She has heard of a prophecy involving hidden instruments on the planet and a “Dreamer" who will show her people the way to freedom, and consequently orders her chief of police to crush any potential rebellion. Meanwhile, the young student Galileo is desperate to break free from this capitalist world. He hears lyrics in his dreams and is heralded as the star of the prophecy by the Bohemians who have been searching for the lost instruments. To fulfill the prophecy, Galileo must evade the clutches of the Killer Queen and finally bring back rock's Holy Grail: the Brian May guitar buried in the remains of Wembley Stadium.

With additionally beloved Queen tunes in We Will Rock You including “Under Pressure,” “Play the Game,” “I Want It All,” “Don't Stop Me Now,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” the musical's first incarnation was directed by Christopher Renshaw and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, and its original West End production opened in 2002. The show quickly became an audience favorite, eventually becoming the longest-running musical at the Dominion Theatre, where it celebrated its tenth anniversary in May of 2012. That production finally closed on May 31, 2014, and at that time it stood as the 11th-longest-running musical in West End history. Numerous international and touring productions have followed, and to date, We Will Rock You has been seen in six of the world's seven continents.

Founded in 1970, Queen released its self-titled debut album in 1973 yet gained far greater popularity in Britain with sophomore release Queen II in 1974. The group's 1975 track “Bohemian Rhapsody” – which currently stands as the most-streamed song of the 20th Century – topped the charts for nine weeks in 1975 and another five weeks in 1991, and is at present the third-biggest selling single of all time in the U.K. Meanwhile, in the U.S., “Bohemian Rhapsody” hit the Billboard Top 40 charts in three different decades, reaching number nine in its original 1975 release, number two in 1992 (after being showcased in the film comedy Wayne's World), and hitting the top 40 once more in 2018 upon the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, the highest-grossing music bio-pic of all time. Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2018.

Featured in the Clonton Showboat's We Will Rock You cast are Kai Brown as the heroic Galileo, Grace Hunt as the nefarious Killer Queen, and an ensemble featuring: Veronique Chayer; Jack Cipriani; Maria Fallouh; Avery Gallagher; Gabriel Hill; Solomon Iem; Charlie Kadair; Mikayla Keyes; Caden Lohr; Shannon McCarthy; Ryan Scoble; Tristan Smith; and Meredith Villarial.

We Will Rock You will be performed in Clinton from June 11 through 21, with performances Fridays, Saturdays, and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays and Wednesdays at 3 p.m. Admission is $21-28, and more information is available by calling (563)242-6760 and visiting ClintonShowboat.org.