The hit London musical We Will Rock You celebrated it’s tenth year with a special tenth anniversary celebration show which took place at the Dominion Theatre on Monday 14th May. Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor joined the cast of We Will Rock You onstage to mark the anniversary. At the curtain call, We Will Rock You's writer and director Ben Elton said a few words before being joined on stage by the original producers of the show, including Robert De Niro and Jim Beach (Queen's manager). Other celebrities in the audience included Andrew Lloyd Webber, DJ Chris Tarrant, Antony Costa of the boyband Blue, and TV presenter Bill Oddie.
The Dominion has fundraised tirelessly for the Mercury Phoenix Trust since year one of the production, raising an incredible £204,992.78 over the past ten years. In 2010, the MPT became the theatre’s chosen charity and since then a staggering £100,000 has been raised in a variety of ways, from wacky cast and crew sky dives to the more traditional collections and charity gala evenings.
In recognition of this fantastic work, Ben Elton and Brian May, one of the trustees of the Mercury Phoenix Trust, presented the General Manager of the Dominion David Pearson with an official Mercury Phoenix Trust certicificate.
In its ten-year run We Will Rock You has built a fiercely loyal following across all ages with some fans having visited the show more than 400 times, couples have met and married through the show, and when Queen’s Brian May himself popped up in the Box Office to personally hand over the 1 millionth ticket purchased (September 22, 2003), it was a 61-year-old grandmother who was buying the ticket to treat her 4-year-old great grandson to see the show. And what other show could boast Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Pink in the house on the same night, or other celebrity fans such as Demi Moore, Priscilla Presley, and Liza Minnelli, as well as a certain famous British actress who has slipped in to see the show 17 times.
The show has now been seen by over 6 million people at the Dominion and 13 million around the world.