We Will Rock You, the guitar-thrashing musical charting the hits of rock heroes Queen, moves into its seventh West End year with a new collection of lead performers taking to the Dominion stage on 1 October. Ricardo Afonso (Galileo), Sabrina Aloueche (Scaramouche), Julian Littman (Pop), Lain Gray (Badass Britney) and Lucy Sinclair (Meat) step into the show's top roles, while Mazz Murray and Alex Bourne continue to play the villainous Killer Queen and Khashoggi.
The cast change coincides with the 30th anniversary of the show's title song. Queen's boldly coiffured guitarist Brian May will be on stage to thank the outgoing performers on 29 September before joining the audience to welcome the new on 1 October.
Afonso and Gray have both been promoted through the We Will Rock You ranks, and both have come to London theatre work recently in their careers. Alfonso worked in Portuguese theatre before providing vocals for Disney and Dreamworks films. Gray was previously a member of vocal group Nu Colours and has worked with Robbie Williams, Soul 2 Soul and Mary J Blige.
Littman's background is also in pop music. He has written for artists including Sister Sledge, and played with Cockney Rebel, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Pete Townshend.
Aloueche joins the rocktastic extravaganza after playing Eponine in Les Misérables, and Sinclair makes her West End debut in We Will Rock You, after touring with Starlight Express and appearing in Debbie Does Dallas at the Edinburgh Festival.
We Will Rock You, which has been performed more than 2,000 times at the Dominion, tells the story of a futuristic world where rock music has been banned. But underneath the cities, a resistance is growing and there are murmurings of the mighty axe of a legendary guitar god that lies buried deep in rock.
We Will Rock You is currently booking at the Dominion until October 2008. em>MA