On Tuesday, the 26th of November, Indonesia Expat had a chance to catch the jukebox musical before its cast and crew shared their insights regarding the school’s most ambitious stage production yet.
If there’s one takeaway from the latest stage production from British School Jakarta (BSJ), We Will Rock You, it’s that no one should ever underestimate a school musical. Opened to the public on the 25th, the 26th, and the 28th of November, 2024 at the esteemed BSJ World Theatre, for approximately two hours and a half, the dedicated teachers and the exceptionally gifted students of BSJ adapted the jukebox musical, based on the songs of British rock band Queen with a book by Ben Elton, as they exceeded every expectation with both humour and show-stopping vocals.
Krystal Waltho, the creative director and producer of We Will Rock You who also happens to be the BSJ’s Head of Arts Department, revealed that the idea to adapt the jukebox musical as the school’s latest production came from Stephen Tomlinson, the school’s Head of Music Department who also served as the music director of the production.
“I just saw the aesthetic for it,” Waltho said as they reminisced on the show’s pre-production. “I just saw that, you know what, we need a massive video screen in there, the lighting, the sound, that rock atmosphere, the fog, and even the fireworks. It just came to me straight away.”
Waltho knew that her grandiose vision required a “wonderful combination” of “great music director, and then great directing, and acting here”. And of course, professionals are not the only ones who could reach for the stars.
“And I started calling us the ‘all-stars’ because I do think we are an all-star cast with an all-star production, all-star technician, an all-star school,” Waltho continued. “So, for me, it was a no-brainer in that sense. And, also, the play looks at individuality and how you can stand out from the crowd.”
But there’s more to We Will Rock You than blowing the minds of the public as well as the Melophiles. The musical production takes place in a far-distant, Orwellian future where a young man named Galileo refuses to conform to the oppressed society. Waltho observed how the story might also resonate with the youth’s struggle with anxiety and their desire to find their place in the world. As Waltho deftly put it: “This musical, it deals with those issues and it makes kids realise that they can be great as individuals and they’re perfect as they are.”
In developing the production, at least for Tomlinson, it was all about fusing showmanship with education.
“You do build [the musical] around [the students],” Tomlinson remarked. “So, a lot of it is just having that knowledge of what they’re passionate about, what they’re good at. And I think we really wanted to do this for the students.”
That being said, anyone who is familiar with Queen’s discography would agree that songs like “Somebody to Love”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “No One But You”, and “I Want It All” are not exactly the easiest songs to be vocally performed on a live stage. To boot, the teachers understood that their cast members were still in adolescence, which means that their vocals were not yet fully developed. It took extra care, training, and attention for everyone to hit the right note.
Zane Sattar, the BSJ Year 13 Student who portrayed Galileo, explained, “All these songs are songs that I’ve sang, I mean, you know, many moons ago, I’ve sung these songs all before, and so obviously my voice is a lot deeper now [in comparison to] back when I was a kid, and so other than that, it’s, yeah, it was challenging.”
Moreover, working on We Will Rock You taught Sattar the critical thinking required in performance arts.
“There’s a lot of movement going around, and sometimes you have to sacrifice acting and like saying your lines out, instead of prioritising to hit the notes and things like that,” Sattar continued.
For Amanda Haryono, the BSJ Year 12 Student who portrayed the chief antagonist Killer Queen, working on We Will Rock You taught the budding actor the importance of teamwork as well as unity.
“Everything matters,” Haryono asserted. “From the biggest things to the small things, everything we do matters. Because you might be the main character on stage, you might be a lighting crew, you might just be moving props, but your role is so significant to everyone. And we all, as the cast, we cannot do without each other. And we all unite together to form this big family to perform this amazing show.”
Meanwhile, We Will Rock You, as well as performing on a stage in front of a live audience, became a great source of empowerment for Anissa Machin, the BSJ Year 10 Student who took up the role of Galileo’s love interest named Scaramouche.
“I think, just don’t be afraid to be yourself,” Machin said about the key lesson that the actor learned throughout such a creative endeavour, “because when you’re on that stage, you’re just there. You don’t have to care what anybody else thinks. It’s just you. And you know what to do. You do it.”
In directing these passionate students, the most important thing, as explained by the musical director Jessica Yadav who also serves as BSJ’s Arts Teacher, is being meticulous even in the smallest details like costume design, as it also helped boost the students’ confidence before they graced the stage.
“I love directing. And I can see the vision of the performances. And sometimes I have a vision for the costumes [as well],” Yadav gave an example.
Yadav continued, “We storyboarded them. And we asked the cast, you know, is this okay? Can you do this? Do you have this? And yeah, I think the costumes are amazing. I think they work with every single character. And some of them have made it their own. They’ve come in on weekend rehearsals saying, can I have an earring? Can I have a belt? Can I have three belts? And I think we have one cast member who’s got four belts!”
When all’s said and done, as the curtains closed, We Will Rock You was performed by and for the students.
“For me, everything’s about the students and giving them the best life experiences. They’re going to go to America, they’re going to go to Europe, they’re going to go to these universities, and they’re going to have this West End, Broadway experience that we’ve given them, right? […] And they’ve got it here in Indonesia,” Waltho concluded.
