London: Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed that the band’s former vocalist Freddie Mercury will “appear” on stage using a technical “effect” during a special performance of West End musical ‘We Will Rock You’.
May, 64, told the BBC that the production team had been working on ways to give the late singer a presence during its 10th anniversary show for some time.
The guitarist stressed the new “effect” was not a hologram, calling it “an optical illusion of sorts.”
“People will come out saying, ‘did we actually see Freddie?’” he told BBC.
He hinted that the musical might employ a similar technique to the one used to make the late rapper Tupac Shakur perform on stage at the Coachella music festival last month.
“It’s a little unfortunate they did that thing with Tupac as we’ve been trying to make Freddie appear on the stage for quite a while.
“[That technique] is something we’ve looked at ourselves but I think probably for a show that runs eight shows a week it’s not really quite practical,” he added.
The special performance, on May 14, will celebrate 10 years of the hit musical at London’s Dominion Theatre.
As well as almost all the original London cast in attendance, Hollywood star Robert De Niro, who is one of the show’s producers, will also be making an appearance.
“There is a certain person who’s coming that’s intimately associated with getting the production on in the first place - our friend Bob from Los Angeles,” May confirmed.
“We call him Bob so we don’t get too overcome with his stardom,” he said.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.