By Robert Simonson
21 Jun 2004

Will the Las Vegas strip soon rival Broadway as a theatre street?

That seems to be the trend. Just days after the Tony-winning musical Avenue Q rocked the theatre world by revealing it would forego a traditional national tour for a long-time sit-down production in Las Vegas, We Will Rock You — the rock musical featuring 25 Queen hits — has announced it will also seek a more-or-less permanent home in Nevada. It has been known for several months that the musical, which debuted at London's Dominion Theatre in May 2002, would have its U.S. debut at the Paris Las Vegas, playing the 1,450-seat Paris Theatre des Arts. Playwright Ben Elton will direct the Las Vegas mounting with production design by Mark Fisher.

However, the producers now say they will not try for a Broadway bow, the New York Times reported. We Will Rock You will have an Aug. 16 start in Las Vegas. The run is open-ended.

About the musical's Las Vegas premiere, co-producer Jane Rosenthal previously told Variety, "This doesn't preclude us from opening in any other city. There has been a definite question of whether to come to New York, and we [studied] the challenge of opening in New York. We wouldn't rule out any opportunity [down the road]."

Las Vegas is also host to productions of Saturday Night Fever and Mamma Mia!.

We Will Rock You uses songs from the Queen catalogue to tell the story of a "rebel band fighting in a futuristic world where musical instruments are outlawed." Among the Queen hits heard in We Will Rock You are "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Are the Champions," "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." To date, the musical has grossed over $75 million in London. The blockbuster will also open in the fall in Sydney, Moscow and Cologne.