![\"Sheldon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/sut-l-stage-rockyou1.jpg\")
Sheldon Gomabon is the director of New Village Arts\u2019 \u201cWe Will Rock You.\u201d (Sheldon Gomabon)<\/p>\nScaramouche and Galileo just come and go in the famous operatic sequence in Queen\u2019s megahit \u201cBohemian Rhapsody.\u201d But in \u201cWe Will Rock You,\u201d the jukebox musical by Ben Elton that features more than 20 songs by the English rock band, they are the two main characters.<\/p>\n
In a futuristic society that bans creativity, individuality and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, Scaramouche Fandango and Galileo Figaro are at the forefront of a rebellion by outcasts calling themselves \u201cBohemians.\u201d Their adversaries are Killer Queen of the reigning Globalsoft Corporation and his commander-in-chief Khashoggi. It shouldn\u2019t take long to hear how British writer\/comedian Elton, who created \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d in 2002, wove songs by Queen into his narrative.<\/p>\n
New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad is kicking off its 25th anniversary season with the San Diego premiere of \u201cWe Will Rock You,\u201d directed by Sheldon Gomabon, with musical direction by Erin Vanderhyde-Gross and choreography by Erica Kahn.<\/p>\n
Sheldon Gomabon is the director of New Village Arts\u2019 \u201cWe Will Rock You.\u201d (Sheldon Gomabon)<\/p>\n
Gomabon is the former artistic director of Teatro San Diego, which last staged an ambitious \u201cWest Side Story\u201d at the City Heights Performance Annex. The graduate of San Diego State\u2019s MFA program in musical theater sees the dystopian \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d at NVA as a tale of a community rallying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to approach this with the idea of community first and foremost,\u201d he said, \u201cwith the message that when you come together as a community you can do anything you want. Power in numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only do the rebelling \u201cBohemians\u201d come together in the face of tyranny in \u201cWe Will Rock You,\u201d but a seven-member cast in the New Village production is tasked with playing multiple roles and with managing the vocal demands of Queen\u2019s songs and the high bar set by the band\u2019s late front man Freddie Mercury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was important for me to allow all of our actors to play a multitude of different roles on top of their main roles, as if we were a traveling troupe of theater artists,\u201d said Gomabon. \u201cWe\u2019re making this bigger-than-life show with a small cast in an intimate setting, yet having that magnitude that Queen has because of its sound \u2026 as if we\u2019re creating something magical in a shoebox.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Audrey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/sut-l-stage-rockyou3.jpg\")
Audrey Ward plays the role of Khashoggi in New Village Arts\u2019 \u201cWe Will Rock You.\u201d (Audrey Ward)<\/p>\n
The production stars Cooper Orio as Galileo and Sarah Ledesma as Scaramouche. Playing Khashoggi (usually a male role) among other parts is Audrey Ward, who memorably portrayed another antagonist of a very different sort, Lena Lamont, at NVA three years ago in its production of \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always find in any role that is \u2018villain\u2019-driven a vulnerability,\u201d Ward said, \u201ca person in there who has this need and this want. That vulnerability makes the audience somewhat kind of root for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The henchman Khashoggi may be a bad guy, she said, but \u201cHe\u2019s still very playful and his ego gets in the way of his dominance. There\u2019s a little bit of playfulness there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling herself an \u201c\u201980s child,\u201d Ward said she grew up listening to Queen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe music means so much to me. In my youth when I was listening to them it was just fun songs. As we\u2019re learning the show I\u2019m finding so much meaning behind the words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her favorite Queen song? \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Me Now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always sing that at the top of my lungs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For director Gomabon it\u2019s \u201cUnder Pressure,\u201d the 1981 collaboration between Queen and David Bowie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has this driving beat that makes you want to stand up and get involved,\u201d he said. \u201cWithin the context of our story it allows our two heroes to come together and find their commonalities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018We Will Rock You\u2019<\/p>\n
When: Previews, Aug. 7 through 14. Opens Aug. 15 and runs through Sept. 20. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays<\/p>\n
Where: New Village Arts, 2787 State St., Carlsbad<\/p>\n
Tickets: $45-$85<\/p>\n
Phone: 760-433-3245<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/sut-l-stage-rockyou2.jpg\")
The cast of in New Village Arts\u2019 \u201cWe Will Rock You.\u201d (New Village Arts)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scaramouche and Galileo just come and go in the famous operatic sequence in Queen\u2019s megahit \u201cBohemian Rhapsody.\u201d But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2136,119252,157,85,9,24,119253,63,122,124,123,1129,11423,905,904],"class_list":["post-316211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-california","tag-carlsbad","tag-entertainment","tag-latest-headlines","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-north-county","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-theater","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}