Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God is a monodrama written by Charles Messina about the life and death of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. It presents Mercury in the moments just after his death, during which he is confronted with self-examination as he "seeks redemption before a God unimpressed by his celebrity."
The play debuted at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in New York City's Chelsea district on November 24th, 1997 at 6:48pm - the 6th anniversary of Mercury's death. The part of Freddie was played by Khalid Gonçalves (né Paul Gonçalves).
On February 17th, rock musician Billy Squier, a longtime friend of Freddie's, debuted a song that he wrote in memory of him titled I Have Watched You Fly. He introduced the song by saying, "I knew Freddie as a friend. I'm honored to share the stage with him in the afterlife."
Proceeds from the ticket sales of both runs were donated to Gay Men's Health Crisis and The Mercury Phoenix Trust.
On January 11th, 2004, the play experienced a successful revival with a three month run at the The Triad Theater, also in New York City, with Messina again as writer/director and featuring Amir Darvish in the role of Freddie.
No comments:
Post a Comment