02-10-23, 16:54
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Live Aid Concert to be Turned Into Stage Musical
Live Aid Concert to be Turned Into Stage Musical
Live Aid, one of the most famous concerts of all time, is to become a stage musical in London next year.
BBC 2 OCT 2023
The original event, at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985, was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
The musical, called Just For One Day, will feature songs played that day by acts including Queen, U2, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sting.
It will be on at London's Old Vic Theatre from 26 January to 30 March.
Sitting on the stage at the Old Vic, one thing that Geldof wants to make very clear is that there will not be anyone pretending to be the singers.
"This isn't a tribute thing. I wouldn't have anything to do with that. So, there isn't a person dressed up as Freddie wearing a crap moustache. The songs drive the drama along," he says.
The plot of Just For One Day, named after a line in David Bowie's Heroes, will balance a behind-the-scenes look at how Band Aid and Live Aid came together, with a love story inspired by real events.
"The story is based on actual testimony from the day," explains Geldof. "It's real people telling their story throughout this. So it's complex theatre."
The musical is being made with the full permission of the Band Aid Charitable Trust, which will receive 10% of every ticket sale.
The show was originally conceived by John O'Farrell, who wrote the Mrs Doubtfire musical, and Luke Sheppard - who directed the musical & Juliet which features the songs of Swedish pop songwriter Max Martin.
Geldof says the duo were not overly confident when they approached him with the idea for the show.
"They came and said, 'we know you are going to say no, but we want to do it because our dads have never stopped talking about this day. And we think it's theatre'."
WATCH: Queen in rehearsal for Live Aid 1985
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