Nominated as Best Actor in a Musical in both the Oliver Awards and Whatsonstage.com Awards for his performance as Emmett in the original London cast of LEGALLY BLONDE, actor, singer Alex Gaumond is to take over the leading role of Galileo in the Queen & Ben Elton hit West End musical, WE WILL ROCK YOU. The announcement was made today by show producers Phil McIntyre Entertainment, Tribeca and Queen Theatrical Productions.

Gaumond begins rehearsals with the WWRY cast August 1st to take on the role of Galileo full time at London’s Dominion from August 8th. 

Playing LEGALLY BLONDE’s shy and charming fellow law student Emmett opposite first Sheridan Smith and then Susan McFadden in the role of Elle, Gaumond proved hugely popular with audiences as well as receiving  his two Best Actor nominations. Gaumond ended his eighteen month stay with the production June 18th.

Joining WE WILL ROCK YOU, Gaumond takes over from WWRY’s current Galileo, Ricardo Afonso, who moves to join the cast of the stage version of Irving Berlin’s TOP HAT, due to open in August.

Trading those unflattering Harvard corduroys for jeans and t’s,  Gaumond  is set to enter the leather clad, guitar-thrashing futurist world of Queen and Ben Elton in which originality and individualism are outlawed and only one man, Galileo, can fulfill a prophecy that will bring about the overthrow of the mighty Killer Queen and enable the return of rock ´n roll. 

It is a return to familiar territory for Gaumond -  the dystopian world of Ga Ga girls, Bohemian rebels and Marks & Spencer smoothies;   the Canadian actor/singer/songwriter, resident and working in the UK since 2002, gained his first major leading role when he was cast as Galileo in the 2009 UK touring production of WE WILL ROCK YOU. Gaumond triumphed in the show for seven months before joining LEGALLY BLONDE.

Gaumond is presently contracted to play Galileo in the WWRY London Dominion production until end of January 2012.

The show’s co-creator Brian May welcomed Gaumond saying: “Alex is a superb actor, and his interpretation of Galileo on tour in the UK was a huge hit with audiences. We look forward to a new triumph in the Dominion, in WWRY’s 10th year.”

WE WILL ROCK YOU’s  producers today also announced that actress/singer Mazz Murray,  the show’s longest serving Killer Queen until her departure on maternity leave last year, is to make a return to the show for a special two week farewell season.  Mazz who played Killer Queen between May 2004 – June 2010, will return to say goodbye to her nemesis role August 8 -20, nicely coinciding with Alex Gaumond’s opening in the show.  We Will Rock You’s current Killer Queen, Brenda Edwards, is on break during this period, returning to the show immediately after.

On 1st July Sabrina Aloueche joined back the West End cast of WE WILL ROCK YOU replacing Sarah French, on maternity leave.

The rest of leading roles in WE WILL ROCK YOU are performed by Kevin Kennedy (Pop), Alex Bourne (Khashoggi), Ian Carlyle (Brit) and Rachel John (Meat).

WE WILL ROCK YOU is into the start of its tenth year at the Dominion Theatre where it holds the record for longest-ever running show.  The touring production continues to break box office records throughout the UK.

September 5 will see a special performance of WE WILL ROCK YOU at the Dominion to mark the 65th birthday of former Queen front man Freddie Mercury whose statue towers above the theatre entrance.  Proceeds of this special performance will be directed through the Freddie For A Day campaign to The Mercury Phoenix Trust, the charity set up in Freddie’s name to fight HIV AIDS worldwide.

WE WILL ROCK YOU is presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainment, Queen Theatrical Productions and Tribeca Theatrical Productions. Book and direction by Ben Elton. Music supervisors Brian May and Roger Taylor.