The landmark 1985 charity concert, Live Aid, has been turned into a stage musical. Titled Just for One Day, the show will feature songs by Queen, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and more, and is set to premiere next year at the Old Vic in London.
In a new interview, the original Live Aid’s organizer, Bob Geldof, explained that the show is “based on actual testimony from the day,” and will give a stage to “real people telling their story.” To that end, it won’t be your run-of-the-mill jukebox romp, but rather, a fresh narrative meant to inspire a new generation of rock music lovers.
Among the other artists whose songs are included are: David Bowie, The Who, U2, The Police, The Pretenders, The Cars, Status Quo, Paul Weller, Sade, The Boomtown Rats, Bryan Adams, Diana Ross, and Ultravox.
“This isn’t a tribute thing,” Geldof told the BBC. “I wouldn’t have anything to do with that. So, there isn’t a person dressed up as Freddie wearing a crap mustache. The songs drive the drama along.”
Just For One Day was conceived by John O’Farrell and Luke Sheppard, who approached Geldof for his blessing to produce the show. Geldof, in turn, agreed to attend workshops, and fell in love with the duo’s vision. “We were blown away… I have to say there was not a dry eye in the house,” Geldof said.
Like the original Live Aid, Just for One Day will also try to make the world a better place, with 10% of ticket proceeds going towards Geldof’s Band Aid Charitable Trust. To Geldof, though, the most exciting prospect of the musical is the opportunity to spark a new flame of activism in the hearts of its audience.
“The money for Band Aid is good, but that’s not the point,” he said. “Will there be a kid who comes to this and leaves saying: ‘I can do something like this using digital devices, which will have the same impact?’ If the individual understands that the answer is not blowing in the wind, that the answer is get up off your arse, then honestly, for Bob, that’s where it’s at personally for me.”
Just for One Day is set to premiere at the Old Vic in London on January 26th, and will run through March 30th. Tickets will go on sale for the general public on Friday, October 6th, at 8:00 a.m. ET, and can be purchased on the Old Vic’s website.
In 2019, the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, featured an impressive recreation of the band’s iconic Live Aid performance, which was included in full, shot-for-shot, on the movie’s home release.
