// Marching Arts — Show Design

Mercury Rising

Mercury Rising is a tribute to Freddie Mercury: the voice, the showmanship, the fearless musicianship, and the color of a life lived entirely out loud. It reaches for the range of the man himself, the operatic and the anthemic, the tender and the defiant, the sheer theatrical scale of an artist who never once played it small. This is a show built to be performed, in the biggest sense of the word.

The soundtrack is drawn entirely from the Queen catalog, the ballads and the anthems both, giving the production room to move from intimacy to full-throated spectacle and back. It's a crowd's show and a performer's show at once: instantly recognizable in the stands, and a genuine vehicle for an ensemble that wants to reach for something bold.

Permissions to Arrange are required for:

  • Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
  • Love of My Life (Queen)
  • Somebody to Love (Queen)
  • Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)

This show is rated Medium-Advanced, which lines up with a concert grade of roughly 2.5 to 4.5. That's an approximation. A featured soloist or small ensemble moment can sit toward the top of that range, while full ensemble sections built around visual impact stay lighter on the musical demand.

The rating leans almost entirely on rhythmic and technical difficulty. Keys and meters are chosen to stay band-friendly and to line up with the phrasing the drill needs, and instrument ranges sit inside the grade window rather than pushing its edges.

The rest of the score is Ryan's original writing.

Difficulty Medium-Advanced
Band Size Any Size
  • Full score (PDF)
  • Individual part files (PDF)
  • Drill coordination notes
  • Color guard audio (where applicable)

Audio & score samples are being finalized. Until they are posted, request a sneak peek and we'll send them your way.