As part of a campaign to raise funds for youth living in poverty, Coldplay and Game of Thrones cast members came together in a hilarious attempt to create an unfortunately ill-fated musical. By Rupinder Kaur
Who would’ve thought that Khaleesi or Daenerys of the hit HBO show Game of Thrones (played by Emilia Clarke) would don a rastacap and belt out a perfect reggae track I’m a Rastafarian Targaryen in her smooth vocalsIJ But she did it in an epic 12-minute comedy sketch on YouTube where the band Coldplay tries to adapt this popular fantasy drama series for a live Broadway Show.
With voiceover by Taken movie series actor liam Neeson, the mockumentary clip — recorded for a fundraising event called Red Nose Day — begins with the a wildly optimistic Chris Martin (lead vocalist) and a little apprehensive GOT cast members.
Mark Addy (late King Robert Baratheon) calls this (fake) musical a “horrible idea” while Emilia Clarke compares it to Titanic “not in terms of the successful movie, but in terms of the unsuccessful boat.”
Day one in the recording studio only sees two participants apart from the band members — a still skeptical Mark Addy and an overtly exhilarated Iwan Rheon (or the despicable Ramsay Bolton on the show). Kit Harrington (who plays Jon Snow), with his somber and compassionate onscreen demeanour, steps in to save the day. We are also informed by Neeson in his deep voice that Coldplay drummer, Will Champion, made a brief appearance in the infamous The Rains of Castamere (or Red Wedding) episode of the series, doing what he does best, that is, playing a drum.
On day two of the workshop, after an offer of free food and a phone call from Jon Snow, a huge chunk of cast arrives in the studio for rehearsals. We witness the tense yet hilarious moment when the two actors, who play Theon and Ramsay, locked in an eye contact (following all the brutalities meted out to Theon by the sadist Ramsay during various episodes) and later they embrace as old pals catching up after a long time.
On show, Jon Snow and Ygritte (Rose leslie) might have been separated by death but were reunited for the musical. Set to the tune of The Runaways’ song Wild Things, Snow shows off his rockstar avatar, which we would’ve never witnessed otherwise, while singing the very catchy Wildling You Make My Heart Sing to his on-screen lady love Ygritte as she munches on her fries.
The Red Wedding episode left many viewers sickened and shattered because of the killings of the Stark family members and this was followed by reaction videos of fans cropping everywhere on social media.
But Chris Martin, even after his recent conscious uncoupling with his wife Gwyneth Paltrow, still manages to look on the bright side and comes out with a goofy and a joyful tune for the bloody episode.
With his piano and the cast around him, we hear the foot-tapping animated tune and the lyrics go something like —“Red Wedding, Red Wedding, lots Of Stabbing And A Bit Of Beheading….”
The lannister brothers — Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) — too, came on board. While Jamie sits behind a piano with some lighted candles and a framed picture of his on-screen lover/sister Cersei, Neeson observes, “It’s the first romantic ballad about incest in Coldplay’s career.”
Tyrion, on the other hand, takes on stage with his jazzy number Still Going Strong boasting of how he’s managed to stay alive in the five seasons even after the merciless killings of the main characters.
In the end, in a huge setback to Chris’ Tony Award hopes for the musical, George R Martin denies permission. But, he is undeterred and plans to work with other shows like Breaking Bad, Downtown Abbey, et al.
