It’s been a year since I first heard the soundtrack to this and my annual West End weekend was never going to involve any other show.
School of Rock the Musical is a stage version of the 2003 Jack Black film of the same name. The plot follows closely to the original so fans of the film will not be disappointed. However, what makes the musical special is a fantastic soundtrack and performances by a cast playing their own instruments.
There is a decent opening with the No Vacancy number, I’m Too Hot for You. However, the show kicks into top gear when Dewey Finn takes centre stage with When I Climb to the Top of Mount Rock. Playing the hapless Finn on this occasion was Stephen Leask. Billed as Alternate Dewey, Leask takes some shows each week and I was glad I caught one of these because his performance was out of this world.
There is so much to love about School of Rock. The struggles of life as a child while growing up, excellently portrayed during, If Only You Would Listen. It’s a great story and throw in a kick ass soundtrack and you have the hit this show has become.
Top numbers for me in addition to those already mentioned include: You’re in the Band, Time to Play, Teacher’s Pet and Where Did the Rock Go? However, my favourite is always going to be Stick it to the Man.
The cast were amazing. Leask as Dewey Finn, I’ve mentioned already, but then we had Florence Andrews (Miss Mullins), Oliver Jackson (Ned Schneebly) and Michelle Francis (Patti). And there were the kids. Oh my God! They were fantastic. Such talent, not only in song and dance, but those who played the band instruments blew the audience away. I really hope I’ve got the names right in this review but if I haven’t, feel free to correct me.
In the role of the bossy Summer was Stella Hayden whose lead in Time to Play kicked off Act Two perfectly. As for the band, Santiago Cerchione played guitarist, Zack with Milano Preston (Lawrence on Keys), Jacob Swan (Freddy on Drums) and Eliza Cowdrey (Katie on the Bass). And Katie … loved the hard face to the audience. Finally, giving great vocals, we had Nerys Obeng as Tomika.
Music for School of Rock was by the legend that it Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics from Glenn Slater and the book provided by Julian Fellows. Directing was Laurence Conner with choreography from Joann M Hunter and musical direction, Matt Smith. Special mention for the grown-up band who helped make the entire experience … rock.
It would have been nice to put cast names to characters and Dewey did introduce them in an energetic finale, but do you think I’m going to waste time writing them down when there was so much energy on stage.
Yes, I said at the start, I’d waited a while to see this, and was not disappointed. The only downside now is that School of Rock is reportedly remaining in London until early 2019 at the very least. Damn … I was hoping for a tour. Looks like I’ll have to make another trip to the capital then.
Cheers.
Antony N Britt - Author 