School of Rock (musical)

School of Rock
Music	Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics	Glenn Slater
Book	Julian Fellowes
Basis	2003 film School of Rock
Productions	2015 Broadway

School of Rock is an upcoming musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a book by Julian Fellowes. Based on the 2003 film of the same name, the musical is scheduled to make its Broadway and world premiere at the Winter Garden Theatre in 2015.

Background

The musical is based on the 2003 film School of Rock.^[1] The film itself was produced on a budget of $35 million,^[2] earning over $131 million in global box office receipts.^[3] The plot followed struggling rock singer and guitarist, Dewey Finn, who is kicked out of his band No Vacancy^[4] and subsequently disguises himself as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school.^[5][6] After witnessing the musical talent in his students, Dewey forms a band of fifth-graders^[7] to attempt to win the upcoming Battle of the Bands.^[8]

In April 2013, during an interview it was first revealed by Andrew Lloyd Webber that he had purchased the stage rights to Richard Linklater's film.^[9] The project would mark his next musical after completing the West End show Stephen Ward.^[10] Speaking about the project he stated that "There may be songs for me in it, but it's obviously got songs in it as it stands,"^[11] and that he would be going from "Stephen Ward, which is really going to be sort of a chamber musical, to a musical about kids playing the guitar."^[12] In May 2014, it was revealed that the show was likely to receive its world premiere on Broadway rather than in London's West End due to more relaxed child labour laws in the United States^[13] and the fact that the "American subject" matter fitted Broadway.^[14]

On 18 December 2014, the musical was officially confirmed and it was announced that the show would receive its world premiere on Broadway in autumn 2015,^[15] marking the first time since 1971 and his musical Jesus Christ Superstar that a Lloyd Webber musical would received its world premiere on Broadway rather than the West End^[16] and a return to the Winter Garden Theatre where his musical Cats ran for 18 years.^[17] The musical has a book by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.^[18] and is directed by Laurence Connor,^[19] with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter,^[20] set and costume design by Anna Louizos^[21] and lighting by Natasha Katz.^[22] The musical features an original score composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and sound design by Mick Potter,^[23] in addition to music from the original film.^[24]

Speaking of his vision for the musical, Lloyd Webber suggested that the musical would feature more on the stories of the children than the film, stating "It has to be a bit more rounded. I'd quite like to know more about the children and their parents." Speaking about the music he explained the need for additional music rather than simply using the film's full soundtrack: "you can't do heavy metal for hours and hours in the theatre – everyone would be screaming. So they have to be theatrical songs too. And we've obviously got to use the iconic songs from the original show. It would be a shame not to do a Stevie Nicks song."^[14]

Production history

The show's premiere production is scheduled to begin previews at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, on 2 November 2015,^[25] with its official opening night coming on 6 December.^[26] On January 19, 2015 the audition process opened^[27] for children ages nine through fifteen in cooperation with the School of Rock after-school educational program (which predated the film by several years)^[28][29] with open calls in New York City, at the Winter Garden theatre, with further calls in Los Angeles and Chicago.^[30]

References

External links

• Official website
• School of Rock on Twitter