Through a series of recent events, my wife and I ended up getting tickets to a local production of the musical version of School of Rock. I’d heard about this show a couple years ago, a while after it was initially announced, and while I’m not a fan of the trend of putting things on Broadway just because they worked as films, this one had me intrigued. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie when growing up; its finale song is one I regularly rock out to and could sing word for word to this day. So as a way to relax a bit after trying to get things organized after a recent move to a new town, we set out to watch the show.
One preface about the theater we saw this at: this was the Hale Center Theater in Sandy, Utah, and they have a couple of stages there. Their main stage is what some people call a “theater in the round”, so the stage is in the center and stadium seats encircle the whole thing; there’s hardly a bad seat in the house. There is another more traditional stage, but for the most part I much prefer their main one. And for a show like this, where much of it is meant to be a spectacle, this was perfect.
Easily a 9/10 performance and adaptation, I’ll just say that right off the bat. The only real critique I’d make against it is that there were certain times that the live music (yes, all of the music was played live, either by adults or kids) overpowered the singing. So it did make it hard to hear or understand the lyrics from time to time, particularly for the original songs written for the stage version. But other than that I thought the entire thing was phenomenal! If you’re unfamiliar, the story follows Dewey Finn, a down-on-his luck rocker who loses his job, his band, and if he’s not careful then even his home. To be fair, he’s been bumming off of his long time friend Ned (and Ned’s girlfriend) without paying rent for months. An opportunity arises for him to pose as Ned for a substitute teaching job at a local private school, and while he’s far from qualified he convinces those at the school that he’s legit. Dewey doesn’t teach a thing to the students, who are already somewhat miserable because of the course load and expectations they have for being at this “prestigious” school, but once he observes them in another class playing classical music, his musical gears get turning. He convinces them to join in a “secret project”, which begins as a self-centered attempt at redemption to win a Battle of the Bands, and ultimately turns into him helping the students grow their talents and self-confidence to astounding levels.
The stage production is largely faithful to the film, which I’m very grateful for. I’ve seen a few other adaptations that take some creative liberties that, while they work out, just weren’t totally necessary in my eyes (like for Newsies and Tarzan, both of which I’ve seen at this same theater). It does add in a bit more of a romance between Dewey and the principal Ms. Mullins, also explaining the pressure she feels as the high-strung head of Horace Green Preparatory School in the number “Where Did The Rock Go?” And the students definitely get more time to shine as well, with songs that let them express their own frustrations with being forced into this high-end school. “If Only You Would Listen” is the show’s way of depicting their silent pleas for understanding to their parents, who claim to want the best for them without taking the time to actually discuss what they want for their own futures. Its reprise is sung to Dewey at his lowest point to express how he’s done what his parents didn’t actually do: treat them like fellow human beings with individual thoughts and dreams, and that helps motivate him to get off his “ath” for the big finale.
One more thing about the Hale Center circular stage: they know what they’ve got to work with and they make amazing use of it. For the school’s Battle of the Bands song, the floor opens to reveal a star-shaped platform with the performers rising up from below, slowly rotating while they go all-out to a song written by one of the students. Like I said before, there’s not really a bad seat anywhere in the auditorium, and with all the effects they put in they really made this feel like a rock concert by the end of it all. I was struggling to stay in my seat and not sing along! The casting was phenomenal, especially for the lead of Dewey. It’s hard to encapsulate the energy of someone like Jack Black accurately (because, let’s be honest – who can truly pull something like that off?) but for our show I was “hypnoticized” by how well he did, both in trying to honor the original performance while giving it his own spin.
As I mentioned up front, this was a spectacular show, and I’d highly recommend it. Especially if it’s been a while since you’ve seen the movie (and obviously if you enjoyed that in the first place).
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