"School of Rock" at Winter Garden Theatre

Production photo by Matthew Murphy and Joan Marcus

Our last stop on our recent New York trip (total: eight shows in five days) was meant as a treat for our teen musician: School of Rock: The Musical. None of us have seen the original movie, but we'd seen some clips of the Broadway show and thought it would be fun. It turned out to be a great ending to the trip.

The Play

As noted, the play is based on a Jack Black movie about a rock guitar player named Dewey who steps in as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school, pretending to be his former bandmate, Ned, who is an actual teacher. One thing leads to another, and he forms a covert band from his class of preteens (dubbed the eponymous "School of Rock"), planning to win a Battle of the Bands against the band that just kicked him out. Needless to say, a rebellious rock band is hardly the thing for the buttoned-down prep school, but the kids take to it right away, and when the plot blows up in Dewey's face, the kids ride to the rescue and the band saves the day.

Underlying all of this is a smoldering dissatisfaction among the children with their lives, their parents, and their school. Turns out the prissy had of the school is also a reformed, somewhat regretful, ex-rocker, too, so although none of this comports with her current job, she has sympathy for Dewey and his cause. Truly, none of this plot holds up to any sort of analysis, but it's a fun story, and the show is fast-paced with lots of rock-and-roll energy.

The Production

Only two things can salvage this absurd premise for a show: 1) a charismatic actor to play Dewey, and 2) an ensemble of musically-gifted preteens who can bring the band to life. Luckily, this show has both of those things in spades.

Two actors share the demanding role of Dewey, and for our performance it was Conner John Gillooly. He definitely has the rock rebel act down, with just enough slacker to make some of the premise seem believable. And the kids were terrific. Four of them have to be stellar musicians, because they play their instruments live on stage. Zach (Colin Lauri) plays lead guitar, Katie (Montgomery Lamb) the bass, Freddy (Cory Logan) the drums, and Lawrence (Jim Kaplan) plays keyboard. I don't know their exact ages, but these youngsters can flat-out play. With the rest of the class in various other roles (backup singers, roadies, tech, security, etc.), and lots of group singing and dancing in the classroom, it's a spirited and enjoyable ride.

Meanwhile the rest of the school tries to go on as usual, led by Rosalie (Analisa Leaming) and her operatic high soprano, a faculty of prep-school drones, and a bumbling group of parents. The real Ned (Nehal Joshi) and his girlfriend Patty (Lori Eve Marinacci) are pretty good, if underutilized, characters. Dewey keeps trying to get Ned to re-form their old band, "Maggot Death," and Patty tries to get them to grow up. So, you know, dramatic tension.

But ultimately the show lives or dies with Dewey and the band, and for our show, it definitely LIVED. The songs are bouncy, if a bit repetitive, and the charisma of Dewey, Rosalie, and the core players keeps interest high. The song "Stick It to the Man" is particularly catchy--it's what I was humming for hours afterward.

Interestingly, we picked up a copy of the soundtrack CD after the show, and there is another terrific song on it called "Give Up Your Dreams" that has been cut from the current version of the show. Patty instead does a variant on the earlier song about Mount Rock that is OK, but not nearly as good. I have no idea why they made that change.

Bottom Line

I'm really quite blown away that the producers have been able to maintain a stable of musician/actors of the appropriate age for over three years now, and a national tour is either already going or about to start. I know it comes to San Francisco later this year (in fact, next week!). We've been enjoying listening to the soundtrack quite a bit, and it brings back good memories of the show.

All told, I was quite surprised by how clever and charming the whole thing turned out to be. Despite being just wildly implausible on all kinds of levels, the show kind of compels a thorough suspension of disbelief and brings out the rock-and-roll dreams in everyone, I guess.

So, color me surprised, but I really, really liked this show. It's still running in London and New York as well as touring, and schools can get licensed to produce it as well. I expect this one is going to be a mainstay of youth musical theater for years to come.

Stick it to the man!