School of Rock is a rock 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, written by Mike White, the musical follows Dewey Finn, an out-of-work rock singer and guitarist who pretends to be a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. After identifying the musical talent in his students, Dewey forms a band of fifth-graders, in an attempt to win the upcoming Battle of the Bands contest.
The musical made its Broadway debut and world premiere on December 6, 2015, at the Winter Garden Theatre, following previews from November 9, 2015, directed by Laurence Connor and starring Alex Brightman as Dewey Finn and Sierra Boggess as Rosalie Mullins. The musical made its West End debut at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on November 14, 2016.
Background The musical is based on the comedy film School of Rock (2003). That film was produced on a budget of $35 million, earning over $131 million in global box office receipts. The plot followed struggling rock singer and guitarist Dewey Finn, who is kicked out of the band No Vacancy and subsequently disguises himself as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. After witnessing the musical talent in his students, Dewey forms a band of fifth-graders to attempt to win the upcoming Battle of the Bands.
In an April 2013 interview, Andrew Lloyd Webber first revealed that he had purchased the stage rights to Richard Linklater's film, and planned to make its adaptation into a musical his next project after completing the West End show Stephen Ward, centering on the 1963 Profumo affair. The composer stated, "There may be songs for me in it, but it's obviously got songs in it as it stands," and that he would be going from Stephen Ward, "sort of a chamber musical, to a musical about kids playing the guitar." 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 and the fact that the American subject matter fitted Broadway. Webber also credits various locations of the original School of Rock that "...produce the sort of kids required who can actually perform in the show" and that Britain would need similar schools for the show to move to London.
On 18 December 2014, an official announcement was made of the musical, with a world premiere on Broadway set for Autumn 2015. This would be the first time since Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971 that a Lloyd Webber musical would premiere on Broadway rather than in the West End. It would also mark a return for the composer to the Winter Garden Theatre, where his Cats ran for 18 years.
Speaking of his vision for the musical, Lloyd Webber suggested that it would focus more on the stories of Dewey's young students than the film did, 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."
The script of School of Rock was written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and Laurence Connor was engaged as the initial director. JoAnn M. Hunter provided choreography, while Anna Louizos was responsible for the set and costume design.
Synopsis Act I The musical begins with a performance by the band No Vacancy. The band's guitarist, Dewey Finn, repeatedly attempts to upstage the lead singer ("I'm Too Hot for You”) which leads to the band agreeing to kick him out for his antics after Dewey leaves the stage. The next morning, Dewey is awoken in his bedroom by his longtime friend, Ned Schneebly, and Ned's domineering girlfriend, Patty Di Marco. Patty demands rent from Dewey while Ned cowers behind her. After they leave, Dewey goes about his day, getting kicked out of his band and fired from his job at a record store, all while dreaming about getting his break and becoming a superstar ("When I Climb to the Top of Mount Rock"). Afterwards, Dewey receives a call from Rosalie Mullins, principal of the prestigious Horace Green School. She asks to speak to Ned, saying that the school has an open substitute teacher position that will pay over nine hundred dollars a week—enough to meet the rent. Pretending to be Ned, Dewey accepts the position.
At Horace Green, Rosalie does her best to keep everything running smoothly while greeting parents who come to drop off their children ("Horace Green Alma Mater"). Dewey arrives late both hungover and unprepared for the day, and the principal warns that "Ned" will be expected to meet the school's high standards ("Here at Horace Green"). Dewey enters his classroom and introduces himself as Mr. Schneebly. His thirteen students are immediately wary of him, and one of them, uptight Summer Hathaway, attempts to explain to him how the classes manage, and Dewey is disgusted by the rigid system. With no food to treat his hangover, Dewey spends most of the day sleeping, leaving the students to run wild.
At the apartment, Patty asks Ned to go on a jog with her, but he declines, claiming he has a lot of papers to grade. Understanding, Patty goes. However, as soon as she's gone, Ned pulls out his Guitar Hero console and begins playing. When Dewey comes home, he joins Ned and they discuss various topics such as teaching and their old band ("Variation 7”). After their game, Dewey attempts to convince Ned to rejoin him in their music career, by reminding him of all the perks of being a rockstar ("Children of Rock”). However, Patty arrives and breaks up the men's reminiscing session. Angry at Dewey, Patty reminds him that he's nothing more than a dreamer who will never succeed in the rock business, and gives him an ultimatum: pay the rent in thirty days, or they will kick him out ("Give Up Your Dreams”).
The next day at school, Dewey argues with another teacher and hears music coming from one of the classrooms. Upon learning that his students are in music class with Rosalie ("Queen of the Night"), he inquires in amazement about what instruments they play. Dewey then tells his students that they're now a part of his new band set to compete in the Battle of the Bands. First, he puts together the instrumentals of his band: Zack on electric guitar, Katie on bass guitar, Lawrence on keyboards, and Freddy on drums. He also makes two of the girls—Shonelle and Marcy—backup singers, and two other girls—Madison and Sophie—roadies. Then he moves onto technical jobs. Mason is put in charge of lights, James is made the security officer, and an ecstatic Billy is made the band's stylist. Summer is angry that she hasn't been given a job and says "groupies are sluts" in response to Dewey's first suggestion. Dewey then makes her the band's manager. The only student left without a job is Tomika, the shy new girl ("You're in the Band"). Confident about their prospects, Dewey hands out famous CDs to the students to listen to as homework ("You're in the Band (Reprise)”).
The children go home, and a glimpse is seen in some of their home lives: Freddy tells his father about the music he was assigned to listen to, but his father belittles him, saying that he's not smart like the other children at Horace Green. Billy is reading a Vogue magazine disguised as Sports Illustrated on account of pressure from his father to take up football. Tomika tells her adoptive fathers that she's not making friends or doing well in her new school, but her parents dismiss her since they love Horace Green. Zack attempts to talk to his father about his day, but his father is on a business call and shouts at Zack for trying to speak to him, telling him to go away.
Frustrated, Zack, Tomika, Billy, Freddy, and the other students lament that they have so much to tell and offer their parents and the world, but they just won't listen to them yet ("If Only You Would Listen"). The kids are concerned about what they will play, leading to Dewey improvising the first version of ("In the End of Time (A Cappella Version)").
In the Faculty Lounge, the other teachers complain that the children have become undisciplined under Dewey ("Faculty Quadrille"). In the classroom, the band continues practicing Dewey's new song ("In the End of Time (Practice Version)"). After playing, Dewey tells everyone they're doing great. However, Zack is playing in an uptight and rigid manner, and Dewey says that Zack needs to get angry at "the Man" in order to really rock. He explains that the man is responsible for everything wrong with the world, and Dewey and the kids get angry and shout about how they're going to stick it to the Man ("Stick it to the Man"). Shonelle and Marcy say that they should call the band School of Rock. On account of being stuck in school, Dewey and the kids end up sneaking out of the building in order to make it to the Battle of the Bands auditions on time. The children and Dewey sadly arrive late at the auditions. With the manager about to leave, Summer convinces him to stay with a lie about a terminal illness and the class is able to compete ("In the End of Time (The Audition)"). They qualify and celebrate their success ("Stick it to the Man (Reprise)").
Act II Thirty-six hours before the Battle of the Bands, the students are hard at work preparing for the event while Dewey attends a faculty conference. The students conclude that the one outstanding issue is the costumes, which Billy has yet to show anybody. He argues that they aren't finished yet, but Summer makes him show them anyway. Using Lawrence as an unwilling model, Billy shows everyone, and they hate them. Annoyed but not disheartened, Billy goes back to the drawing board ("Time to Play"). At the faculty meeting which Rosalie uses to stress the importance of parents' night, Dewey discovers that she is secretly a rocker, and loves Stevie Nicks. Dewey panics when he gets back to the classroom and begins to think of a cover. Tomika summons the courage to speak to him saying that she wants to sing. When Dewey asks why she didn't respond to the call for backup singers, she states that she's a lead singer and can’t sing backup. Although initially too nervous, Tomika begins to sing when others are not looking and it turns out that she has the voice of a perfect angel ("Amazing Grace").
Upon hearing that Rosalie is coming, students quickly cover their instruments with Thanksgiving-themed items and Dewey breaks into a fake lesson. When she challenges this, Dewey accuses other teachers of being on crack before admitting that he uses music to teach "boring" subjects. After arguing that there are no boring subjects, Rosalie announces that she will be sitting in for the rest of Dewey's lesson. Nervous, Dewey pulls out his guitar and improvises a song about math ("Math Is a Wonderful Thing"). Rosalie is unimpressed, but Dewey decides to ask her out to a bar regardless. Later that night, Rosalie and Dewey meet at the bar, and, after having a few drinks, Dewey plays a Stevie Nicks song on the jukebox, causing Rosalie to let loose and laments about how she feels she has lost her inner music. Stating that Dewey has reminded her about it, she promises that if the parents' meeting goes well the next day, she will help Dewey and School of Rock go to the Battle of the Bands ("Where Did the Rock Go?"). Dewey impulsively kisses Rosalie, and they part ways.