Theater News

First Amateur Production of School of Rock Set for San Francisco

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s newest hit will be performed by the students of Oakland School for the Arts.

The young ensemble of Broadway's School of Rock.
The young ensemble of Broadway's School of Rock.
(© Matthew Murphy)

Curran: Under Construction, a series of intimate and nontraditional programming, will continue this spring with the first-ever amateur production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical School of Rock. The production will be created and performed by the students of Oakland School for the Arts, a public charter school focusing on the Visual and Performing Arts, in a limited eight-performance engagement that will begin March 3 and run through March 12.

Lloyd Webber teamed up with R&H Theatricals to receive applications and grant youth performance rights to schools ahead of School of Rock's Broadway opening night at the Winter Garden Theatre on December 6. The composer commented in a statement, "What initially drew me to School of Rock is that it is entirely about empowering students with music. This initiative is a natural extension of that message, and as such is near and dear to my heart."

Based on the hit 2003 film, School of Rock tells the story of a down-on-his-luck wannabe rock star named Dewey Finn, who poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school and enlists his fifth-graders to form a rock group and conquer Battle of the Bands. Laurence Connor directs the new musical, featuring a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater and a book by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Alex Brightman leads the cast as Dewey Finn, alongside Sierra Boggess as Principal Rosalie Mullins.

For more information about School of Rock on Broadway, click here.

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