School of Rock, the Musical; a review.

May 14, 2019

School of Rock, the Musical; a review.

– Tickets to this show were given to me in exchange for a review. –

I was lucky enough to finally see ‘School of Rock’ last night at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, in London. I’d been meaning to for a while, but something always stopped me – maybe it was the fact that I loved the film so much when I was a teen, I couldn’t possibly see it done any other way? Fortunately (spoiler alert), I did enjoy this show.

(We were allowed to take photos/videos during the final song. Cool, eh?)

'With its original score, including the songs ‘You’re in the Band’, ‘In the End of Time’ and ‘Teacher’s Pet’, its uplifting story, and its robust sense of fun, this energetic new musical will rock you in your seat!

Based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black, School of Rock The Musical tells the story of Dewey Finn, a down-and-out would-be rock star. Posing as a substitute teacher at an elite prep school in an effort to earn some cash, Dewey soon realises that his students have some incredible musical talents. Uniting his fifth graders in one awesome rock group, he sets his sights on the Battle of the Bands.’

(From the Box Office)

The book of the show is basically the same as the film, almost word for word, but with a few lil twists put in towards the end (including a surprise romance, and a couple of punk makeovers – both of which I am HERE FOR), and the songs are quite adorable.

The kids, though. I mean, as we were walking up the stairs to our seats in the stalls (and after marvelling at the weirdly wonderful theatre structure – it’s like my local, the Congress in Eastbourne, but also got a touch of the National!? Yah, darling) I said to Charlie, ‘I know I’m gonna be like “these kids are more talented now than I’ll ever be in my life”, y’know?’ and she agreed. Going in, I couldn’t quite comprehend the fact that the pre-teens cast in this show would actually be playing all their instruments LIVE, without any help, as well as singing and acting their little socks off. In fact, despite good old A L W’s recorded reassurance that this was the case, which played as the lights went down, I was still sceptical. Because, well, surely it’s impossible for a group of young ones to be that multi-talented?

But by the end of the show, as the audience all rose from their seats to party with the band, I felt 100% confident that every little superstar on that stage was really and truly rocking. Special shout-out has to go to the absolute boss that was Tallulah Byrne, aka Tomika, the quiet new girl in class who all but burnt the place down with her shockingly powerful voice.

Another bag of good feels and appreciation for Jake Sharp, who was our Dewey Finn. A total babe who was 100% believable in Jack Black's character, and super cute even if he made the audience squirm a few times when he got his belly out...!