School of Rock is based on the
2003 film of the same name. The musical features twelve original songs written by
Andrew Lloyd Webber, with three taken from the original film. The Broadway
production is expected to close in mid-January 2019, after 31 previews and
1,307 regular performances. (It opened December 2015.)
The musical follows Dewey Finn, an out-of-work rock singer and guitarist
who pretends to be a substitute teacher who is kicked out of his band, No
Vacancy, and instead tries to make money at a prestigious prep school called
Horace Green. 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.
Act One
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. Dewey, pretending to
be Ned, accepts.
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 hung over 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 run, 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. When she is gone, however, 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 the men's reminiscing session up. 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’ll kick him out ("When I Climb to the Top of Mount
Rock (Reprise)").
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, Lawrence on keyboard, 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 into 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. In another part of town, Billy is reading a Vogue magazine
disguised as Sports Illustrated due to pressure from his father to take
up football. Elsewhere, Tomika tells her fathers that she's not making friends
or doing well in her new school, but her parents dismiss her since they love
Horace Green. Finally, 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.") Later, Shonelle and Marcy say that they should call the band School
of Rock. Dewey loves it, and makes up a song to create the impression that
he is prepared ("In the End of Time (A Cappella Version.)")
In the Faculty Lounge, the other teachers complain that the children have
become undisciplined under Dewey even though some of this methods are effective
("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.") Due to 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 Two
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. Billy, using Lawrence as an unwilling model, shows
everyone, and they hate them. Billy, annoyed but not disheartened, 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. Although initially too nervous, Tomika begins to sing when others are
not looking and captivates her audience ("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'll 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's 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'll 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.
Dewey arrives home just as Patty and Ned are going through the mail.
Prompted by the discovery of Dewey's paycheck made out to Ned, Dewey explains
his impersonation idea. Ned goes into a panic attack, but Dewey manages to calm
him down and make him promise not to tell Patty. The next day, the students go
to rehearse their song, but then Zack reveals that he wrote his own song for
the band in his free time. Dewey is floored by Zack's talent, and has Zack
teach the song to the rest of the band ("School of Rock (Band
Practice.)") However, in the middle of the practice, Rosalie unwittingly
brings the students' parents into the classroom, and they are appalled by what
is going on. Focusing on the talent of each child, Dewey slowly convinces the
parents to see the band in a positive light until Patty and Ned burst in.
Having extracted the information from Ned, Patty reveals that Dewey is not Ned
Schneebly and sends the parents into a rage. In the commotion, Dewey and the
children escape to go to The Battle ("Dewey's Confession.")
As Rosalie paces nervously in the halls, she finds Mason and reminds him
that Dewey isn't who the students think he is. Mason counters that he is a
role-model regardless of his name. Touched by this, Rosalie misleads the
parents to buy the children more time. The children use this time to
reinvigorate Dewey who has given up on his dream and returned to his room. Led
by Tomika, they all explain how much they need him ("If Only You Would
Listen (Reprise.)") Patty makes one last attempt to stop them but Ned
finally stands up to her and accompanies them to the battle. The band arrives
just as No Vacancy is finishing up their performance ("I'm Too Hot
For You (Reprise.)") Dewey decides that they should play Zack's song and
accepts new costumes from Billy. The parents arrive, but are not allowed
backstage by the security guards. As the students go to perform, Zack's father
begins shouting at his son, telling him that School of Rock is ridiculous
and stupid. Zack, finally having enough, stands up to his father and tells him
that the band means more to him than he does, and then Zack goes to play.
They perform Zack's song and the crowd goes wild. Their parents watch on
from an empty box seat, and each of them slowly fall in love with the band and
how amazing their children are. Each of the instrumental students get a solo,
and Tomika sings lead with Dewey as well. By the end, Zack's father is frozen
with pride, and has to be pulled away by Summer's mother ("School of Rock
(Teacher's Pet.)") After the performance, Rosalie and the band's parents
congratulate the group, as well as Ned who has decked out in full heavy metal
gear for The Battle. Dewey watches the parents and their kids, and finally
feels as though he has accomplished something worthwhile. The winner of the
competition is announced as No Vacancy, but Dewey assures everyone that
winning didn't really matter, because they did something even more special.
Patty then enters with a police officer and tries to get Dewey arrested for
fraud, but Rosalie convinces the officer that Mr. Finn is Horace Green's
official Band Coach. To please an enthralled crowd, the band plays an encore
("Stick It to the Man (Encore.)") After their song, Dewey and Rosalie
kiss again, and Rosalie mixes her classical singing with the heavy rock music
of School of Rock, implying that a change is coming to Horace Green and
its curriculum because of the band and Dewey ("Finale”).
Winter Garden Theatre
The Winter Garden Theatre was built in 1896 to be the American Horse
Exchange. In 1911, the Shuberts leased the building and an architect redesigned
it as a theatre. It opened in March 1911, with the musical La Belle Paree
starring Al Jolson, and later hosted the famous Ziegfeld Follies featuring
performers such as Fanny Brice, Bob Hope, Josephine Baker, Gypsy Rose Lee, and
Buddy Ebsen. The Winter Garden was completely remodeled in 1922, creating a
stage that is wider than those in most Broadway houses, yet with a relatively
low proscenium arch. The theatre served as a Warner Bros. movie house from 1928
to 1933 and a United Artists cinema in 1945, but aside from those
interruptions, it has operated as a legitimate theatre. In 2002, under an
agreement between the Shubert Organization, which owns the theatre, and General
Motors, it was renamed the Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre; however, in 2007,
the corporation's sponsorship ended and the venue returned to its original
name.
The building is situated unusually on its lot, with the main entrance and
marquee, located on Broadway, connected to the 1526-seat Seventh Avenue
auditorium via a long hallway, and the rear wall of the stage abutting 50th
Street. When Al Jolson performed there, the Winter Garden had a runway built,
going out into the audience, and Jolson would run out and slide on his knees
while singing, and the audience, not used to such dynamic and close-up
showmanship from a performer, would go wild. The theatre's longest tenant was Cats,
which opened in October 1982 and ran 7,485 performances spanning nearly 18
years. Because of the size of its auditorium, stage, and backstage facilities,
it is a house favored for large musical productions.
