‘School of Rock’ Musical to Hit Broadway Next Year
An upcoming musical adaptation of the 2003 Jack Black comedy School of Rock will bust down Broadway doors in the fall of 2015, with previews beginning on November 2nd at the Winter Garden Theatre, and an official opening scheduled for December 6th, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Like Richard Linklater’s movie, the musical will tell the story of Dewey Finn, a down-on-his-luck rocker who fakes his way into a substitute teaching job at a prep school as he teaches a group of classically trained kids their AC/DCs.
As previously reported, the music for School of Rock – The Musical will be composed by theater legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera, Cats), who will pen new material and incorporate songs from the original movie. The show will be directed by Laurence Connor – who’s behind the current revival of Les Misérables – while Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes is writing the book. Lyrics will be handled by Tony Award–nominee Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Sister Act).
The team will also receive help from super-producer Rob Cavallo, who has worked on albums for artists like the Goo Goo Dolls, My Chemical Romance, Dave Matthews Band and Green Day. Also, as far as rock cred goes, Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice helped bridge the gap between rock and theater with their 1970 smash, Jesus Christ Superstar.
“It is a joy for me to return to my Jesus Christ Superstar roots,” Lloyd Webber said in a statement. “When Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan was recording Jesus for Tim Rice and me at London’s Olympic Studios, Led Zeppelin was recording next door and a glimpse of a Stone or two was routine! School of Rock is hugely about how music can empower kids.”
Along with its upcoming stage iteration, a TV adaptation of School of Rock is also in the works. Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes of the series, which began production this fall and is expected to premiere next spring.