Andrew Lloyd Webber to Waive SCHOOL OF ROCK Fees for Schools Producing the Musical

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 11:18am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-to-Waive-SCHOOL-OF-ROCK-Fees-for-Schools-Producing-the-Musical-20161210

Even though I don't like a lot of ALW's stuff, this is pretty cool of him.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 11:34am

Completely agree.  What a wonderful gesture.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 11:57am

Except that it's written in to the rights agreement that the students must play their own instruments not too many schools have both the right ages to pull this off  - adults and kids, as well as kids that can act, sing, dance  AND play the instruments. 

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 12:00pm

dramamama611 said: "Except that it's written in to the rights agreement that the students must play their own instruments not too many schools have both the right ages to pull this off  - adults and kids, as well as kids that can act, sing, dance  AND play the instruments. 

 

"

How do you know that? That seems slightly ridiculous. 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 12:06pm

It is a key element of the plot, ridiculous though it may be.

Having said that, I think it would be much more generous if he was to waive fees on all of his work for a set period of time. Might make it easier to do some of his shows before they switch over to The Musical Company from R&H next year...

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 12:30pm

GreasedLightning said: "dramamama611 said: "Except that it's written in to the rights agreement that the students must play their own instruments not too many schools have both the right ages to pull this off  - adults and kids, as well as kids that can act, sing, dance  AND play the instruments. 

 

"

How do you know that? That seems slightly ridiculous. 

 

"

Because I looked into it when he first made it available to school groups.  (6-8 months ago) All students that play instruments in the play MUST actually play them.  

 

And of course, I meant students that could both pull off playing adults and middle school kuds....or are they elementary kids?

[freewilma]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 3:03pm

dramamama611 said: "Except that it's written in to the rights agreement that the students must play their own instruments not too many schools have both the right ages to pull this off  - adults and kids, as well as kids that can act, sing, dance  AND play the instruments. 

This is absolutely correct.  The license specifies the instruments that five actors/roles that must play live onstage  AND the gender of the actors playing those roles.  The license is only for youth productions; not general community theatres.  I've seen one production where it was all high school students; and another that mixed in middle schoolers as well.  

 

[BeNice]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 3:42pm

Although I heard a lovely story recently where a girl wanted to play (I believe) the drummer in her school's production of School of Rock and she somehow found a channel to ALW and he agreed that of course she should be able to play that track. I thought that was pretty special. Awesome little girl. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 3:43pm

This musical would be perfect for K-12 school districts

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 4:07pm

Districts are usually k-12....but their schedules don't match for rehearsals. and just having the age range at your disposal still doesn't mean  mean you'd  have actors that can play the parts AND the instruments.  

 

I see more PA schools being able to pull it off then regular public or private schools.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 4:23pm

dramamama611 said: "And of course, I meant students that could both pull off playing adults and middle school kuds....or are they elementary kids?"

when i was in high school we performed South Pacific, Anything Goes and Hello, Dolly! all of which include adult characters being played by high schoolers. i don't see why that's so ridiculous?

[Sunny11]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 4:27pm

 I think that most schools have music teachers skilled enough to be able teach kids to play the score. Yes it's challenging music but go to any school orchestra concert from regular schools and it's impressive how good some kids are. This would actually be a great challenging project for music departments.

On the acting point , In the orginal movie some of the musician kids  didn't have any acting background, they where cast from band camps.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 5:20pm

Of course....but it's hard to also have the age group pull off the young kids as well.  

When you only need one or two...you can often have a young looking, tiny freshman. The closer in age your talent pool. Updated On: 12/11/16 at 05:20 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 5:50pm

Jesus Christ! What is the deal with how we treat dramamama611? IIRC, she IS a drama educator and knows precisely what she is talking about in this thread.

That doesn't mean everyone has to agree with her, but we might acknowledge she has more than a little insight on this subject.

And FOR THE RECORD, she did NOT say kids can't play adults. She said it would be hard to find kids at one school who could act, sing, dance, be right for the part AND also play the exact instrument required.

In other words, already limited casting pool meets one more, highly specialized requirement. I'm not doubting the kids in the film could play their instruments, but would anyone like to hazard a guess as to how many submissions/auditions they saw before casting was finalized?

The average high school has fewer than one hundred kids committed enough to play principal roles. Of those, 90% are not quadruple-threats. And it isn't just that they have to play some instrument, they have to play the one and only one instrument that is called for by the role they fit.

Updated On: 12/11/16 at 05:50 PM

[theaterkidsteacher]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 9:20am

freewilma said: "dramamama611 said: "Except that it's written in to the rights agreement that the students must play their own instruments not too many schools have both the right ages to pull this off  - adults and kids, as well as kids that can act, sing, dance  AND play the instruments. 

This is absolutely correct.  The license specifies the instruments that five actors/roles that must play live onstage  AND the gender of the actors playing those roles.  The license is only for youth productions; not general community theatres.  I've seen one production where it was all high school students; and another that mixed in middle schoolers as well.  

 

That's not correct- about the gender of the actors- we did the show over the summer. The license does stipulate that the actors need to play the instruments (and the musicians in the pit need to be 18 and under), but it does not say that the actors need to be of the right gender to play each part.  We had a girl playing Lawrence- she was actually our best musician.

 

 

"

 

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 11:04am

PThespian said: "Give ALW a break. He's doing something nice. I don't see other composers hopping on the bandwagon."

It doesn't seem fair to compare the charitability of "other composers" to one of the wealthiest people in the business. 

[jb19662]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 11:04am

Was some kind of law passed that states schools are required to do this musical?

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 11:26am

PThespian said: "People sure don't hesitate to compare his talent with "other composers."

I'm also pretty sure Schwartz, Sondheim, Herman et al aren't struggling to make their rent."

That group is the 1% of other composers, though. 

[seahag2]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 11:28am

Not to be creepy, but PThespian, was your school featured in the "Most Valuable Player" documentary? I just watched it on netflix and was completely floored by the level of those theatre programs!

Anyway, when I saw the headline for this I was in love with the idea! I'm all about theatre inclusivity and waiving the fees is an enormous step for theatre accessibility. Of course, I see the value in having the kids play the instruments live, but as someone who was in band, choir, and theatre, it is going to be a challenge to cast those roles for a lot of high schools/middle schools and communities. If a school's decision to put on School of Rock was influenced by their budget, chances are that their art programs' finances aren't given priority and therefore their kids may not be qualified to fill these roles. I would argue that you can't really teach a kid the score to a musical on an instrument they have just picked up in a matter of months. There are, in every case, exceptions, but for the most part, these are extremely demanding roles. The shoes to fill might outweigh the fact that the fees are waived. 

However, I have a lot of hope for this show's community success. I hope I'm wrong because I sincerely want as many people to experience wonderful theatre!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 1:15pm

Yes, but most amateur productions have neither the time nor the student drive/resources to do so.   It's a whole different ball of wax when considering doing these things for a professional opportunity.

 

Yes, its a generous offer.....I just don't think its one that gads of schools will be able to take him up on it.  As for other authors not offering to do the same, this is their livlihood....not everyone is as wealthy as is Sir Webber.  (or is it Sir Lloyd Webber?)   For those that CAN do it, it's lovely.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 1:56pm

dramamama611 said: "Yes, its a generous offer.....I just don't think its one that gads of schools will be able to take him up on it."

Which returns me to my idea: waive fees for other shows in the catalogue than School of Rock. You say you wanna be there for children's music/drama education, Webber? Be there!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/12/16 at 11:54pm

dramamama611 said: "...not everyone is as wealthy as is Sir Webber.  (or is it Sir Lloyd Webber?)   For those that CAN do it, it's lovely.

 

"

I just saw it in print the other day. It's actually "Lord Lloyd Andrew" (Lloyd Andrew together being his last name.) Which is a tongue twister, if you ask me. When he was on TV with Graham Norton, I think the latter just called him "Lord Andrew".

But I was surprised to learn ALW is actually a peer and can vote with the House of Lords, though he has only done so a few dozen times.

***

PThespian, I think the point here is just that the offer is not quite so generous as it seems, considering requirements are imposed that make the generosity available only to a smallish number of schools. FWIW, bass guitar is what all my singer friends learned when they had to play an instrument to get into a rock band; it's much easier than rock guitar, drums or synthesizers.

I do understand the requirement arises organically from the show's plot and characters, but perhaps more thought could be given to how smaller school programs could adjust. Other shows have done so.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 12/13/16 at 7:30am

Broadwayworld.com. the place where no good deed goes unpunished...

[kdogg36]

Posted: 12/13/16 at 9:51am

Gaveston, I suspect you mean "Lloyd Lloyd-Webber." :) Though his name didn't originally have the hyphen, it seems to be a requirement for his name as a peer, for some reason.

I don't have a link handy, but I do remember that one of his votes in the House of Lords was in favor of the marriage equality bill a few years ago.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/13/16 at 10:54am

As another theater educator, I have to back up dramamama here. It's wonderful that ALW is going to waive performance fees for a contemporary show. It's wonderful that schools are even allowed to license the show while it's playing on Broadway.

Do not confuse availability with feasibility. There are vocally taxing parts in School of Rock that already make it difficult to cast K-12 students in those roles. Add on the requirement that the instruments must be played by the very specific actors onstage and you're making a hard show to cast an even bigger challenge.

Music programs in school are not magical. You do not gain the ability to teach students how to proficiently play instruments not typically taught in orchestral/instrumental programs to be proficient on a Broadway musical score in the limited rehearsal period schools have to put on a production. Could children learn these parts in a two or three month period? Yes. Will they be able to balance eight hours of school, rehearsals for the play, and the necessary private music lessons to catch them up to speed to just take on the waived fees opportunity for School of Rock? Probably not. And the costs of paying for the extra staff and instruction time to get the students to that level easily outweighs the cost of licensing the show.

If you have students who can play these instruments and are right for these roles, then by all means, take advantage of the waived fees. Just be aware that the show is challenging without adding in the actors must play the assigned instruments requirement in the contract. The offer is generous for the comparatively small group of people who can take advantage of it.

In educational theater, it is common for actors to mime playing musical instruments onstage while the pit actually covers the part. You won't find too many productions of The Music Man with a working piano onstage for the music lesson/Goodnight, My Someone scene. Same with guitar playing Maria and Georg in Sound of Music. There is no restriction in those contracts to force you to cast actors who play piano or guitar in those roles, thus limiting the talent pool. School of Rock is a show about students learning to play music that could be performed much easier with students learning basic technique and faking the notes while the actual musicians play in the pit. Live musicians taking on the part will be better, but forcing the actors to play the instruments adds an extra burden on the production other shows do not require.

ALW has done wonderful things for arts education. That's not in question. Removing the licensing cost from the budget for schools doing School of Rock is generous. That's not in question, either. It's just how practical the offer is considering the restrictions on the material. And that's coming from another theater educator who looked into the specifics of mounting this show and realized it just wasn't feasible for the schools I work in because of the instrument restriction.