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

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.

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.

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 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.

This musical would be perfect for K-12 school districts

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?

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

Updated On: 12/11/16 at 05:20 PM

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.





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

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 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!

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

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.