School of Rock Previews — Page 7

Saw this tonight thanks to the lotto. Was not crowded (they give out 24 tickets - no seats together). I was in the last row of the theater, but, since the Mezz is so shallow it was an awesome seat.

I think the show is solid, but that doesn't mean it's good. There were moments of weird transitions, that I think in this stage are a little too late to change. There are moments where we're left just kind of starring at someone in a spotlight, but not much is happening. Or there's just darkness and the set is moving around. The show felt a little stilted, and there felt like a good bit of filler.

The book is...dated. It just didn't feel current. The jokes were CBS sitcom funny, and the story kind of plodded along. I mean, they're playing rock music in a classroom and no one can hear? I know it's theater, so suspend your disbelief, but suddenly a bunch of kids are in your apartment? Huh? The gay kid has a whole conversation with his father about how he has to play football and then nothing is resolved. It just all felt a little too messy and a little too broad. And I totally see the misogyny: All 3 females (The girlfriend, the principle, the student) are all shrewd and suppose to be unlikable at first, and then all come around. It felt very dated. And the only solid jokes in the show are the gay kid and the gay parents? C'mon now.

Alex was fine. I felt like there was quite a bit of dead space in a lot of his lines, and he was trying his best for a Jack Black character, but was missing a bit of the zanny. It felt a little too MFA Theater Program. I was never wondering what his next move is or what he's going to do next. It felt all very planned out. But his voice sounded great, and I was surprised to learn he didn't have more songs. No 11 O'clock number or anything. But his "Mount Rock" song was great.

Sierra is totally miscast. She was fine as the stuck-up principle, but sorry, just like in "It Shoulda Been You," her voice just does not suit this music. Her big song in Act 2 is quite pretty and the melody is great, but her trying to legit-belt-riff over a big, rock sound is just laughable. It felt awkward and I was uncomfortable. Also, her character never really has an arch. She's stuck up. She's drunk. She's stuck up. They kiss. There's no initial flirting, no interest, nothing. It felt very forced.

The rest of the show is fine. I mean, sure, the kids are crazy talented, but incredible actors maybe not so much. I mean, Tamika wanted to be "included" but she's up there dancing and jumping around with the other kids? So why does she feel excluded? She said "I'm not a back up singer," but then she basically is for the rest of the show.

It all just felt very pandering. Like, okay, we should applaud these kids and yeah being mean to your kids IS bad, so we should listen to them. Ho-hum. Nothing new is said and nothing new is explored.

Score wise: I thought "Mount Rock" was a really fun, interesting song and I was excited to hear the rest of it. But... it all felt very "same." "Mount Rock" and "Where Did the Rock Go?" felt like the two stands out. But, I think if someone else had written this score most people would call it "generic." Nothing really stood out to me, and they kept trying to make "Stick It To The Man" a thing, but it just isn't that interesting. And the song they sing at the Battle of the Bands isn't so great either.

Set wise: It's pretty beautiful. There is some great depth and some really pretty moments. There's a lot of moving pieces, and the Battle of the Bands at the end is a nice big set piece. Anne does good work, but it did feel like Avenue Q a little. I wish there had been more of a "Theme" to the design, but it was fun to watch work. The lights were blinding me and kind of took me out of the moment because I kept looking down at the floor.

RippedMan said: "Saw this tonight thanks to the lotto. Was not crowded (they give out 24 tickets - no seats together). I was in the last row of the theater, but, since the Mezz is so shallow it was an awesome seat."

When did the lottery stop being the front row?

That was the location when this was first announced:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/school-of-rock-announces-front-row-discount-ticket-lottery-370707

Damn you hated it!

Saw this last night and thought it was... fine. Not great. Not awful. Just fine. Found the show fell flat- and tepid audience response seemed to confirm this- until we actually get to "You're in the Band," which seemed to take ages.

The kids are all undeniably great performers, and are such fun to watch.

The score is very generic, with all of the "rock" sounding the same. My friend and I were hard pressed to remember anything on the subway home.

Soooo Glad to see the trope of "this child is a flaming queen, ain't that funny!" is inexplicably alive and well.

He is expressly written to be comedic. That is pretty evident in the show.

your'e right, but aren't there little boys who like Streisand out there? I was just like that boy. Were you offended?

I thought he was characterized as a joke- his effeminacy is presented as the joke. And that's not on the audience. The audience is laughing at what is set up as comedic.

I didn't think they were laughing cause he was gay. I think they were laughing at what he was saying. I don't know to many little boys listening to Streisand so it is unexpected in that way, and that is why I laughed. Especially after the other two said Taylor Swift and Kanye.

Did it offend you? You want gay characters in musical theatre to stop being presented as a joke?

Its pretty safe to say that a lot of musicals are like that. I thought On Your Feet was even more generic and had even more cliche lines. Both fun even though I enjoyed School of Rock way more.

Cinderella was probably the most generic out of them all lol

Updated On: 12/4/15 at 02:34 PM

Aida Revival said: "Did it offend you? You want gay characters in musical theatre to stop being presented as a joke?"

No, I think the psychic damage caused by decades of depictions of gay men as being inherently ridiculous and laugh-worthy is awesome!