School of Rock Previews- Page 9

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/5/15 at 10:31pm

Exactly. And I don't know the extent of you working on the show, but nothing in School of Rock is new or groundbreaking. Except maybe the kids being the band? I mean, they're all great, but it wasn't enough to make me love the show. I just kept thinking if this show runs - which I assume it will - they are going to have a bitch casting this. All the boys are like right at the cusp of puberty before it starts to get a little weird. 

Also surprised Andrew Lloyd Webber's name isn't anywhere on the marquee? Surprised they haven't pimped him out. Not that it helped Women in White, etc. 

And regarding the lights - my phone cut out - they blind you a few times during the final song during the Battle of the Bands. I get the effect and all that, but it really ruined my enjoyment of the song to constantly get blinded by lights. 

[gimlet2]

Posted: 12/5/15 at 10:41pm

bekk99 said: "Anyone have any insight into whether they will have the lotto for opening tomorrow? Slash what time the opening performance is? :)

"

No lottery for opening night, don't know about SRO.

 

Posted: 12/5/15 at 11:07pm

Ripped, I am not working on the show. I think Guru is. Whether the show is new and groundbreaking doesn't really matter, but it is most certainly relevant, and a lot of fun! It was sold out tonight. I want ALW to really do some crazy new musical like his early shows. And I think because School of Rock is more traditional, and not usually what Andrew does, he didn't want to put his name on the marquee. He said School of Rock is Mike White's story, and it felt like he was writing for someone else, and not some new big thing by him. That is why he hasn't been putting his name all over it. 

[Broadway Guru]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 12:42am

Don't get me wrong....I am not trying to change anyone's opinion of the show. If you don't like the music, if you find the jokes lame, etc. that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Just because I disagree (and the majority of the audiences who come to see it does as well) does NOT mean you are wrong and I am right. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences especially when it comes to something as personal as theater.

There are, however, some factual errors that I feel the need to correct. I promise you.....there's very little about the show I don't know as far as the mechanics of how it works....and I've certainly been around enough production meetings to get a sense of what the theme is meant to be (one can argue as o whether or not it is successfully conveyed).

I love the show (in case you didn't pick up on that), but that doesn't mean I expect everyone to. I suspect there will be quite a few critics who won't.

The reviews aren't a huge concern. We are selling very well based on word of mouth, and there is no reason to suspect that is going to change. Tonight we were sold out with standing room and a cancellation line.t

We also are already developing a fan base. One man who was at the show tonight has seen it 28 times!

Fortunately there are a lot of people who don't agree with Ripped's assessment of the show. I'm sure there are a lot who do but as long as there are enough to fill 1,524 seats eight times a week I'm a pretty happy camper.

I also have another confession to make. I only work in the theater part time. My full time job is working as a lawyer. It's very natural for me to be a little argumentative on issues I feel passionately about. Occupational hazard.

Posted: 12/6/15 at 1:02am

Are you a bartender? Usher? I can't wait to see the show again!

[chernjam]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 1:18am

One of the best things for School of Rock for ALW is that he really is approaching it humbly.  I mean, he's been clear that he didn't want this to become "ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S SCHOOL OF ROCK" knowing that he was working with a hit movie; he's been trusting his collaborators and working with some new and different people, and approaching the entire thing differently than he's done in ages.  I mean, up until this, when he has done a tryout in a local NY theatre for ordinary theatre goers to go in and pick it apart?  Usually he had them come to Sydmonton his private estate where he had friends and investors drink wine and watch a workshop (which you can argue was one reason Stephen Ward, Love Never Dies and Woman in White all had difficult, unsuccessful incarnations)  With this he's not taking himself serious, he just wanted to have fun with it and work with kids (and has talked about kids and the arts in every interview)  To me, it's been great seeing this side of ALW and I hope it re-energizes him to tackle something a bit deeper or complex next go around (Maybe give a second go at The Master and Margarita?) 

Looking forward to seeing SOR.  In the meantime, must admit "Where did the Rock go" has been stuck in my head all day :) 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 1:50am

So we should forgive ALW that this show is misogynistic and dated because ALW likes to work with children? I get that we all want work and to be working in our field but this show sets back women, gay men, and musical theater in general for years. It makes all women shrews, all gay men a punchline, and the show itself is downright boring. I'm sure it will sell well because it's selling to the least common denominator, but Matilda did so much more with the children. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 3:43am

RippedMan said: "they blind you a few times during the final song during the Battle of the Bands. I get the effect and all that, but it really ruined my enjoyment of the song to constantly get blinded by lights."

 

I think you're meant to feel revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night, at that point.

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 3:47am

Broadway Guru said: "We also are already developing a fan base. One man who was at the show tonight has seen it 28 times!"

 

I don't find those people to be a good indicator of quality. An avid theatergoer who went back a second time would mean more to me...

[Speed]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 4:50am

What are you talking about?  ALW only writes tunes.  He's never written the book or even the story.    SOR isn't different than any of the others except two songs from the movie are used.

[Buddy Plummer2]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:25am

* count me as an avid theatre goer who's gone back a second time. My parents came into town wanting to see something, and after seeing the first preview, I reccomended this.

I'll admit, I have some problems with the show, but way less than I did with any of his other musicals since Phantom. Even the score, when it's not the best, is ridiculously hummable and catchy. The kids and Alex are giving tour de force performances. 

The first time I saw it, I thought that "Where Did the Rock Go" was a missed opportunity. This should be the fun number where the Principal lets her hair down, dances on the bar, and earns her Tony Award for an off the wall take no prisoners comedic number. While I still wish we'd gotten that chance, the number that's there is still pretty good. And it wasn't the number I'd initially expected going in. In a musical based off of a hit movie with only a small amount of possible surprises to offer, this moment did surprise me.

but the weirdest thing for me was Sierra. On the first preview, her awkwardness garnered a ton of laughter, and I honestly thought she was giving a solid performance. Last Tuesday night? It was awkward watching her. Very few of her jokes in the first act landed, and only in the second half did she really get any real love from the  audience.

that being said, given the enthusiastic audience response, and my parents asking me when they'd get to see it again, I think this is Andrew's best chance at a commercial hit in years. It's no Phantom in terms of spectacle or cohesion, and no Evita in terms of innovative storytelling, but it rocks. It rocks hard.

Updated On: 12/6/15 at 09:25 AM

Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:33am

Ripped, the women in this show are really not important!! What are you talking about!! In Hamilton, LMM decided that he wanted to show everybody's best side for the most part. Even the bad people are shown as good sometimes, and you feel for them. The female character's in this show, except maybe Mullins, are thankless characters and you don't get to see their good side because they have a lot to get through, and we don't really care about them. The story isn't about them. Are you telling me that there aren't any thankless small male roles, and that all men in musical theatre are 3 dimensional characters? It's just a double standard. And what do you mean it is dated, and sets back musical theatre for years? 

[Broadway Guru]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:47pm

Now come on, Ripped....will you allow me to gloat just a little bit now that the reviews are out?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:56pm

Y'all act like I have some sorta vendetta against the show. I really don't. I enjoyed myself fine, I just found some faults in the show. And I expressed those faults. You two are the ones who jumped down my throat and picked it all apart. I'm totally happy the show got good reviews! Just think it could be better than what it is. 

And Aida, c'mon. That's a lame excuse. I just think the show itself has a bunch of lame stereotypes and lame impressions of a character in a movie. But yeah, the kids are talented and the kids will sell the show. 

And a man coming to see a show about a kid's rock band 28 times is...very creepy.

[Broadway Guru]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:58pm

Quite a few celebrities came out for the opening tonight. Joan Collins, Jerry Stiller, Stevie Nicks, Andy Karl, Orfeh to name just a few of my favorites.

[chernjam]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 11:25pm

kind of shocked Jack Black didn't come

[Broadway Guru]

Posted: 12/6/15 at 11:49pm

Mike White came the other night.

 

Posted: 12/7/15 at 12:07am

Do you know if he liked it?

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 12/10/15 at 10:04am

I had no clue a TV show of the movie is being done and airing starting next month!

 

http://www.releasedateportal.com/tv-shows/school-of-rock-release-date-january-2016/

[kdogg36]

Posted: 12/10/15 at 9:31pm

He's never written the book or even the story.

 

This isn't quite true. For instance, he was a Tony nominee for Best Book of a Musical for both Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love. I think he's credited as bookwriter or co-bookwriter for some of his other shows, too.

Updated On: 12/10/15 at 09:31 PM

[goldenboy]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 1:14am

I know it got great reviews but I didn't think this was such a good musical.  "Stick it to the Man" is a fun song. Watch it on You Tube. Then watch the movie. That's all you really need. Other than Stick it to the Man, the movie is better and what is on stage is exactly like the movie. Did we really need this musical?

Another movie not improved in its transition to musical.

 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 1:20am

goldenboy said: "Another movie not improved in its transition to musical."

 

Is there an example where that did happen that I'm blanking on? Usually success in translating a popular movie into a musical is not screwing it up. Improvement seems way ambitious.

[chernjam]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 4:59pm

So School of Rock broke the Winter Garden Box Office record two weeks in a row.  Nice end to the year for them.  Hope it continues to do well in these rough winter months

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 12:35am

I think Legally Blonde and Bridges of Madison County approved upon the source material. At least, they brought something new to the show - greek chorus, other people's perspectives. 

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 10:23am

I saw the School of Rock matinee yesterday after getting a rush ticket. Greats seat, row P of the orchestra, full view. Upon posting on social media about attending the matinee, my friend texted me saying Alex Brightman does not do matinees. I was not going to the show specifically to see him, so I didn't mind he was going to be out (not to mention, his understudy, Jonathan Wagner, was fantastic) but, when did he decide he's not doing matinees? Can't find anything about it online. Just curious if anyone knows. 

Anyway - The show was great! Overall I really enjoyed it. The music was so much fun! The kids are all incredibly talented and they were the my favorite part of the show. Really energetic. I have "Stick It To The Man" stuck in my head and it was my favorite song throughout the entire show. I've only seen the movie once so I didn't remember much about the story, nor have anything to compare to. The first 20 minutes or so dragged for me and I got a major "Rock of Ages" feeling but the show really picked up speed when the kids came out. 

The only thing that really bothered me about the show was Sierra's dialect. A little confused by that, since when she had her big solo in the second act, she didn't seem to sing with any type of accent. It was just strange to me, not sure how else to explain it. She can SING though; always love her voice. 

Will definitely recommend this show to my friends / family and will probably be back to see it again.