School of Rock The Musical

This was my first visit to Top Box Studios. Thank you for the welcome receiving and an entertaining evening with this recently released work written by Mike White with the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Glenn Slater which premiered on Broadway in 2015.

It follows Dewey Finn a failed wannabe rock star who decides to earn some money by posing as his flat mate and teaching at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight A students into a mind-blowing rock band!

This show relies on a strong performer in the leading role of Dewey Finn and Top Box certainly had that in Craig Robert McDowall who commanded the stage with strong vocals and good comedic timing. Equally Lucinda Mainland was excellent as Rosalie Mullins the headteacher and the two worked very well together. Lucinda’s aria from The Magic Flute by Mozart was one of many standout pieces of the evening.

It would be unfair to single out any of the children who formed ‘The Band’ as they were all equally as good as each other and all should be proud of their performances. They were backed up by an equally good ensemble who took on the roles of the parents and teachers with some extra students appearing in the main numbers in the show.

Other supporting roles were that of Ned Schneebly, played by Tom Bowes and Patty Di Marco played by Eden. Bowes had some good comic moments and Eden made the most of being the slightly overbearing girlfriend!

Costumes were simple with the children mostly appearing in school uniform and Dewey dressed appropriately for the character. Again, the set was not overly complicated, which enabled the show to flow.

This was a superb show, and the production team should be extremely proud of the result. The audience most certainly showed their appreciation.

Congratulations and thank you for the invite. 

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