School of Rock The Musical

The stage looked very impressive when my guest and I took our seats for 'School of Rock The Musical'. It had a feel of being at a rock concert with bright single coloured pointed lights, large black speakers and amps and a raised stage. Two brightly lit video screens helped to cement that feeling. 

The orchestra, led by Musical Director Paul Firth, were unseen, but most definitely heard - at times personally both myself and my guest felt that the whole production was too loud. This is a very personal thing and could well have been a directorial decision to make it more "rock" like, this is only my personal opinion and observation, not a criticism . That said, Paul kept the show running along at a great pace, it can't be easy when you also have musicians on stage in the cast that can't see you or your baton! 

The set looked fabulous! 'School of Rock The Musical' has a lot of cast and the hired in set gave everyone some good entrances and exits instead of just one or two wings. The set changes were quick and concise with no extended black outs. Sound was solid with no gremlins just a little loud as already mentioned. The lighting plot was quite exciting with all the flashing lights, haze and blinders during some musical numbers, during the dialogue it was sympathetic to the scenes and certainly didn't draw my eye for any bad reasons.

The costumes, hair and make up, were all in keeping and very cohesive. The colours chosen for the school uniforms were eye catching and smart, socks were all pulled up and matching - they looked slick. 

All the children in the cast were outstanding with their levels of musical instruments ability along with the usual singing, acting and dancing. Freddy Pooley as Zack treated us to some fantastic playing, he used his stage space well, projection and diction were good in both vocals and dialogue. The chemistry between all the cast was evident to see. Sylvia Hoyle as Summer also had great diction and projection, she had some real stage presence. Matt Ogden as Dewey Finn burst onto the stage with so much energy, he almost fizzled. He kept the energy up throughout the whole show, he never dropped a level at all, his pace and timing were great . Diction and projection was good, his chemistry with the youths was fantastic to see. 'School of Rock The Musical' is a very song heavy show, a favourite for me was the Faculty Quadrillo, I enjoyed the choreography by Katherine Farrow, it had definitely been well rehearsed and drilled, the cast looked to be enjoying it which is always a big plus.

Thank you for inviting myself and my guest to your production of 'School of Rock The Musical', we enjoyed your performance. See you all very soon.

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