School of Rock
Based on the hit film Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Book: Julian Fellowes Lyrics: Glenn Slater
New London Theatre, London WC2 (0844-811 0052) Until 9 April 2017 Running time: 2hrs 30mins (including interval)
Wondering what to book as a festive family treat? Wonder no more, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. The stupendous School of Rock – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best show in years, and already a “stonking” hit on Broadway – has arrived in the West End with an “almighty kerrang of confidence”, and it is simply “the most enjoyable few hours money can buy”. Somehow, Lloyd Webber and his team have improved on the much-loved Hollywood film, a delicious “fairy tale of salvation through disobedience” in which a rock-loving slob wangles a job at a posh prep school, and turns his over-regimented young charges into rebellious rock gods. Here, “what was funny becomes doubly so”. A handful of original songs has become an album’s worth, bursting “with rare freshness and vitality”. And where in the film you admired the precocious musical gifts of the child actors, “on stage that happens right before your eyes, within deafening earshot”.
This is Lloyd Webber’s “freshest, funniest” show in decades, agreed Mark Shenton in The Stage. It’s as if, at the age of 68, the composer has come full circle, with a “score boasting punchy retro-rock riffs” that might have come from 1971’s Jesus Christ Superstar. This is a “genuine family musical” with “tons and tons” of heart, as well as a large cast of “astonishing” child actors, who all play their instruments live, a motley crew “as quirky as they are individual”. I defy anyone to watch them rock out “without breaking into a great big smile”.
The youngsters are “preposterously talented”, agreed Paul Taylor in The Independent, while in the role of Dewey Finn, the slacker teacher, David Fynn gives a “blissful” performance of “explosive energy” and rascally charm. Of the musical numbers, the standouts are the “elating” You’re in the Band and the “glorious” rock anthem Stick it to the Man. In fact, the latter might just be my favourite Lloyd Webber song “for about three decades”, said Christopher Hart in The Sunday Times. “Five gold stars for this rock-solid hit, a foot-stomping, deliriously enjoyable fable of freedom and fun.”
The week’s other opening
Half a Sixpence Noël Coward Theatre, London WC2 (0844-482 5141). Until 11 February 2017 This “fantastic” revamp of the 1960s musical “brims over with spick-and-span choreographic delights”, and features a star-makingly brilliant performance from newcomer Charlie Stemp in the Tommy Steele role (Daily Telegraph).