Mini-rock stars teach us how to have fun
School Of Rock (New London Theatre) Verdict: A smash hit!
TIME to rename Andrew Lloyd Webber... Lord Meat Loaf! The veteran composer’s latest show, just imported from America, is a rooty-tooty effort with not a single, warbling ballad to be found. Instead, it gives us child-rockers playing guitar like shrink-wrapped Jimi Hendrixes. Ear-splitting and rib-tickling, it’s one of the most merry, liberated romps of the year. His lordship has collaborated with Downton Abbey script writer Julian Fellowes and lyricist Glenn Slater. They have reconstructed a 2003 film about a down-and-out rocker who blags himself a job as a teacher at a prissy U.S. private school. Wastrel Dewey Finn assumes the name of his best friend Ned Schneebly and ‘corrupts’ a class of pre-pubescents by turning them into a rock band. Can they win a local talent show against some adult heavy-metal dudes? Imagine Matilda on speed and you may start to picture it. A stickler for standards might argue the lyrics and even some of the lines are indistinct. The story takes a while to get going — to show us what a slob Finn is. David Fynn is well cast: he sweats buckets and the stage shakes every time he lands one of his ‘rock god’ leaps. No matter. He is meant to be a chubster. Are some of the scenarios corny? Yes. The headmistress of sniffy Horace Green school (Florence Andrews), eventually melts, as we knew she would. Finn’s best friend (Oliver Jackson) finally tells his wife to shut up. There are endless ‘whoop’ moments, but that is the modern American way. Any faults are balanced by a cast of irresistibly talented pupils. Director Laurence Connor has worked wonders. I loved their sheer delight rocking in front of the swanky first-night crowd. There is also a strong dose of truth in the story. Rock music really can be the making of shy children. My lad, in his early teens, was at a private school and not doing much. Then he discovered the electric guitar. The night he rocked his heart out in a solo performance left my wife and me joyfully speechless. Terrific fun, this show.
A VERSION of this review appeared in earlier editions.