School of Rock: The Musical at Curve Theatre Leicester on 1st June 2022 (Matinee Show)
Review:
Electric, Energetic, Exhilarating, Entertaining and Extremely Fun.
The second this show starts you are sent straight into awesome, this show is so high energy from the start. You get so much out of this show, it’s got pieces of the movie, but it’s also a completely original musical. It is brimming with talent throughout, the cast all work off of each other perfectly. It makes you laugh so much, you will have your heart strings tugged, you will be rocking out and be in complete awe too.
Jake Sharp who plays Dewey Finn is the perfect actor for this role, my goodness he captured the role and literally went with it, he made this character in such a way that he was almost embarrassing in a good way though, (second hand embarrassment anyone). He was almost portrayed as a creepy loser taking on a job he isn’t qualified to do, doesn’t want to do but finds a way to do it anyway, his own way. He chose literally the best way to portray that, and Dewey also literally makes you cringe. He had such an amazing voice, his energy was crazy on the go constantly, he was literally the most hilarious actor. The character was a little repulsive at times had me gagging with the things he was doing, but even then made it hilarious and grotesque at the same time. The way he interacted with the children was hilarious they were all such a great team together, working off each other and I loved seeing the connection he had with them all. He was hilarious about it all, he made literally everything he did funny and was the most perfect lead actor. I’m a huge fan now.
(Side note: I totally got Beetlejuice vibes from him whilst watching him perform, he had that same essence about him)
Rebecca Lock who plays Rosalie Mullins, oh my gosh she was so stern and straight cut, I love the way she portrayed her. She held it together through some of the funniest scenes and I don’t know how she didn’t break but she didn’t not once. Her voice wow I honestly didn’t know she’d have such a beautiful operatic voice but she did and it was beautiful. I loved her character progression seeing her finally loosen up and be a lover of Stevie Nicks oh yeah my kinda gal. She was such a great character and the actress played her so perfectly.
Ned Schneebly played by Matthew Rowland, what seriously he was hilarious and had such a huge twist in his character later on that I didn’t know was coming. He was so funny his character having once been a rocker to then turned into a straight and narrow substitute teacher was hilarious. Add in too that he lets his girlfriend Patti Di Marco played by Nadia Violet Johnson boss him around which was really funny. The two of them worked so so well together as a couple and were hilarious.
The rest of the adult cast were all amazing and so talented most doubling up as a teacher, a parent and some in no vacancy, they were all so great.
The Kids Review
Firstly I’m in awe of these children, not only did these children act, they all sang and then played instruments some even played 2 instruments. I’m am bewildered and in awe of these incredibly talented children they totally blew me away throughout this show. They were so high energy, they had so much to do, lots of fast choreography, they did set moving and they were always full of energy.
So the way they do the kids is you get a set of 12 out of the 42 kids in the cast, I wanted to know exactly which kids I was watching so in intermission a man that worked in the show with the kids kindly gave me each ones name as the program tells you all kids not who you get. I didn’t want to review the wrong kid as they are all so incredibly talented.
Summer played by Florence Moluluo this girl was amazing she just was perfect for Summer, she captured her bossy, pretentious, straight talking leader side incredibly. I loved the way she chose to portray her. Oh and the star chart scenes made me laugh, Summer needed her gold stars. She was so against Dewey from the start and such an opposite character to go against him and his ideas and visions. She was not a child he liked to deal with and that’s what really made the two of them work together so well, it was hilarious. I was also so shocked and proud of her when she sang a solo part, as the character Summer isn’t known for her singing voice but Florence was incredible and hit such a high note I was shocked. Such a talented young actress and singer.
Billy played by Alfie Morwood this kid had the most perfect comedic timing and he had me howling at the things he came out with, his overly honest and crass remarks to Dewey were spot on perfection and he knew exactly when to throw them out there. He was dramatic in the best possible way and he as Billy was so hilarious.
Zack played by William Laborde was such a gifted guitar player wow that kid was amazing and he was also a really great singer and actor. Freddie played by Thomas Harvey was an incredible drummer and again a great singer and actor too. These two got shown a bit more of their characters and the rough lives they had at home and I really loved the progression that they had through the show and that they learnt to stand up for themselves.
Lawrence played by Oliver Pearce so talented again on the piano and keyboard, his acting was amazing I really liked how he portrayed him as a kid uncomfortable in himself but then he grows and finds belief in himself. Katie played by Ava Masters this girl wow she went from beautiful classical cello to rocking out in Bass and she was insanely talented, she also had a really beautiful singing voice and was a really talented actress.
Tomika played by Jasmine Djazel this girl tugged at my heart from the start, though she’s pretty much supposed to be invisible I still noticed her and it made me so sad she was just all alone and so shy and scared being new at the school. She then sang and WOW that voice it was absolutely beautiful and heartfelt and this girl is a star. I loved the character progression, loved her being able to come out of her shell and join the band and lead and share that incredible voice. She was just WOW.
Marcy played by Paris Banyong made me laugh so much she was the one to encourage Deweys bad ideas and also the one to love spilling everything. I really loved the way she rooted for the battle of the bands, so funny. Marcy also worked really well with Shonelle played by Elisha Kerai both girls had such beautiful sweet voices and both were so talented.
Sophie played by Inez Danielak being Deweys roadie really had the worst job of all, poor girl she had to deal with so much of his grossness and she handled it so well and was so funny the whole time. Mason played by Nesim Adnan and James played by Devon Francis were both really great actors and singer, helping to round off the incredibly talented kids of the band.
These children are going places in the world that’s for darned sure, they all have so much natural talent, they all had such incredible voices, played their instruments insanely well and all were such incredible young actors and actresses. They all worked perfectly together and all worked insanely well with Jake Sharp aka Dewey, the hilarity they all had together was crazy. These kids really made the show, I’m going to remain in awe of these insanely talented children.
Last Thoughts
The set was so clever and really pretty, loved all the prep school walls and loved how it interchanged so perfectly between scenes. The lighting was amazing, the sound was fantastic. The dry ice was a little unpleasant as I was so close to stage, but it added a perfect effect for the show. The costumes were really great and I loved that each kid was dressed differently considering it was a uniform.
This show was insane and blew me away, I will say I was shocked at some of the content especially with how many young children were in the audience, there was some very grown up content and lines and even fowl language some of which the kids said, I was not expecting it.
I loved rocking out to this show it was brimming with so much talent and was funny from the very start of the show. You will leave feeling so exhilarated and you’d have rocked out hard. If you haven’t seen it yet make sure you catch it soon as it is almost at the end of it’s run and you don’t wanna miss this insanely incredible show. So check if it’s coming near you before it’s over.
The Cast
Jake Sharp as Dewey Finn
Rebecca Lock as Rosalie Mullins
Matthew Rowland as Ned Schneebly
Nadia Violet Johnson as Patty Di Marco
Alex Tomkins as Alternate Dewy Finn
Ryan Bearpark Snake/ Mr. Mooneyham
James Bisp as Mr. Hamilton, Bob and Cover for Ned Schneebley
Chris Breistein as Theo
Samuel Haughton as Mr. Williams, Stanley and Cover for Ned Schneebley
Richard Morse as Gabe, Sanford, Jeff and Cover for Dewey Finn
Annell Odartey as Mrs. Hathaway and Cover for Patty Di Marco
Joanna O’Hare as Mrs, Turner, Gordon and Cover for Rosalie Mullins
Amy Oxley as Ms. Bingham, Travis, and Cover for Rosalie Mullins & Patty Di Marco
Helena Pipe as Ms. Sheinkopf
Craig Watson as Mr. Spencer & Doug
Tom Hext as Cover for Dewey Finn & Swing
Harveen Mann as Swing
Michaela Powell as Swing
Richard Vorster as Swing
The Kids I Saw
Alfie Morwood as Billy
Thomas Harvey as Freddy
Devon Francis as James
Ava Masters as Katie
Oliver Pearce as Lawrence
Paris Banyong as Marcy
Nesim Adnan as Mason
Elisha Kerai as Shonelle
Inez Danielak as Sophie
Florence Moluluo as Summer
Jasmine Dejazel as Tomika
William LaBaorde as Zack
The Other Kids in the Band
Wilf Cooper, Kaylenn Aires Fonseca as Billy
Isaac Forward, Emerson Sutton & Eva McGrath as Freddy
Max Ivemey, Dereke Oladele and Aadi Patel as James
Ivy Balcombe, Effie Lennon Ballard and Daisy Hanna as Katie
Oliver Forde, David Glhovsky and Angus McDougall as Lawrence
Liza Deikalo and Elodie Salmon as Marcy
Alex Shotton and Caelan Wallington as Mason
Eden Anthony and Kyla Robinson as Shonelle
Ruthie Heathcoate, Jemima Newman and Ziana Olarewaju as Sophie
Evie Marner and Layla Pages as Summer
Tia Isaac as Tomika
Harry Churchill, Joseph Sheppard and Hanley Webb as Zack
The Creatives and Crew
Andrew Lloyd Webber – Music
Julian Fellows – Book
Glenn Starter – Lyrics
Laurence Connor – Director
Chris Key – Assosiate Director
Matt Smith – Musical Supervisor
Maria Graciano – Associate Choreographer
Stuart Porter – Associate Lighting Designer
Adam Fisher – Assosate Sound Designer
Charlotte Simpson – Wardrobe Supervisor
Kate Elizabeth – Wigs and Hair Supervisor
Michael Riley – Musical Director
Sam Hall – Assistant Musical Director
Eddie Tatton – Guitar One
Tim Bloomer – Guitar Two
Adam Smith – Guitar Three & Children’s MD/ Cover MD
Dan Humphreys – Bass Guitar
Gordon Wilson – Drums
Stephen Hill – Orchestral Manager
Stephen Diamond – Company Stage Manager
Mark Hilton – Resident Director
Tom French – Technical Stage Manager
Natasha Wood – Deputy Stage Manager
Holly Tilt & Christina Milroy – Assistant Stage Managers/Book Cover
Ellie Bick & Ben Turnbull- Technical Assistant Stage Managers
Michael Young – Tour Carpenter
Jennifer Bye – Swing Technician
Krissy Lee – Swing Technician (Stage)
Joseph Haig – Swing Technician (Instruments)
Michael Seaman – Chief Electrician
Jim Erasmus – Deputy Electrician
Beth Hudson – Assistant Electrician
Harry Regan – Sound Number One
Alex Duckworth – Sound Number Two
Oliver Wareham – Sound Number Three/ Instrument Tech
Heather Castle – Head of Wardrobe
Ellie Linaker – Deputy Head of Wardrobe
Vicki McLeod – Wardrobe Assistant
Pedro Paiva – Head of Wigs
Carolina Quina – Deputy Head of Wigs
Micheala Powell – Dance Captain
Amy Oxley – Assistant Dance Captain
Amanda Grant – Head Chaperone
Emily Armitage – Deputy Tutor & Chaperone
Mike Yates – Tutor Chaperone
Cassie Bamford, Laura Joley & Topher Palmer – Chaperones
apapergirlapapertown 