Cellooo, there's a new musical coming to Broadway, and it's not going to come quietly.
The 2003 movie School of Rock is becoming a Broadway musical. Previews are scheduled to begin Nov. 2, 2015 with an opening night slated for Dec. 6, 2015. No, this is not an article sourced by The Onion. This is really happening. But wait, it gets weirder.
The Broadway musical adaptation of School of Rock will feature music by none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber, you know, the composer behind such gems as Evita, Phantom of the Opera and the incomparable Cats? Glenn Slater, who has provided the lyrics for such recent Broadway musicals as Leap of Faith, Sister Act and The Little Mermaid, will also pen this show. Julian Fellowes, the mind behind Downton Abbey, will supply the book.
Rumors about a musical version of the movie swirled in May, thanks to a report in The Telegraph. When School of Rock takes the stage next fall, it will be the first time since 1971's Jesus Christ Superstar that an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical premiered on Broadway before London's West End.
Well if this isn't a flaming hot stew of crazy, I don't know what is. But even though I may sound really sarcastic and not excited about this musical, that couldn't be further from the truth. I am flippin' ecstatic. Lloyd Webber certainly has the chops to write an excellent rock musical. If you haven't listened to the original cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, do that right now. Fellowes has a way with words and has written some of the wittiest lines of TV dialogue of the 21st century. And what more can I say about School of Rock? It's funny, the music is awesome and it's an ultimately heartwarming story. Go watch it now. Maybe twice.
I only have a few stipulations of what they need to carry over from Richard Linklater's 2003 movie into the Broadway musical. Jack Black should reprise his role as the wannabe rocker Dewey Finn masquerading as a private school substitute teacher because no one else can live up to his performance in my mind. The dude can sing, act and he hasn't been on Broadway ever (not surprising), so why not start now? Principal Mullins (played by Joan Cusack in the film) needs to do her drunken dance to Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen." Obviously, the triumphant finale song played at the Battle of the Bands needs to be in the musical, too. That's just mandatory.
