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04/18/2018 07:00 AMThe story of a wannabe rock star who poses as a substitute teacher and ends up disrupting life for the better at a prestigious prep school is making its way to the Guilford stage. This spring Guilford High School Theater Arts (GHSTA) brings School of Rock to the stage the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May.
Based on the movie staring Jack Black in the lead role, the GHS performance of School of Rock includes original songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber and songs from the original movie. More than 40 students are in the cast and nearly 70 students are involved in tech production.
Director Cara Mulqueen-Teasdale said there are always some challenges when taking on a well-known production, particularly one adapted from a film, but she said this show in particular has a unique challenge.
“The other challenge is the rights and the royalties for the piece require that the kids who play the instruments have to play,” she said. “The cool thing is that we have such a great music department here that we were able to bring a number of kids to the table who had studied music and then some other kids play in bands with their family or friends, so they may not be able to read music, but they can pick stuff up, so every kid on the stage who is playing is really playing.”
Having to play instruments live while managing set changes and remembering lines has been a challenge, but Mulqueen-Teasdale said this year she thought it was especially important to let the students tackle a fun and heartwarming production.
“They have had four years of doing these really heavy plays where there is a big social issue involved or death, so one of the things I felt I wanted to be dedicated to is just letting them do something light,” she said. “It’s actually a very sweet show. The other thing that has been hard with our season is you want to find challenging material for the kids to do, but we also have a responsibility to the community...so this is a show were kids can come, too, and you can go as a family.”
While the show is about a teacher and a bunch of students forming a rock band, Mulqueen-Teasdale said there’s also an important message in the show.
“I think one of the themes that is great and is topical is that there is this song piece in the center of everything that is called ‘If Only You Would Listen’...You have these kids who are from this really high performing school, who have parents who want the best for them and parents who are really pushing them to achieve everything, and there is this scene where they talk to their parents and are saying ‘I have so much to say if only you would listen’ and it’s really poignant,” she said. “I think we have so much discussion in Guilford about the stress that kids feel and it’s real. I think a piece of the solution is all of us really being willing to listen to the kids.”
School of Rock: The Musical is on at Guilford High School Friday and Saturday, April 27 and 28 and Thursday and Saturday, May 3 and 5 at 7 p.m. and Sundays, April 29 and May 6 at 2 p.m. at the Guilford High School Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available at ghsta.weebly.com.