SCHOOL ROCK of

In March 2022, over 100 students from Years 7 to 13 shook the walls of the Hampden Hall with their electric performances of School of Rock raising musical inspired by the 2003 film...

What an experience! Earlier this year, students from across all year groups took part in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, School of Rock. We rehearsed for six months, and we loved every minute.

School of Rock is a story about a misfit, Dewey Finn, who has a dream that no one else believes in: they want to be a rock star. In Dewey’s desperate attempts to find fame they stumble across a class of talented school musicians who help them discover their true self.

In typical Emanuel style, our incredible director Miss Graves decided to gender-reverse the lead role of Dewey. The amazingly talented Livi (U6JED) took up the challenge and she knocked everybody’s socks off! As a Year 8 pupil watching and learning from the older cast members, I was truly inspired. I have to say that Edie (U6CCG), Caspar (L6SPA), and Hannah (10MGA) were particularly fabulous in their roles! I have learnt so much from them and the other teachers, including Mr Norton Smith. I would like to give special thanks to Miss Kerstein and the rest of the tech team who made our show look so spectacular, and we cannot forget the wonderful work of our very hard-working costume designer, Emma (U6RJB)!

I was extremely grateful to play the part of Summer. I got to combine my four loves: singing, dancing, acting, and bossing people around! Summer is a precociously confident girl who loves school but has found herself silenced by her overly controlling mother. She longs for respect and only finds it when Dewey opens her eyes to the freedom of Rock.

I will keep many heart-warming memories in my heart from my experience in School of Rock became very close to the cast members, and I loved rehearsing with them even on cold Tuesday evenings in the winter! A particularly great memory was the first time everyone sang ‘If Only You Would Listen’ together; it was such a beautiful moment and I think that as a cast we reflected our characters’ hurt and anger to the audience.

Although I was a bit nervous, I really enjoyed performing ‘Time to Play’ for the first time in front of an audience. I had never been in front of such a big crowd, and I simply couldn’t have done it without my amazing friends’ encouragement, with the full support of the cast behind me. It is very hard for me to pick my favourite songs in the show as I genuinely think that they are all fabulous! If I had to pin it down to two, I think that I would have to pick ‘You’re in the Band’ and ‘Time to Play’ because I had the most fun rehearsing them!

School of Rock has left its mark on everyone involved in its creation, and after months of rehearsals and hard work, I think it’s fair to say that we all ‘Stuck it to the Man!’ I’m enormously proud of what we achieved as a company and as a school, and I’m sure that a lot of people — like me — can’t wait for next year’s auditions!

Image right: Livi (U6JED)