School of Rock is a movie that holds a dear place in my heart. As a music teacher, Dewey Finn has a fantastic way of capturing the essence of the joy of music that I hope to pass on to my students. It’s up there with Mr Holland’s Opus for me as top tier music teacher movies – though both from very different perspectives, and both with their own slightly problematic aspects.
It really wasn’t a surprise that Andrew Lloyd Webber would turn this into a successful and popular musical, and Darlington Theatre Players current season does an excellent job of turning this story into a strong message of finding one’s voice.
Being a Rock musical, I came in with somewhat high expectations for the music side of things. Having just recently attended a Good Charlotte arena show, I knew that the levels wouldn’t be quite what that was, however I felt that there wasn’t quite the rock levels of balance I was expecting.
Marloo Theatre is a wide but narrow audience – my seat in row D was the second from the back. And my feeling throughout the show was that I could hear the voices incredibly well – but that meant at times the band was getting lost. Sound operator Devlin Turbin (who put on many hats for this production, including director, set design, sound design and operation, set construction, poster design and photography) was working hard throughout the show, riding the faders for the louder singers, and boosting the quieter ones for the mix – a job that was mostly done well for the singers.
The band, led by Music Director Jasper Cruden, is what you would expect of a rock musical – 3 guitars (Cooper Cutts, Chris Johnston and Damon Thompson), Bass (Chris Ingram), Drums (Ian Tassicker and Tyler Nederpelt), and 2 Keys (Nick Navarra and Daniel Nievelstein). The guitars and Keys 1 also doubled on Recorder for Horace Green Alma Mater. The use of recorders in this song gives the song an elementary primary school vibe, and a master stroke by Lloyd Webber – however the execution in this performance reminded me a bit too much of primary school music, and not so much of the exacting high standards that Horace Green demands of their students.
From what I could tell, the drums were only partially mic’d – being able to hear the snare coming through the speakers clearly, but cymbals were frequently lacking. Thankfully, the drums were at the back of the stage, and able to be heard – however with the rest of the music coming through clearly right above my head, the cymbals made the drums sound quite distant and separated from the music.
It worked fine for most songs, however when actors were miming to the drums and occasionally hitting the cymbals, it was coming through louder than the actual drums. I particularly noticed Freddy (Campbell Attwood) limiting his movements and struggling to hear the drums so that he was in time.
One of the things that made the movie so special was that the young actors were actually playing the instruments themselves. So it was good to see that at times Dewey (Oliver Temby), Zack (Felix Steinwandel), Katie (Trithany Delides) and Freddy (Attwood) were given times to demonstrate their abilities on their instruments. However, when I attended when Temby and Steinwandel played their guitars, they were significantly out of tune. But I am still impressed that this production made the effort to give working instruments to most students, excepting Lawrence (Austin Greene) – a portable digital piano that operates on batteries is quite difficult to find.
In terms of the vocal qualities, Temby stood out in the lead role, being able to embody the Jack Black nature of the character, and incorporate the rock vocal stylings with the music theatre clarity. He has a powerful voice, and one that Turbin would have been riding the fader on significantly – and it showed where his mic had been knocked off during a quick change, but I could barely notice any change in volume. Ms Mullins (Sarah McCabe) also performed admirably – the role calls for singing Mozart’s Queen of the Night aria – no easy feat for most trained opera singers – and McCabe achieved it with ease. She also demonstrated a soulful and tender voice in “Where Did the Rock Go” – an entrancing performance that had the audience desperate to give their applause. I also want to highlight Molly Ward (Tomika), who sang an incredibly soulful acapella version of Amazing Grace.
The younger singers all performed excellently, particularly when in full ensemble. There were a couple of times where smaller groups struggled with harmonies, which was particularly evident in “If Only You Would Listen” – a slight distraction in an otherwise powerful and important song in the musical. The adult ensemble, with their extra experience, brought great harmonies to their parts, particularly with No Vacancy.
In many ways, School of Rock tells a story of people who just want to be heard. Of students, being ignored by their parents. Of the principal, who’s love for rock isn’t being heard. Of Ned (Jordan Richards), whose girlfriend Patty (Ellie Coburn) ignores what Ned is really passionate about. And finally of Dewey, who just wants to share his music, and wants it to be heard. Darlington Theatre have put on an excellent production that allows these stories to be heard.
School of Rock runs at Marloo Theatre until March 14. Tickets available through Trybooking.
There was a cast. They performed well.
Pit Reviews Perth is written to highlight the musical aspects of Music Theatre productions in Perth. Inspired by one too many reviews that boiled down to “There was a band. They performed well.
Ben Clapton 