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The Kids in the Band
ON THE INSIDE The latest happenings in our area Page 2
June 9, 2016
All-youngster cast to present ‘School of Rock’ by Caitlin West STAFF WRITER
The Phoenix Kids are ready to take you back to school — and entertain you along the way. The youth theater troupe will present the musical School of Rock Fridays and Saturdays, June 10 to 18, at 7 p.m. and Sundays, June 12 and 19, at 2 p.m. at Phoenix Performing Arts Centre, 409 Main St. in Duryea. Tickets are $12; $10 for students. Opening night is sold out. The plot of the stage show “is pretty much the same” as that of the 2003 Jack Black film on which it is based, director and choreographer Lee LaChette said. It follows failed rock star Dewey Finn as he takes a job substitute teaching at a prep school and ends up turning his class into a rock band. In addition to including songs featured in the film, the musical has 14 new tunes from stage legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, and LaChette said audiences will love the music. “All the songs are so catchy,” she said. “I think they’re going to love watching these kids and what they did with it.” Some of the show’s most popular songs include “You’re in the Band,” which comes up when Dewey meets his students; “Stick It To the Man”; and “If Only You Would Listen,” in which LaChette said the kids try to tell their parents “that life isn’t all learning. There has to be music and other things in their life to make them grow, and they’re trying to tell their parents that ‘if only you would listen.’” With schools cutting arts programs as they slash budgets, LaChette said, the show’s emphasis on the empowerment of kids through music “hits home.” Lloyd Webber tries to say “there should be more [music], and school districts and whatnot are taking it away,” she added. The show, which is still running on Broadway, is only being licensed to children’s theater groups at the moment, LaChette said, so the cast is entirely made up of kids — who not only have to play the students’ roles but also the adults. “That’s a huge challenge when you’re asking 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds to play adult teacher
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From left, seated: Brock Marion, Rhiannon Legg, Alex Raser, Isabella Krashnak, Makayla Neel, Jacob Hull, Mary Sinclair, Aiden Hart and Madelyn Casey. The band: Brooke Manley, Tylor Berrini, Clare Raser, Jacob Bianchi and Walker Cherry.
roles and adult parent roles. … And then you had to make sure your kids (playing children) actually looked like kids next to them, so you kind of had to go with younger (kids) for the band part of it,” LaChette said. The cast of about 36 includes Walker Cherry of Moosic as Dewey, Jacob Hull of Dureya as Mason, Brooke Manley of Taylor as Zack and Jade Casella of Avoca as Patty. The musical has an orchestra accompanying it, but for a few of the songs the kids will perform live on stage as the in-show band. Almost all of them already played instruments before taking on their roles and auditioned for a specific character because of that, LaChette said, although Cherry “is pretty much picking it up and learning (lead guitar) as he’s going along. He’s doing fantastic.” Having the children play in the show has challenged the musical directors a little bit, she added, noting how they must “not only teach (the kids) to do the harmonies but (also)
to make sure they can play together as a band.” “It’s tough,” LaChette said. “It’s just like putting a band together for the first time. It takes a lot of practice.” While licensing rules keep Phoenix from duplicating any costumes or choreography from the Broadway production, the biggest challenge actually came in designing the set, which includes not only the classroom but also Dewey’s bedroom and living room, the street, the school hallway and a theater. The first song alone has about four scene changes in it, LaChette said. “It’s insane,” she said. The children have had a great experience participating in the show, LaChette said, noting how normally they would not even have an opportunity to put on a musical still running on Broadway. They even went to see it in New York, and she said they will take away “a lifetime of memories.” “This is going to be something they’re never going to forget,” LaChette said.