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School of Rock plans four days of live music
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
After months of rehearsals, students at the School of Rock are excited to be able to play an endof-summer show.
Students playing covers of various artists across many subgenres of rock ‘n’ roll will perform hour-and-a-half setlists across two weekends.
The shows – Sept. 11-12 and Sept. 1819 at the Revelry in Mesa – will feature students of all ages, including some adults.
Despite the varying ages of the performers, School of Rock Scottsdale manager Michelle Worley said the show is a landmark for all the students.
“I think this is part of where we really learn a lot about the student,” she said. “This is the time where their nerves are going to kick in. This is the time where they will either put their foot on the amp and rock out that solo or will step on their chord and ruin the solo.”
Worley naturally hopes the latter will not happen as students have spent three hours a week over the past four months rehearsing the music of rock ‘n’ roll’s most celebrated artists.
“We use rock ‘n’ roll as a foundation for learning and the kids are motivated through different artists,” Worley said.
Students sign up to play music from various artists early on and there are some artists that some students aim for as early as they can.
“We noticed that some kids might be interested in learning Led Zeppelin specifically because the guitar parts are really great, or the bass lines are amazing. We’ll put together different genres each season and rotate each genre based on what the kids are interested in,” Worley said.
This year, the performers will cover the music of Nirvana, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden. They also will play genre sets, such as the best of the 80’s and old school punk.
In addition, the adults across the School of Rock’s three locations – Ahwatukee, Gilbert and Scottsdale – will
School of Rock Scottsdale manager Michelle Worley smiles with excitement as her students prepare for another end of season show. (Pablo Robles Progress Staff Photographer)
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Landmark Theatres landing in the Quarter
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
Landmark Theatres is set to make its presence known in the greater Phoenix area with the opening of its first theater in Scottsdale Quarter this fall.
The theater will have eight screens to show its selection of sophisticated films and plans to have a bar and gourmet concession stand once it is fully operational.
“They do a couple of different things really well. They’re the best in digital projection, they’ll have gourmet concession items and they try to anticipate the different trends and opportunities for this area.” Scottsdale Quarter General Manager Richard Hunt said. “It’s definitely a good marriage of the two types of entertainment.”
The theater will take the space of the former iPic theaters, which closed in January 2020, and plans to bring a complementary genre of films to the upscale area.
“This theater is going to lean toward adult fare but there will also be a degree of family content,” Landmark spokeswoman Margot Gerber said.
While the theater may show some
play their own setlists of various tunes.
“They put together a really collaborative set of music and they do the same thing that the kids do but in a whole different way because they’re adults,” Worley said.
Whether these students are young rockers or adults finally living out their rock n’ roll fantasy, this will serve as the first concert for many School of Rock students.
While that may sound nerve wracking, Worley chose The Revelry due to its intimate setting that she hopes will calm any nerves the first-time rockers may feel and allows the show to operate in a safer manner. “It feels like being outdoors – in somebody's backyard almost; it’s really comfortable,” Worley said. “The outdoor part of it allows us to execute things safely.
“It has an outdoor area with picnic benches, outdoor service and an outdoors stage that has been comfortable for us because it has a misting and cooling system and is underneath an awning.”
She also stated that having the shows at this venue gives the performers and audience members the same feeling they would get at a music festival.
“This has more of a relaxed, festivallike setting,” Worley said. “People are set up with their chairs and some will pay close attention to the stage.”
Despite the relaxed atmosphere, Worley hopes this will be the year that fans get on their feet and move to the music these future rockstars have worked to perfect.
“We haven’t had too many dancers yet, which is kind of a bummer, but I’m hoping this year we can get them up and dancing,” Worley said with a laugh.
While Worley hopes fans enjoy all the
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 acts across the four days of live music, there is one act that she is particularly excited to watch.
“One of the ones I’m personally most excited about is seeing the Radiohead show because my youngest son is performing his last show and is graduating from our program,” Worley said.
She is also looking forward to the Stone Temple Pilots show as these students only had six weeks to put the show together.
Fortunately, these students came in ambitious and ready to put together a great show. “They had high levels of energy and came in knowing their stuff,” Worley said.
Worley is excited for the entire show and hopes this will be a day to remember for students and families alike.
“I hope that fans can see how much the kids appreciate the music and I hope that they also see a musical community of people that are trying to teach their kids something different,” she said. “We have a like-minded community that appreciates what rock 'n’ roll can bring to somebody’s life.” She also hopes it can serve as a good learning experience for the students. “I hope the kids grow in confidence and I think that every exposure to the stage helps build it,” Worley said.
If you go
What: School of Rock end of summer show When: Sept. 11-12: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sept. 18-19: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Where: The Revelry, 1065 N. Dobson Road, Mesa. Cost: $10 at the door. Info: schoolofrock.com and therevelry.com
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Hollywood blockbusters, it has reported it does better with independent and foreign films as well as documentaries.
“For example, in our theaters we played ‘Black Widow’ and some of the big blockbuster movies but those don’t tend to do well for us,” Gerber said. “Oscar pedigree films tend to play the longest.”
Fans who go to watch these awardnominated films can expect to do so in style as the theaters promise top-ofthe-line technology.
JBL speakers will broadcast the innovative Dolby digital sound system across the theater and customers will be able to relax in reclining mechanical chairs. The theater also will have topof-the-line digital projectors and a 3D system.
“We always try to have state of the art projection and sound,” Gerber said.
The theater will also accommodate people with hearing impairments by providing closed caption readers and audio headsets.
It will utilize the already existing bar and offer a renowned gourmet concession items like ice cream sandwiches, trail mix, chocolate bars and sausages once it begins to see a steadier flow of traffic through the doors.
“Depending on where we are with
The Landmark moviehouse will focus primarily on independent fi lms, including documentaries. (Special to the Progress) things, we’ve been cutting down our concessions in terms of the food we would serve where there’s spoilage involved,” Gerber said.
Another hurdle that Landmark Theatres must leap is the competition of streaming services showing new movies on the same day as theaters.
“One of the big issues in our industry right now is that all the studios have been putting their films out for streaming on the same day that they release them in theaters,” Gerber said. “In order for theaters to thrive, we need a window of opportunity before the films start to stream.”
Nevertheless, Gerber has reported that Landmark Theatres has seen a rise in its revenue and has high hopes for the theater that she feels is a perfect fit for Scottsdale Quarter.
“The demographic in the area is similar to other areas where we operate theaters so it was a perfect fit,” Gerber said.
Landmark Theatres is slated to open sometime this fall, just in time to complement the new roster of retail stores coming to Scottsdale Quarter, incuding Levi’s, Yeti, Peloton and Brilliant Earth jewelry company.
“It’s going to be a sophisticated setting that’ll blend itself well with some of the new additions we have coming,” Hunt said. Hunt also foresees customers flocking to the area making a day out of the new attraction.
“What we will have are people making a day out of this,” he said. “They’ll be able to go to the movies then go to dinner and maybe shop around in any one of our unique stores.”
Landmark Theatres management currently is working with contractors to assess the scope of work needed for a fall opening.
“To be able to elevate that to our retail lineup that we already have and to be able to do a unique movie experience will be phenomenal for Scottsdale Quarter,” Hunt said.
