School of Rock - The Musical (NYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (3,136)
See it if you like music, quick paced entertainment.
Don't see it if If you don't children on stage.
See it if You liked the movie you will love this show. If you didn't see the movie you will like this show. This show rocks!
Don't see it if You didn't like the movie.
See it if you liked the movie. SOR is energetic fun for children of all ages. The kids steal the show with their singing, dancing and music-making.
Don't see it if you want to preserve your eardrums. Too loud! Meh message about bad parents who don't listen or truly care.
See it if you just want to have fun and don't want to read too deeply into its essence.
Don't see it if you prefer avant-garde theatre.
See it if you're a fan of the film, you enjoy talented children doing marvelous things, want to see something quite different by Webber
Don't see it if you expect serious content in musicals, you don't like loud rock music, 20-somethings behaving badly are not your thing, children irk you
See it if /for hyper-kinetic, antic performance by Brightman, droll/sharp book by Julian Fellowes, super-talented kid musicians, audience loved it!
Don't see it if climactic music is "folky" drivel not rock, predictable plot (loser wins, gets girl); still the best kid-friendly musical on Bdway
See it if you want to enjoy talented kids (who aren't run-of-the-mill, shrill stage children); you want a very faithful musical adaptation of the film
Don't see it if you expect to rock (the music's MOR), seek something consequential, want a memorable ALW score, or hope for an original take on the movie.
See it if Totally entertaining adaptation of hit movie. Super-nova performance by Brightman (& kids) always compensates for average music/lyrics
Don't see it if Expecting top-notch ALW or a better version of Jack Black; loud rock music or happy endings are not your thing
Critic Reviews (62)
"'School of Rock' doesn’t strain to mix whimsy with grandeur...For its first half, at least, it charmingly walks the line between the cute and the precious…In the more lazily formulaic second act, you can taste glucose in the air. But mostly, 'Rock' is surprisingly easy to swallow, in large part because everyone involved seems to be having such a fine time...Family audiences should be grateful for a Lloyd Webber show that only wants to have fun and hopes that you do, too."
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"It worked for the movie, and wow, does it work on Broadway, a double jolt of adrenaline and sugar to inspire the most helicoptered of tots to play hooky and go shred an ax…This is one tight, well-built show: underscoring the emotional arcs, and knowing when to get out of the way and let the kids jam. 'School of Rock' has absorbed the diverse lessons of 'Rent,' 'Spring Awakening' and 'Matilda' and passes them on to a new generation."
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"'School of Rock' has a fair amount to offer...The kids are terrific: They sing very well and play their own instruments…Webber grabs whatever tropes seem handy, from power to glitter to punk, garbling our understanding of Dewey’s inner soundscape...Anyway, Lloyd Webber isn’t the problem.The problem is what the point is, and that falls on Fellowes, who has not resolved, but rather exposed, the confusions latent in the material."
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"It might sound lame to suggest that 'School of Rock' works in large part because of the charms of a bunch of adorable kids. But their infectious delight as they etch their distinct personalities and seize both their individual and collective right to be heard is irresistible…Some of Lloyd Webber's more traditional numbers feel like filler…The direction of Connor is not always the most elegant…But the minute they launch into ecstatic head-banging, pogoing release, all is forgiven."
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"It’s all very obvious, sure. And the musical perhaps more so than the movie…Webber has written a fun, catchy, rock-ish score. And if the plotlines about the adults feel leaden, when those kids — Dewey’s 10-year-old students — take the stage, 'School of Rock' is a delight…'School of Rock' isn’t perfect. But if, as the musical suggests, perfection is less the point than trying hard and having fun doing so, then it succeeds."
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"An exuberant feel-good musical…A cast of super-talented kids who rock out on the kind of songs you always wished had been in the movie…Webber has the ideal sensibility to relate to children whose freakish talents might make them seem a little bit…peculiar…Thankfully, nothing savage has been done to the original film story…The creatives have given the children a sensitive backstory about their parents and home lives that’s missing from the movie."
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"Turning 'School of Rock' into a musical isn’t the worst idea in the world, and if you need a safe, undemanding show to take your baby-boom parents to see over the holidays, it’ll do perfectly fine—but if that sounds like lukewarm praise, it is...I’ve seen worse and so have you...Just be forewarned: This is the kind of musical that sends you home wanting to rent the movie. I don’t know about you, but that’s not why I go to the theater."
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"Exuberantly loud, high-spirited and upbeat...While none of the songs is equal to Webber’s best they’re more than good enough...The show mirrors a little too baldly the 'Kinky Boots' thing of having a nasty bitch of a fiancée drive the plot, and the stereotyping of the boy-who-would-be costume designer is de trop. These are not small issues, but they’re subsumed by the fact that this is a fable…You may have forgotten all of it before you leave, but you will be leaving with a big smile."
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