BWW TV: SCHOOL OF ROCK Kids Return for One Final Jam on Closing Night!

By: Jan. 21, 2019
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Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit School of Rock - The Musical played its final performance on Broadway on Sunday evening, January 20, 2019 by welcoming back dozens of former young cast members to the Winter Garden Theatre stage for one last epic jam session.

In the video, two alumni - Carly Gendell and Ava Della Pietra - talk about what School of Rock means to them - both from their time in the show and having returned to join the exciting finale. They have just come off the stage after rocking out with the rest of the company for the reprise of "Stick It To the Man". Imogen Lloyd Webber also talks on camera about the show's lasting effect on music education - something that has always been so important to her father.

School of Rock - The Musical opened to audience and critical acclaim on Sunday, December 6, 2015, at the Winter Garden (where Lloyd Webber's Cats reigned supreme for almost two decades). As of January 20, 2019, the show played 1,309 performances and 31 previews. The production recouped its entire Broadway investment in May of 2017, and was nominated for four 2016 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score (Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater), Best Book (Julian Fellowes), and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Alex Brightman).

School of Rock - The Musical opened in London's West End, also to rave reviews, on November 14, 2016, breaking all house records at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (a record previously held by War Horse) and was nominated for three 2017 Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (David Fynn) and Outstanding Achievement in Music, which it won.

As it continues to bring its infectious rock and roll spirit to audiences all over the world, School of Rock is shredding it nightly in London, on its North American tour, and at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, Australia.School of Rock will also be opening in China, Sydney, Brisbane and across Asia in 2019.

In addition to the professional companies, and in an unprecedented move, Andrew Lloyd Webber teamed up with R&H Theatricals, a division of Rodgers & Hammerstein, to grant youth performance groups and schools the rights to perform the production before it even opened on Broadway. The premiere was performed by Oakland's School for the Arts at the fabled Curran in San Francisco from March 3-12, 2016. As of today, more than 1,000 schools have performed School of Rock around the world.

In June of 2016, it was announced that Andrew Lloyd Webber partnered with The American Theatre Wing to establish The Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative. The Initiative has provided more than $1.5 million in grants and scholarships for schools wishing to enhance their theater programs and students wishing to further their theater training, reaching over twenty-two thousand students nationwide.



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