Layne Roate News

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Columbus Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Columbus Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

Complete with lights and haze machine, Andrew Lloyd Weber's School of Rock, opens with the fictitious Band, No Vacancy, singing "I'm Too Hot for You". As the super cool rockers do their thing, rock-god-wanna-be Dewey Finn (Merrit David James), super un-cool by comparison, does his. This results in him being forced out of the band.

Rocking the roofs off theatres across the country are a group of mega talented kids who have traded their time in the schoolroom to an adventure touring the country. Leanne Parks plays Katie, the classically trained cellist turned bass guitar genius.

Broadway legend Andrew Lloyd Webber's high-octane Broadway and West End hit SCHOOL OF ROCK - THE MUSICAL coming to Madison's Overture Center for the Arts Tuesday, Nov. 20 - Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018.

I love movies. I love funny movies. And I especially love quoting funny movies. School of Rock is one of those movies for my family and me. We absolutely love it. I think we may laugh harder the more times we watch it. It just doesn't get old. And now, it's a musical! I mean, does it get better than this?!

Take a new look at the national tour of School of Rock - The Musical!

There is a moment during the closing scene of Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock when the show transforms from a mere crowd pleasing musical, to a pure and unadulterated celebration. Having witnessed the young students of Horace Green Preparatory School fully evolve from disenfranchised, rule-following and generally unhappy children, to confident rock stars willing to 'stick it to the man,' the audience cannot help but leap to its feet and join the party at the top of Mount Rock. More than a local battle of the bands, it is a celebration of the importance of arts education, the power of inspiring teachers, the joys of finding one's voice, and of the mind-blowing capacity for so much talent to exist in such small bodies and at such an early age. Judging by the standing ovation that began before and continued throughout the curtain call, it is clear that the Orpheum audience was fully invested in these young characters, and that School of Rock had therefore done its job. Indeed, this culminating scene is the ultimate payoff that makes the two and a half hours that precede it entirely worth the investment. The only disappointment was that there was no after party on Beale Street. Armed with their instruments and boundless talent, something tells me that the students of Horace Green Preparatory School could most certainly have brought down the house.

If you think you have seen musicals with talented kids in them before, you have not seen anything until you see the current National Tour of SCHOOL OF ROCK playing this week at the Schuster Center as the opener of the Victoria Theatre Association 2018-19 Premier Health Broadway Series.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit School of Rock - The Musical has announced new casting for the 2018-19 season. Merritt David Janes, previously from the original Broadway company and the Dewey Alternate on tour, is taking over the role of Dewey. Also joining the cast are Madison Micucci as Patty, Layne Roate as Ned, Gary Trainor as Dewey Alternate, Brian Golub as a swing and Jonathon Timpanelli as an ensemble member.

Make no mistake about it: School of Rock isn't your mum's - nor your nan's - Andrew Lloyd Webber musical extravaganza. There are no massive chandeliers to come crashing into the orchestra, no fascist dictators to fear, no silent screen divas yearning for a comeback, nor are there are any human-sized felines staring at you across the footlights. Nope, Sir Andrew (as he's known across the pond) has crafted an energetic rock musical that's based on a movie that starred Jack Black and it will rock your freakin' socks off!

Going into the Mathile Theatre on Saturday night, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I am not overly familiar with The Who's music but I do remember that my older brother had a copy of the Tommy album back in the 70's. I also think that I may have actually played pinball on a Tommy machine. Consequently, my mind was a pretty clean slate and I was ready to enjoy the evening.

The age old debate of nature versus nurture finds itself at the heart of Willy Russell's BLOOD BROTHERS, which runs Oct. 19-29 at the Weathervane Playhouse (100 Price Street in Newark).

If you pull out the magnifying glass and really search the fine print, you will find listed CHILDREN OF EDEN, the opening production of the Weathervane Playhouse's summer season. The two-and-a half-hour, two-act musical opened June 1 and runs through June 10 at the Playhouse (100 Price Street in Newark).

SRO Theatre Company will present Dare to Defy's regional premiere of Pasek and Paul's Dogfight: A Love Story for a one night only event in the Shedd Theatre within the Columbus Performing Arts Center located at 549 Franklin Avenue in Columbus at 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 9, 2017.

Dare to Defy Productions will be bringing exciting regional premiere of the musical Dogfight to the Mathile Theatre (located in the Schuster Center), opening March 31, 2017.

As a diehard rock and roll fan of groups like the Rolling Stones and the Who, I have been harboring a deep, dark secret. The second album I bought growing up was ABBA's Gold. The quartet, which was Sweden's second largest export next to Volvo, had a knack for producing hum-worthy harmonies and catchy choruses that stick in your subconscious for months and months to come.

Cabot Rea hosted a musical journey through the 32-year history of SRO Theatre. Performed on Saturday, November 19th at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, the show featured performances from SRO alumni Hillary Billups, Joe Bishara, Susan Bunsold-Wilson, Dawn Farrell, Ruth Fullen, Bill Hafner, Sharon Kibe, Candice Kight, Don Knoblauch, Ryan Kopycinski, Ron Nocks, Layne Roate, John Schmidt, Jordan Shafer, Paula Shtein, Michelle Weiser and Peggy Williams

On Saturday, November 19, SRO (Standing Room Only) Theatre will present a glittering musical journey through its 32-year history featuring performances by dozens of former SRO performers, hosted by the legendary Cabot Rea. "We're Still Here! A Musical Journey" is aimed at celebrating the company's long history through the musicals they have produced as well as to pave the way for the rest of the 2016-2017 season.

Venture back Into the Woods as Warehouse Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning musical classic by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine.