School of Rock –Tristan Divincenzo, Director; Robert Wilder, Musical Director; Suzette Hutchinson, Choreographer; James P. Byrne, Scenic and Lighting Designer; Tristan Divincenzo, Projection Design; Robin McLaughlin, Costume Design; J. Hagenbuckle, Sound Design, Matt Kohler, Technical Direction. Presented by the Cape Cod Theatre Company, Harwich, through August 28.
by Linda Chin
With its current production of School of Rock, Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre reinforces its long-standing reputation as Cape Cod’s premier multi-generational theater. Based on the 2003 film, the musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes originated on Broadway in 2015. School of Rock tells the story of an out-of-work rocker, Dewey Finn, who takes on a job as a substitute teacher at the prestigious Horace Green school and forms a rock and roll band of fifth graders to try to win the Battle of the Bands.
Onstage for most of the two-hour, two-act show, New York-based Equity actor Michael Ryan delivers an electrifying performance as Dewey Finn. Salvatore Garcia as loyal friend Ned, Rachel Rose Gilmour as Ned’s domineering girlfriend Patty, and Paige Neal as high strung and uptight principal Rosalie Mullins are also energetic and expressive storytellers. Neal also has an impressive singing voice, with several musical numbers revealing her work stress and secret love of Stevie Nicks. Michael Ryan’s real-life experience as a music/voice teacher comes through in the classroom scenes; watching the naïve, childish, wild and irreverent Dewey make a connection with students who feel inarticulate, uncool, and unseen for their unique strengths make for the show’s most poignant moments.
A family-friendly show with roles for adult and youth performers to work alongside each other is a typical offering of CCTC/HFT’s summer season: 2019’s Matilda, directed by James Byrne with young triple-threats Shae McSharry and Grace Olah sharing the titular role and the brilliant Brittany Rolfs as Miss Trunchbull is a marvelous recent example. Three years later (and three years more grown up), McSharry and Olah are reunited in School of Rock – Olah plays the high achieving, outspoken, straight A student Summer (and becomes the Band Manager), and McSharry plays Mika, the shy new kid at school who is too nervous to speak to anyone or reveal her strong singing voice until she becomes a lead singer in the band. And shout-outs to the band members who act, sing, dance and play instruments on-stage: guitarist Zack (Maureen O’Neil), drummer Freddy (Beckham Peterson), and keyboardist Lawrence (Garrett Berube).
Mounting a big musical with a cast of over 30 (including 20-plus children) is an ambitious undertaking under normal circumstances, but during a pandemic and an extended heat wave, filling the big shoes of the recently retired long-term leader Nina Schuessler is no small feat. School of Rock’s high production quality, talented performers, enthusiastic audience response (I was sitting behind two positively giddy young boys and their happy mom and next to a chair-dancing grandmother and her granddaughter made my experience extra fun) provide reassurance that with new Producer Artistic Director Kate Pazakis at the helm, CCTC/HJT won’t miss a beat. Pazakis and team clearly care about artistic excellence and cultivating a life-long appreciation of live theatre and the performing arts – it’s about producing joy. The team involved in this production of School of Rock makes getting straight As look easy. For tickets and information, go to: https://capecodtheatrecompany.org
