BWW Q&A: Richard Roland on SCHOOL OF ROCK at Farmers Alley Theatre

Based on the hit movie, the Tony-nominated School of Rock follows down on his luck, failed rocker Dewey Finn as he tries to earn an extra bit of cash by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of awkward straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. But can he get them to the Battle of the Bands without their parents and the school’s headmistress finding out?

Starring David B. Friedman as Dewey and Farmers Alley Theatre favorite and Broadway star Hannah Elless as Headmistress Rosalie Mullins, the show features an amazing lineup of talented young performers who perform sensational rock live onstage every night. With fourteen new songs by musical theatre icon Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera, Cats) plus all the beloved original songs from the film, School of Rock is a loving testimony to the transforming power of music perfect for the entire family.

Farmers Alley Theatre is Michigan’s premier professional arts organization, known for producing exciting and innovative work of the highest professional quality. Celebrated for its eclectic programming of both contemporary and classic productions, the theatre is the recipient of 49 Wilde Awards – Michigan’s equivalent of The Tony Awards for professional theatre in the state. 

Farmers Alley Theatre is passionately dedicated to its mission to create the highest caliber professional productions that entertain while inspiring, educating, and communicating with audiences to reflect on the diverse human experience.

Richard Roland (Director) is a native NYCer who has directed productions of Avenue Q, Spelling Bee, Little Shop of Horrors, 39 Steps, Ragtime, Urinetown, Barefoot in the Park, God of Carnage, Elf, Steel Magnolias, ...Great Comet, and Forever Plaid (to name a few). He directed Spring Awakening in Denmark and is Associate Director for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, a new musical in development in the UK. As an actor, he appeared in many Broadway, off-Broadway, touring, regional productions, TV, soaps, and commercials.

What inspired you to direct School of Rock at Farmers Alley Theatre?

Jeremy Koch, the Artistic Director of Farmers Alley Theatre, reached out to me and asked if I could put together a proposal for the show. I had seen the show on Broadway years ago, but wasn’t too familiar with it otherwise. I did my research and preparation, presented my proposal, had a follow-up meeting with Jeremy and the production manager Kathy Mulay, and they asked me to direct it!

Can you share some of the unique challenges and rewards of working with young performers in this production?

I find that by treating the younger performers in the cast the same way I treat the adults, they feel valued as members of the company. I encourage them to create, to make big and bold choices, and to try different things. They want to explore, to create, to discover. But sometimes they may think they haven’t the agency or permission to take the initiative and to be bold and free to create. I am very clear with them that’s what I expect from them and that they already have the permission and agency to make choices. Sometimes focus and energy can waver (as with adults, too), so frequent breaks and dividing the day for variety of music, staging, and choreography tend to keep brains and attention spans in the room!

How has your extensive Broadway experience influenced your approach to directing this show?

I think all of my years of performing and directing influence directing this show. This is a large cast: 16 young performers and 14 adults, so there’s a constant balance between being an actors’ director and an air traffic controller. Broadway taught me how to deeply appreciate the highest levels of technology involved in bringing those shows to life, and then learn how to let all of that go when it comes to working in smaller regional theatres everywhere. Very few have the technical capabilities of, say, the Minskoff or the Winter Garden in NY, so all those massive transitions between scenes (and sometimes within scenes) in a big musical like School of Rock have to be totally reconceived. Automation, hydraulics, and turntables are scarce in many theatres, and I learned early in my directing career that actor-motivated transitions a vista are the best way to keep the show and the story moving forward. Thanks to choreographer Melissa Sparks, we are creating some wonderful transitions that are connected to story and character.

How did you incorporate the live music aspect into this production, and what challenges did that present?

The student band members (and Dewey) play their instruments live on stage. The drum kit and the keyboard live on wagons that enter and exit the stage when needed, and the two guitars and electric bass have a little bit more freedom to move about the stage. Rehearsal in the studio can be a bit challenging sound-wise as the actors play their instruments (amped keyboard, guitars, and bass) but don’t themselves have microphones yet, so I am constantly reminding them and the other actors to try not to compete in the rehearsal room with the volume of the band, and to save their voices! Once we get on stage and full sound is added, it’ll be a whole different situation. We have two separate rehearsal rooms: one for blocking and choreography, and the other for band rehearsal. Often after staging a scene or number that requires the playing of instruments, we’ll migrate to the other studio to incorporate the instruments. We do a lot of running back and forth!

How have you worked with the actors, particularly David B. Friedman and Hannah Elless, to bring their characters to life?

It could be easy to slip into caricatures with this show, and while these characters are indeed a little larger than life, their wants, needs, and fears are all rooted in basic human qualities. Both David and Hannah have a very natural accessibility in bringing those qualities out in themselves and each other. I work with all the actors in the show with the same approach – finding what their character is doing, what they want, and how they got to where they are now. Rosalie and Dewey happen to have the biggest and most obvious trajectories in the piece, but everything they are going through is reflected in every character: they just want to find their voice: some for the first time, and others to reclaim that voice. When that voice is found and used, major discoveries of self are made.

Why must audiences come and see the show?

Fans of the movie will want to come, of course. The score is great, and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber goes back to his Jesus Christ Superstar rock roots with some of the music. Those who are not familiar should come and see a story about claiming one’s own power – at any age. Everyone has a voice, and one time or more, everyone wants to be heard. We do a lot of talking at each other, particularly in the social apps, and not very many of us are listening. Speaking of listening, we have a cast of amazing singers, and all of them from age 10 and up are singing like rock stars, telling this sweet, moving, and funny story about growth, accountability, discovery, and confidence. And music.

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