Photo Flash: SCHOOL OF ROCK Celebrates 1,000 Performances in London

Last night (6 March 2019), Andrew Lloyd Webber's award-winning show School of Rock - The Musical celebrated its 1000th performance in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. The cast were joined in the celebrations by Julian Fellowes, who wrote the book for the show, director Laurence Connor and the show's choreographer JoAnn M. Hunter, as well as VIP guests.

Check out the photos below!

Based on the hit film, this hilarious new musical follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school's beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within.

Craig Gallivan leads the cast in the role of Dewey Finn with Claudia Kariuki as Rosalie Mullins, Alan Pearson as Ned Schneebly,Michelle Francis as Patty Di Marco and Jake Sharp who will play Dewey Finn at certain performances. The remaining adult cast comprise John Addison, Nick Butcher, Rob Falconer, Martina Isibor, Claudia Kariuki, Jessica Louise Parkinson, Richard Morse, Andy Rees, Hannah Stratton, Alex Tomkins and James Wolstenholme with swings Paul Kemble, Jessica Kirton,Billy Mitchell, Catherine Morris and Andy Prosser. They are joined by Gavin Alex, Georgie Ashford, Koko Basigara, Tsemaye Bob-Egbe, Ashford Campbell, Treyc Cohen, Natasha Cottriall, Michael Duke, Matthew Gonsalves, Jammy Kasongo, Leigh Lothian and Earl R. Perkins who play iconic musical performers and band members of the era and swingsDerek Aidoo, Rosie Heath, Dominic Hodson, Emma Louise Jones, Jessica Joslin, Vicki Manser, David O'Mahony and Jaime Tait.

They are joined by three teams of twelve kids who make up Dewey's band, and play live at every comprise Sebastian Adams-Eaton (eleven years old from Suffolk) Jasper Bew (eleven years old from London), and Amos Mayland (eleven years old from Cornwall) who will play Zack; Nayan Gupta (eleven years old from Sheffield), William Harvey (eleven years old from Stockport) and Jack Manders (nine years old from Buckinghamshire), who will play Freddy; Daniel Chang (eleven years old from London), Noah Gupta-Wright (thirteen years old from London) and Caspar Lloyd (eleven years old from Colchester) who will play Lawrence; Millie-Jayne Evans (nine years old from Plymouth), Evie Lawley (ten years old from London) and Sofia Wilkinson Hill (eight years old from Merseyside) who will play Katie; Tommy Featherstone (ten years old from London), Jakub Kopec (eleven) years old from Surrey) and Will Tarpey (twelve years old from East Sussex) who will play Billy; Delilah Bennett-Cardy (ten years old from Hertfordshire), Amelie Green (eleven years old from London) and Nancy Hartley-Blake (eleven years old from Teesside) will play Summer; Kaylah Black (twelve years old from London), Tallulah Byrne (twelve years old from Chelmsford) and Sara Sheen (thirteen years old from Manchester) who will play Tomika; Ikechukwudi Machie (ten years old from London), Teni Taiwo (twelve years old from Hertfordshire) and Stanley Voss (twelve years old from Buckinghamshire) who will play James; Calypso Bailey (twelve years old from Essex), Savannah Pages (eleven years old from Surrey) and Shani Roberts (ten years old from Essex) who will play Marcy; Maxwell Apple (ten years old from London), Todd Dachtler (eleven years old from London) and Vaughn Arthur Endraca (twelve years old from London) and who will play Mason; Tia Belle Keilty (ten years old from Hertfordshire), Lily Jean Jackson (eleven years old from Essex) and Naniyah Owusu (nine years old from Essex) who will play Shonelle; Charlotte Breen(ten years old from Bromley), Chloe Marler (nine years old from Essex) and Ellie Pavitt (eleven years old from Essex) who will play Sophie.

School of Rock - The Musical features music from the movie, as well as new music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Glenn Slater and a book by Julian Fellowes. School of Rock - The Musical is directed by Laurence Connor with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, set and costume designs by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Mick Potter, music supervision by John Rigby with Matt Smith as musical director.

Now in its third year, the West End production opened in November 2016 and went on to win an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music. Produced by Paramount Pictures, the 2003 hit film School of Rock was directed by Richard Linklater and starred Jack Black in a career-defining performance.

Photo Credit: Luke Varley