Students at Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) have been rehearsing for its biennial musical since the start of the school year.
School of Rock will be performed at the school from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. The performances the first three days will be at 7 p.m., and the show the final day will be a matinee at 2 p.m.
It is based on the 2003 musical comedy starring Jack Black, and a Broadway musical released a few years ago.
Evanne Wilhelm, who is a co-director of the production alongside ECS music teacher Kyle Whitehead, said the rehearsals have been going well. They had a huge weekend for rehearsals on Oct. 21 and 22, since they involved elements the students haven’t worked with before.
“We had the pit band there and we had some extra lighting on stage,” said Wilhelm. “We had our choreographer from out of town come in, and the students just rose to the challenge. It was a huge weekend with lots of challenges thrown in.”
But there is still a lot of work remaining, she said. Not only do they have to keep rehearsing, but they have to add costumes and makeup to the performance. ECS staff members are involved with the work behind the scenes, gathering props, creating costumes and helping out with sets.
The technical aspect is also significant. Many instruments are part of this year’s show, and the kids are performing their instruments live on the stage, which makes School of Rock unique to previous musicals.
“The students that we chose for some of the lead roles actually had to be able to play the instruments, like bass and guitar and keyboards and drums,” said Wilhelm.
Wilhelm said 34 students are part of the cast for School of Rock. Eleven more are involved with the backstage crew. Fifteen or so cosmetology students will start helping out in a few weeks for makeup and hair.
Another 24 ECS employees also help out, she said.
Wilhelm said she and Whitehead are always looking for shows that feature kids when deciding on the cast for the musical. But they also base their decision on the talent in the ECS band and choirs.
For example, Grade 11 student Levi Stepp is in the School of Rock lead role of musician-turned-teacher Dewey Finn. Stepp has impressed in musical theatre while taking lessons from Arlene Lafrentz and during the Estevan and District Music Festival, and has been on the radar for Wilhelm and Whitehead for a few years.
“When this show came to Broadway and was something that was popular, and had a male lead, we knew that it was going to work with Leevi,” said Wilhelm.
He even has the personality of body type of the Finn character, she said.
Many of the students who are part of School of Rock were involved with the Grease musical ECS performed two years ago.
“It’s good for those kids to get involved in the first year that they can, in Grade 9 or 10, so that they can get a bigger part for Grade 11 or 12,” said Wilhelm.
When Grease was performed two years ago, it had been four years since ECS had hosted a musical, so the cast and crew had to learn how to piece a musical together. This time the learning curve is much shorter, thanks to the experience from Grease.
“They know what to expect and they’re ready,” said Wilhelm. “They’re ready, they’re hungry for the knowledge and they took to it immediately.”
Auditions for the parts were held in June and rehearsals started on Aug. 17.
Students involved with School of Rock have had a few chances to promote the show. They performed a couple of times during the Estevan Showcase Business Expo in September, and launched ticket sales that weekend.
They played three songs during the United Way Estevan’s telethon on Friday night.
They will also perform during the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation’s Festival of Trees the week before the musical.
A dollar from every ticket sold during the Festival of Trees will be donated to the hospital foundation.
Wilhelm is pleased with the ticket sales thus far, but a lot of tickets still remain. Tickets for School of Rock can be purchased at Pharmasave in Estevan, and people get to choose their seats.
“The musical that happens right now creates the pot of money to pay for the next musical in two years,” said Wilhelm. “We don’t know which musical that will be, but if this musical doesn’t go well, then there is no musical opportunity for the kids who are there two years down the line.”
