Thursday, February 6, 2025

School of Rock at The Croswell: Developing the Talent in Kids

This July, Adrian’s Croswell Opera House brings School of Rock: The Musical to the stage. Based on the 2003 film, the musical made its Broadway debut in 2015, featuring songs written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

The story follows Dewey Finn, an out-of-work rock singer/guitarist who poses as a substitute teacher at an exclusive prep school. When Dewey finds his students have musical ability, he decides to form a band with his fifth-graders to win a battle of the bands contest. 

In the film, Dewey Finn is memorably played by Jack Black. The Croswell production showcases real life-music teacher and performer Aaron Roos in the iconic role. This is Roos’ first time working with The Croswell, although he has participated in other plays as a musical director and a performer. Roos’ last show, Something Rotten, was produced by 3B Productions, where he played the role of Nick Bottom.

 Roos is currently pursuing a master’s degree in choral conducting at BGSU, and with his class schedule and other commitments he wasn’t sure he would have time to do the show. Thankfully it all worked out, Roos explains, “Shows at The Croswell are incredibly well done and I’ve always wanted to do one, so when this show came up, I was very excited. It’s [based on] a movie I grew up absolutely loving and I’m excited to put my own spin on the character. Of course, with the excitement comes the daunting task of paying homage to a role most people know from the film while not just ‘trying to be Jack Black playing Dewey Finn.’” 

Playing Dewey Finn

Similar to the character he’ll play onstage, Roos works at St. Francis de Sales School, directing the Singing Blue choir. “There have been times when I thought I could potentially use an interaction from real life in a scene from School of Rock as inspiration. There are scenes from the movie that are word for word in the musical, so you don’t want to mess those up because they’re scenes that people have an attachment to. You want to keep those true to the character and the movie, while in other places I bring parts of myself and my own interpretation to the part.”

“The other challenge of a show like this,” Roos says, “is that you have a handful of kids in the cast. We have two months for rehearsals. You can’t do a 7 pm to 10 pm rehearsal like you do with an adult cast. The kids will rehearse from 6 pm to 8:30 pm with adults staying later. That means the director must carefully craft the limited time they have with the kids to make the most of it.” 


RELATED: Croswell Opera House Presents “The Bodyguard”


Roos says the faster turnaround time of rehearsals forces him to concentrate on his presentation. “Ideally, I like to be as prepared as possible so that during rehearsals focus can be on the kids, especially because they were still attending school during the first month of rehearsals.” 

Roos cites In the End of Time, which comes directly from the Jack Black film version, as a sentimental favorite, but the number he’s looking forward to performing the most is the Teacher’s Pet/School of Rock mashup in the show’s finale. Not only will Roos be playing guitar onstage, but all the child actors will be playing instruments, too. 

“What’s unique about this show,” Roos says, “is that for specific scenes where the kids play instruments, they will actually be playing, not pantomiming. I think this show will be one of the most unique performing experiences I will ever have.”

School of Rock, The Croswell Opera House July 12 through July 21.Tickets start at $22.  croswell.org.

This July, Adrian’s Croswell Opera House brings School of Rock: The Musical to the stage. Based on the 2003 film, the musical made its Broadway debut in 2015, featuring songs written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

The story follows Dewey Finn, an out-of-work rock singer/guitarist who poses as a substitute teacher at an exclusive prep school. When Dewey finds his students have musical ability, he decides to form a band with his fifth-graders to win a battle of the bands contest. 

In the film, Dewey Finn is memorably played by Jack Black. The Croswell production showcases real life-music teacher and performer Aaron Roos in the iconic role. This is Roos’ first time working with The Croswell, although he has participated in other plays as a musical director and a performer. Roos’ last show, Something Rotten, was produced by 3B Productions, where he played the role of Nick Bottom.

 Roos is currently pursuing a master’s degree in choral conducting at BGSU, and with his class schedule and other commitments he wasn’t sure he would have time to do the show. Thankfully it all worked out, Roos explains, “Shows at The Croswell are incredibly well done and I’ve always wanted to do one, so when this show came up, I was very excited. It’s [based on] a movie I grew up absolutely loving and I’m excited to put my own spin on the character. Of course, with the excitement comes the daunting task of paying homage to a role most people know from the film while not just ‘trying to be Jack Black playing Dewey Finn.’” 

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Playing Dewey Finn

Similar to the character he’ll play onstage, Roos works at St. Francis de Sales School, directing the Singing Blue choir. “There have been times when I thought I could potentially use an interaction from real life in a scene from School of Rock as inspiration. There are scenes from the movie that are word for word in the musical, so you don’t want to mess those up because they’re scenes that people have an attachment to. You want to keep those true to the character and the movie, while in other places I bring parts of myself and my own interpretation to the part.”

“The other challenge of a show like this,” Roos says, “is that you have a handful of kids in the cast. We have two months for rehearsals. You can’t do a 7 pm to 10 pm rehearsal like you do with an adult cast. The kids will rehearse from 6 pm to 8:30 pm with adults staying later. That means the director must carefully craft the limited time they have with the kids to make the most of it.” 


RELATED: Croswell Opera House Presents “The Bodyguard”


Roos says the faster turnaround time of rehearsals forces him to concentrate on his presentation. “Ideally, I like to be as prepared as possible so that during rehearsals focus can be on the kids, especially because they were still attending school during the first month of rehearsals.” 

Roos cites In the End of Time, which comes directly from the Jack Black film version, as a sentimental favorite, but the number he’s looking forward to performing the most is the Teacher’s Pet/School of Rock mashup in the show’s finale. Not only will Roos be playing guitar onstage, but all the child actors will be playing instruments, too. 

“What’s unique about this show,” Roos says, “is that for specific scenes where the kids play instruments, they will actually be playing, not pantomiming. I think this show will be one of the most unique performing experiences I will ever have.”

School of Rock, The Croswell Opera House July 12 through July 21.Tickets start at $22.  croswell.org.

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