THE Wellesley played host to the latest production from the Wellington Operatic Society, ‘School of Rock’, recently.

The Wellington Weekly News was invited to watch their final rehearsal before they put on the show.

Produced by the Wellington Operatic Society, School of Rock follows Dewey Finn who, after being kicked out of his band, become a substitute teacher at an elite private elementary school, where he quickly realises his class has a talent for music.

Before the musical had even begun, I was already given signs that I would enjoy the show. A quick test of the guitar already suggested proficiency with the music.

Furthermore, I had been impressed when I first saw the set design, only to then be even more impressed once the play had started. The crew’s ability to transition from setting to setting was very smooth, a word that could be used to describe the production as a whole.

The musical is an adaptation of the 2003 movie starring Jack Black, and Michael Cole’s performance as Dewey manages to take inspiration from Black’s original performance of the character — all the while adding his own spin.

The character would surely be something of a demanding role, having to be present for the vast majority of the roughly two and a half hour runtime, while having to balance good singing and both verbal and physical comedy, all things that Cole manages to pull off.

The comedy itself was rather strong overall, with the two styles being well balanced.

In my opinion, the standout singer in the cast was Kiera Chard, who played the principal Rosalie Mullins, with her performance both as an actor and musically being particular noteworthy throughout the musical.

Emily Sellick was another notable performer for her role as Tomika, who initially keeps quiet among her classmates before being given the opportunity to show off her strong singing skills.

Aside from individual performances, the cast as a whole worked incredibly well together and there was not a performance from anyone that could be considered bad.

It was clear that everyone had put in so much effort to make this musical a success. The choreography of each scene flowed together really well — particularly when there could be up to 20 people on stage at the same time, and to co-ordinate so many people while having everything go as planned is nothing short of impressive.

Director Beth Burrows, choreographer Kit Sells and musical director Joe Beckhelling, along with the rest of the cast and crew can all hold their heads up high.

Highlighting some of the songs that stood out, the aforementioned ‘Where Did The Rock Go?’ was a pretty, melodic piece; ‘We’re In The Band’ did a good job of building until the end, and ‘Teacher’s Pet’ was a fun song that was perfect for the musical’s climax.

Overall, School of Rock was an enjoyable musical to experience, and is something that I would certainly recommend seeing should it return.