A Rocking First Performance
- Mercy Stories
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
A huge thank you to the students and staff from Leschenault Catholic Primary School, St Brigid's School Collie, St Michael’s Brunswick Junction and St Anne's School Harvey, who joined us at Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on 20 August for the very first performance of School of Rock.
The buses arrived with many excited students ready for a morning of rock, special effects, amazing costumes and lots of energy.
Our cast delivered a polished performance, with many of the students in the audience knowing our cast members very well. They showed their appreciation with a loud and well-deserved round of applause at the end of the show.
Months of hard work came together on stage, leaving our cast and crew with plenty to be proud of, including Principal Vince Bellini.
A special thank you goes to our support staff who worked behind the scenes to coordinate this massive operation, from organising buses to making sure everything ran smoothly. We also appreciate the BREC team, who closed the street in front of the theatre to help ensure the safe arrival and departure of our young guests.
And we’re only getting started! There are three more shows this week.
If you haven't got your tickets yet, head to the BREC website and get your tickets to School of Rock.
Official Biographies
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed the scores of some of the world’s most famous
musicals, from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1969) to Bad Cinderella
(2023). Lloyd Webber has had shows running continually in the West End for 50 years and
on Broadway for 43.
When Sunset Boulevard joined School of Rock, CATS, and The Phantom of the Opera he
equalled Rodgers & Hammerstein’s record of four shows running simultaneously on
Broadway. He is one of the select group of artists with EGOT status, having received Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
Lloyd Webber owns six London theatres including the iconic London Palladium and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Reopened in July 2021, the latter was completely restored and renovated at a cost of over £60 million. It was one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by a private theatre owner in recent times. His mantra is that every penny of profit made from his theatres is ploughed back into the buildings.
Lloyd Webber is passionate about the importance of musical education and diversity in the arts. Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation provides 30 performing arts scholarships every year for talented students with financial need and supports a range of projects such as the Music In Secondary School Trust and commissioning research into diversity in theatre.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed anthems for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and for two Olympic ceremonies, including “Amigos Para Siempre”, the official song of the 1992 summer games in Barcelona. He wrote “Let Us Love In Peace” for the aftermath of the attacks on The World Trade Centre, wrote and performed “Sing” with Gary Barlow at Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond in 2012, and curated musical theatre performances for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert in June 2022. In May 2023, a new anthem composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber was performed at the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997.
Lyrics by Glenn Slater
Glenn Slater is one of his generation’s most celebrated lyricists, and an omnipresent fixture in theatre, film and television for over two decades. With his frequent collaborator, legendary composer Alan Menken, Slater has written the songs for four Broadway hits—Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID (Grammy winner, Tony nominee), SISTER ACT (Tony nominee), LEAP OF FAITH, and A BRONX TALE. With equally legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Slater penned the lyrics for the international juggernaut SCHOOL OF ROCK (Tony and Olivier nominee), and both book and lyrics for LOVE NEVER DIES, the long-awaited sequel to Phantom of the Opera. For the big screen, Glenn co-created Disney’s instant-classic TANGLED (Grammy winner, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee), as well as films as varied as Disney’s animated Western HOME ON THE RANGE, the R-rated global smash SAUSAGE PARTY, and the pop-driven UGLYDOLLS. For the small screen, Slater wrote the lyrics for every song in both seasons of ABC-TV’s ground-breaking cult-hit musical series GALAVANT (two-time Emmy nominee), as well as for all three seasons of the Disney Channel’s beloved series RAPUNZEL’S TANGLED ADVENTURE (Emmy winner, two-time nominee), and contributed lyrics to hit shows like The Neighbors (Emmy nominee), Apple TV’s animated hit Central Park, and ABC’s American Housewife (with composer Justin Paul). Slater also wrote the lyrics for “The Compass of Your Heart”, the theme for the wildly-popular ride SINBAD’S STORYBOOK VOYAGE at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park.
Slater’s songs have been recorded by a dizzying array of artists--from Broadway luminaries like Donna Murphy, Raul Esparza, and Sierra Boggess, to Nashville giants Tim McGraw, kd Lang, and Bonnie Raitt, to contemporary pop stars like Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae, and Nick Jonas. In addition to his Grammy and Emmy statuettes, he has been honored with the prestigious Kleban Award for Lyrics, and ASCAP’S New Horizons Award.
Upcoming projects include another collaboration with Alan Menken, on Skydance Animation’s hotly anticipated animated epic SPELLBOUND (premiering Spring 2024), and a stage adaptation of the classic film CLUELESS (Fall 2024) with composer KT Tunstall. Glenn is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild, and lives in NYC with his wife, composer/lyricist Wendy Wilf, and their two sons, Benjamin and Daniel.
Script by Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes is creator, sole writer and executive producer of the worldwide television series Downton Abbey, which has received 69 Emmy Award nominations, winning 15, including writing and Outstanding Miniseries or Movie for Fellowes. His theatre writing credits are: School of Rock the Musical (Broadway/Tony Award nominee, Best Book), Mary Poppins (West End, Broadway/Drama Desk nominee, Best Book), Half a Sixpence (Chichester Festival Theatre/West End) and The Wind in the Willows (The London Palladium).
His film writing credits are: Gosford Park (Academy Award winner, Original Screenplay), Vanity Fair, Piccadilly Jim, Separate Lies (National Board of Review Directorial Debut Award), From Time to Time (directed, Best Picture – Chicago Children’s Film Festival and Fiuggi Family Festival in Rome, Youth Jury Award – Seattle International Film Festival, Young Jury Award – Cinemagic in Belfast), The Young Victoria, The Tourist, Romeo & Juliet and The Chaperone (opening 2019). His television writing credits include: Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Prince and the Pauper, Titanic (miniseries) and Doctor Thorne (miniseries).
He has authored the international bestselling novels Snobs, Past Imperfect and most recently Belgravia; the children’s book The Curious Adventures of the Abandoned Toys and Downton Abbey scripts. Fellowes is also a screen and stage actor. He and his wife, Emma, live in London and Dorset, England. They have a son, Peregrine.