School of Rock premiers at the Orange Civic Theatre, May 12

Orange Theatre Company is back with their first production for 2023, the much-loved comedy musical School of Rock.

Based on the hit Jack Black 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.

For star of the local production, Alan Moxey, taking on such an iconic role like that of Dewey Finn has been an exciting challenge.

“This is definitely the biggest one I've ever done,” Alan said, adding that he likes pushing himself with “big scary roles.”

“The scope of this role was exciting; I get to do exciting rock vocals and I learnt guitar for it… It's a fun role with a lot of legacy behind it.”

Dewey Finn is not only one of Jack Black’s most well-known film performances, but on the stage, it’s a role that scored Alex Brightman a Tony Award nomination.

“Alex Brightman became a bit of a legend for doing this role and he's also an incredible inspiration for me doing this.”

One of the challenges for the local production was casting Dewey’s “School of Rock” class, finding young local actors who could sing, move and play instruments live on stage.

“These kids are incredible,” Alan said. “When we turned up to callback auditions and I first heard them I was blown away with how amazing they are!

“They're the heart of this show and they're what’s going to make this show really special. I hope they steal the show from me and I think they can!”

“But the show is worth watching just to see Alan,” added castmate Oscar McLaughlin, who plays Dewey’s best friend Ned Scheebley.

“He's going to downplay how good he is, but he has completely stepped into the role and it's just amazing to see!”

Playing alongside Alan as the overworked school principal Rosalie Mullins is relative newcomer to the Theatre Company, Charlie Parker.

“I did Mamma Mia and I've just been wanting to do it for a lot more years and I'm prepared to say it out loud!” Charlie said.

“And after doing Mamma Mia last year I got the bug for it big time and decided I wanted to do it again!

“And this show in particular, I used to work in the film industry and I actually worked on the Australian premiere of the film with Jack Black and two of the kids, so it's kind of nice that 20 years later I'm in the local production.”

Charlie too, says Alan’s performance makes this a show not to be missed.

“It’s such an iconic role, really big shoes to fill, but Alan fills those shoes in his own way… he's got the chops but he's not trying to be Jack Black's version or  Alex Brightman, he's being his own version and it's really damn good!”

School of Rock premieres at the Orange Civic Theatre on Friday, May 12 and runs through to Sunday, May 21. Tickets at Ticketek or call 63938111.