Thanks to the School of Rock lottery, we scored two seats in the second row to experience the high octane action in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash hit musical School of Rock – The Musical at the Winter Garden Theatre last night.
Jaygee Macapugay and Olivia Chun play mother and daughter in SCHOOL OF ROCK, and share the same birthday – November 26. Photo by Lia Chang
Now in it’s second year on Broadway, School of Rock stars Eric Petersen as wannabe rock star, Dewey Finn.
The Kid Band, who perform Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score live at every performance, includes new cast members Rachel Katzke as Katie the bass player and Walden Sullivan as Lawrence the keyboardist, along with returning cast members, Brandon Niederauer as Zack the guitarist and Raghav Mehrotra as Freddy on drums. Additional new SOR cast members include sassy Olivia Chun as super serious band manager Summer, Steven Booth as Ned, Annabelle Wachtel as Marcy, Terrance Bell, Jr. as Mason, Chloe Bryan as Madison, and Ellie Kim join the cast as a swing.
The new class of School of Rock – The Musical also features Will Blum as the Dewey alternate, Jenn Gambatese as Rosalie Mullins, Becky Gulsvig as Patty, Bobbi MacKenzie as Tomika, and Luca Padovan as Billy. The adult ensemble includes Emily Cramer, Natalie Charle Ellis, John Arthur Greene, Michael Hartney, Merritt David Janes, Nehal Joshi, Lulu Lloyd, Jaygee Macapugay, Cassie Okenka, Patrick O’Neill, Morgan Rose, Jesse Swimm, Josh Tower, and J. Michael Zygo. The kid’s ensemble features Paul Luke Bonenfant, Ava Della Pietra, Gabby Gutierrez, Gianna Harris, Jason Kisare, and Jersey Sullivan.
Check out the School of Rock cast on the 2016 Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Eric Petersen has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in national tours, most notably as Shrek in Shrek: The Musical, Peter and the Starcatcher, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. On television, Petersen played Arlo Barth on TVLand’s “Kristie,” and has been seen on Disney Channel’s “Jessie,” “Pair of Kings” and “Kirby Buckets.”
Jaygee Macapugay makes her Broadway debut in SCHOOL OF ROCK. Photo by Lia Chang
Jaygee Macapugay makes her Broadway debut in School of Rock. Her Off-Broadway credits include School of Rock (Gramercy); Here Lies Love (Imelda Marcos, Public Theater); Hello, Dolly! (Irene Molloy, Signature). Her regional credits include Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Brenda, Maltz Jupiter), Miss Saigon (MUNY, 5th Avenue, Casa Manana), The King & I (KC Starlight). International: Where Elephants Weep.
Olivia Chun made her Broadway debut as the Royal Twin in Lincoln Center’s Tony award-winning revival of The King and I of LCT. Workshops: Annie Kidz (CAA), DoogeunDoogeun Hangul(KCC), Bway Prep (JCC) Short Film: Curbside Waltz. Twitter: @chun_olivia, Insta: @oliviachunofficial
Nehal Joshi has appeared on Broadway in the original revival of Les Miserables and the Roundabout’s ThreePenny Opera. His Off-Broadway credits include Working (Drama Desk Award), Falling for Eve, Whose your baghdaddy…Regionally, he has worked at Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, ATL. TV: “The Wire” (HBO), Game: War of Warcraft: Catacylm.
Nehal Joshi, Lia Chang and Jaygee Macapugay. Photo by Garth Kravits
After the show, we visited onstage with Nehal Joshi and birthday girls, Jaygee Macapugay and Olivia Chun, who play mother and daughter and share the same birthday, November 26th.
School of Rock – The Musical is based on the smash hit 2003 film of the same, featuring music from the movie, as well as an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, a book by Julian Fellowes and direction by Laurence Connor. School of Rock – The Musical opened to rave reviews on Sunday, December 6, 2015. School of Rock – The Musical was nominated for four 2016 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score (Lloyd Webber and Slater), Best Book (Fellowes), and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Alex Brightman).
School of Rock – The Musical is a hilarious new musical that 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. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school’s beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within.
School of Rock features choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, scenic and costume design by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, and sound design by Mick Potter and music supervision by Ethan Popp.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, once again, has the rare distinction of having three musicals running simultaneously on Broadway: School of Rock – The Musical, CATS, and The Phantom of the Opera.
School of Rock – The Musical recently opened in London’s West End at the New London Theatre.
School of Rock – The Musical is produced on Broadway by Andrew Lloyd Webber for The Really Useful Group, Warner Music Group & Access Industries, The Shubert Organization, and The Nederlander Organization. Nina Lannan and Madeleine Lloyd Webber serve as Executive Producers. Click here to purchase tickets and for more information.
The School of Rock Digital Lottery, now open, will open daily at 12:01am ET for entrants to win a limited number of $37 same day tickets to that day’s performance(s) at schoolofrocklottery.com.
The complete rules and regulations for the new digital lottery are as follows: – A limited number of tickets for each performance will be sold via digital lottery. – The School of Rock Digital Lottery will open at 12:01am ET each day and will remain open until 10:59am ET for matinees and 2:50pm ET for evening performances. – Winners will be drawn daily at approximately 11:15am ET for matinees and approximately 3:15pm ET for evening performances. – Winners will be notified by e-mail immediately upon drawing. – To claim tickets, winners must present their photo ID at the Winter Garden Theatre box office at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the corresponding performance to purchase their tickets. – Seat locations and number of tickets awarded by the lottery are subject to availability.
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Lia Chang_photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
Lia Chang Photography 