"School of Rock" by Zephyr Theatre at Lowell Park

Broadway by the Bridge is back! Zephyr Theatre's pandemic-inspired outdoor summer musical tradition began last year with a super fun Mamma Mia!, and will hopefully continue long past the point where it feels safe to be inside a crowded room. The riverside stage with the gorgeous evening sky and the historic Stillwater bridge as backdrop couldn't be more perfect for outdoor theater, and what's happening on stage is pretty great too. The regional premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Julian Fellowes musical adaptation of the 2003 Jack Black movie School of Rock features a slew of talented kids, and some pretty great grown-ups too, in this fun and feel-good celebration of music and the way it can bring people together and inspire a sense of confidence, purpose, and self-worth. The bad news is there are only seven performances, and five of them are in the past, so act fast to catch this great new outdoor #TCTheater tradition! (Info and tickets for this Wednesday and Thursday can be found here.)

"School of Rock" Broadway tour at the Orpheum Theatre

#TCTheater friends, I'm coming to you from NYC, the great white way, where I'm going to see as many Broadway shows as I possibly can, and share my experiences with you right here and on Instagram. But don't feel too envious of me, if you can't come to Broadway, Broadway will come to you. The latest Broadway show to make its way across the country to Minneapolis is Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit musical adaptation of the 2003 Jack Black movie School of Rock (with book by Julian Fellowes, the same writer who gave us all those delightful Dowager quips), which opened in 2015 and is still running. While it's no secret that I am not typically a fan of the movie musical adaptation, this one makes more sense than some because the source material is a story about music. About our love of music, and the power of music to inspire, motivate, and bring people together. It's also an excuse for a dozen incredibly talented young quadruple threats (act, sing, dance, play an instrument) to rock out on stage, and for the audience to rock out with them. The cliched motivational teacher story comes alive due to the talent of these kids (and the grown-ups onstage with them) and ALW's catchy rock score.