Florence Andrews on Letting Her Hair Down in London's School of Rock & More

Florence Andrews is lending some sterling vocals and whiplash timing to the London premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical School of Rock, based on the Richard Linklater/Jack Black film and now running at the New London Theatre, the onetime home of Cats. The fast-rising performer plays the starchy—or maybe not—Rosalie Mullins, who also happens to be the principal of Horace Green Elementary School, where the new music teacher, Dewey Finn, is causing cheerful havoc with his surprisingly music-savvy students. The ebullient Andrews took time one recent evening to talk about liking the characters you play and graduating to a Lloyd Webber leading lady. 

How did you land this plum role?
I'd been in the musical Miss Atomic Bomb at the St. James Theatre and Andrew [Lloyd Webber] was at the press night. Thank God no one told me he was there because I would have been very nervous, but I spotted him in the audience about four rows back, and it turned out that he liked the show and he liked me in it. He then got in touch with my agent and said that he would love me to come and audition for the part, so just two auditions and a couple of weeks later, I got the call. 

Did you know the show?
I hadn't seen it live on Broadway, but I'd seen the trailer and I love Sierra [Boggess, the part's originator] and thought that it looks brilliant. And it was such a different kind of role to do after Candy Johnson, who was a farm girl in Cold War-era Nevada! 

How does the onstage Rosalie compare to the character created by Joan Cusack in the 2003 film? 
I think they've fleshed out the character a bit more—especially in the roadhouse scene and [2nd-act show-stopping solo] "Where Did the Rock Go," where Rosalie's vulnerability suddenly comes out. She's got a hard shell around her all the way through, I think not least because she recognizes in [male lead character] Dewey Finn what it is that she's lost. She has to put a wall up because he reminds her of everything she used to be, but then she lets it all out in that song. From being so uptight she suddenly feels that she has permission to let go. 

Does that scene have a particular power to you?
What's nice is that when Rosalie and Dewey first go to the roadhouse, originally he's getting her there for his own devices, having to do with the student competition; he's got a motive. But what happens quite quickly is that it becomes a real date; very quickly they've got a connection and it becomes the start of something for both of them. 

What are your thoughts about Rosalie?
I'm generalizing maybe here but I see her as one of these women you find in real life who multitask and trying to be everything and that can be stressful, so they then get labeled as uptight or bossy. The thing is that she's got so much on her plate that it's so lovely to see her let it go: you want to like her, but it wouldn't work if she was just a pain in the ass the whole time. 

So, you sympathize with her?
Absolutely! I don't in any way see her as a horrible woman and I don't dislike her at all. I kind of feel sorry for her and want to go up to her and say, “Just try and chill out,” but I see her as really stressed and really struggling with the workload she has. She thinks the parents should leave with a smile on their faces, and she feels that pressure on her shoulders, and it doesn't help that she is at an elite school where the pressures on the parents are also so high. Then along comes Dewey who arrives late and hungover and it's almost as if she's waiting for someone to unlock the real her. 

What is it like playing opposite two Deweys—David Fynn, who played the opening night performance, and also his alternate, Gary Trainor?
I really enjoy it because it keeps things fresh eight times a week, and we're all used to it by now. Plus, that role is such a full-on thing that I don't know how anyone could do it otherwise. I really love the two-show days because Gary and David are such different Deweys, and I love them both equally. Gary's got such a sensitivity and David is hilarious. They each have brilliant qualities that make them great to work with.

How familiar were you with the film?
I love the movie, and I just love Joan Cusack in it. It's such a cult classic that I actually think a lot of people in the audience know the whole thing already coming in, which can create a lot of pressure. But I've heard people say that they prefer the stage version, which is quite a compliment since it's a classic, wonderful film, and I grew up watching Jack Black. 

Were you surprised that a leading British composer like Lloyd Webber had adapted so raucously American a film?
Yes, I suppose you don't necessarily think Andrew Lloyd Webber when you think hard rock, but the thing with Andrew is that he's both a musician and a music lover: music flows through his veins. So, while you might not put Richard Linklater and Andrew in the same creative bloc, the wonderful thing about art is that it defies boundaries in every way. When people are passionate about music and writing and storytelling, there's no reason why they shouldn't connect with anything or anyone. Also, there's so much rock in so many of Andrew's musicals that you can understand why this works.

Was your goal always to do musical theater?
I actually studied opera at [London drama school] Guildhall, but the whole time I was really jealous of the students in the other courses and wanted to change to acting: there everyone was pretending to be monkeys when I was learning French! Later, when I went to the Royal Academy of Music, Cats was one of my favorite musicals, and Sunset Boulevard, and I would use a lot of Andrew's songs in my auditions. I've always admired his work but never thought I would be one of his leading ladies. 

Don't you have acting and performing in your blood?
Well, my late grandmother was a chorus girl in the West End and her husband was a composer and musical director, so I feel very embedded in the world of musical theater and always saw that as very glamorous. And my uncle [screen and stage star Anthony Andrews, of Brideshead Revisited fame] is an actor, as well, so I suppose it's not that much of a surprise. 

How are you juggling the demands of a West End run with having a young daughter?
It helps that I'm lucky to have a really supportive partner and also that, coming from a family of arty people, I'm in a situation where everyone can be supportive around me. I feel as if I'm constantly trying to struggle and get the balance right, but the wonderful thing is that I get to see Mabel during the day. And though I miss the bedtimes, and that is hard, I feel as if I'm being a good example when it comes to having a roof over my head and doing what I love.

Have you ever thought that Mabel might someday be in School of Rock?
I have, actually, though never in a pushy way, and she's three and a half now, which is a very cute age but she's not quite old enough to see [the show] yet. But I'm thinking she might be able to come towards the end of the year and have a look. And if she were to end up in the show, there's no doubt that she would be [band manager] Summer. We'll have to wait and see.