The hit musical School of Rock will welcome five new cast members to the class on July 31. Rocking their way to Broadway will be Zachary Zwelling as Zack the guitarist, Levi Buksbazen as Freddy the drummer, John Allyn as Billy the stylist, Gabrielle Greene as Shonelle the backup singer and Cory Leventhal as James.
The new young stars will take over for Brandon Niederauer, Raghav Mehrotra, Jersey Sullivan, Gianna Harris and Sammy Ramirez, graduating from Horace Green on July 30. School of Rock is currently led by Eric Petersen as Dewey Finn, Jenn Gambatese as Rosalie Mullins, Steven Booth as Ned and Becky Gulsvig as Patty.
School of Rock is based on the 2003 film of the same name. It features 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. It features choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, scenic and costume design by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Mick Potter and music supervision by Ethan Popp.
The show 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.