New Broadway Musical to Debut This Winter
Pictured in United Recording’s Studio B are (foreground L-R) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Rob Cavallo. Rear L-R are Chris Chaney, bass (Jane’s Addiction), Doug McKean, engineer; Eric Dover, vocals; Tom Rasulo, second engineer; Dorian Crozier, drums; Wesley Seidman, United engineer; Tim Pierce, lead guitar; David Wilson, musical supervisor; Mike Fasano, drum tech; and Jamie Muhoberac, keyboards. Photo by David Goggin.
Stage musical legend Andrew Lloyd Webber joined Grammy-winning producer Rob Cavallo at Hollywood’s United Recording studios to work on the upcoming Broadway show “School of Rock –The Musical.” Based on the 2003 film of the same name starring Jack Black, the musical will have its world premiere on Broadway, with performances slated to begin Nov. 9, 2015, at the Winter Garden Theatre.
“Because it’s a hard rock, heavy metal musical,” commented Cavallo, “Andrew Lloyd asked me to be the producer and partial arranger to turn his songs into rock records, and also to work with him on rock arrangements for the stage. As part of the creative team, I’m also one of the investors in the play and I have to say it’s been a lot of fun. It’s one of my favorite movies, such a perfect rock and roll story.”
The show features music from the movie, as well as new music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater. The book is by Julian Fellowes, and Laurence Connor, currently represented on Broadway with the re-imagined revival of Les Misérables, will direct. According to the producers, “Down-on-his-luck wannabe rock star Dewey Finn poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school to make ends meet. When he discovers his students’ musical talents, he enlists his fifth-graders to form a rock group and conquer the Battle of the Bands.”
Rob Cavallo adds, “I would say that it’s mostly true to the movie, but there are a few surprises. It’s not really like any of Andrew Lloyd’s previous work, but if it was closest to anything, it would be ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ because that had the most rocking guitar and hot guitar style of record making. I know he’s a big Paganini buff and he really understands tempo and angular, rock guitar chord changes and rock riffs.”
Cavallo has received three Grammy awards and has produced Platinum-selling albums for artists including Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Kid Rock and Phil Collins. Cavallo plays multiple instruments and has numerous credits for his bass, keyboard, organ, piano, guitar and percussion work. He contributed rhythm guitar in the sessions at United Recording.
English composer and impresario of musical theatre Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He has seven Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, fourteen Ivor Novello Awards, seven Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006.
Rob Cavallo concluded with some thoughts about United Recording studios, “I’ve been so blessed to have a lot of really great, big selling records come out of these studios when it was previously called Ocean Way, but I have to say the vibe is every bit as good as it ever was. It’s still the same sound and the same equipment, and I couldn’t be happier. This is my favorite studio for sure.”
About United Recording
United Recording was founded in 1957 by the legendary recording engineer and electronics inventor Bill Putnam with the backing of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. The studios were acquired and renamed Ocean Way Recording in 1977, and after acquisition in 2013 by Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc., were re-launched under the original name in 2014. United Recording, one of the world’s most recognized music recording studios, with more awards than any other recording enterprise, is responsible for record sales of more than one billion units. http://www.unitedrecordingstudios.com/
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