By Crystal McGough, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – If, like Rosalie Mullins from the famous Paramount movie “School of Rock,” you find yourself this summer wondering, “where did the rock go,” the answer is ACTA Theatre in Trussville.
Tickets for ACTA’s summer musical, “School of Rock,” will go on sale to the public this coming Thursday, June 29, 2023, at www.actatheater.com.
Featuring all live music including two bands in the play, as well as a house pit band, this is one show that’s sure to bring down the house.
“It is almost exactly like the movie … but our play is family friendly,” Director Paige Turner Cain. “It’s a great show for kids. The language is family-friendly, whereas the movie might not be so much.”
There are 42 members in the cast, all highly talented local adults and kids. While some names might be easily recognizable by the community, such as Trussville First Methodist’s minister of music Dr. Ben Cook as the musical director and First Baptist Trussville’s pianist Kevin Grigsby in the pit band, other names may not only be new to theater-goers, but new to the stage, as well.
“We have some that have never been on the stage, and we have some that have done a lot of plays, but for the most part, we’re relatively new actors in this play,” Cain said. “This is the first show we’ve ever done where we have children playing instruments on stage and it’s the first time in a very long time that we’ve had a pit band so that all the music is live. We’ve been using tracks for the last few years, and this is going to be so different. It’s going to be live and loud and it’s going to make it so much more exciting.”
Hewitt-Trussville High School theater director Paula Brown is the assistant director and choreographer for “School of Rock,” and the lead actor coincidentally is one of her former students, Matt McGough, playing the character Dewey Finn.
“I am very excited about Matt,” Cain said. “He did have experience in the Hewitt High School drama program under the direction of Paula Brown. This is only his second show in community theater, and he walked in, he looked the part, he sounded the part. He not only is incredibly talented with guitar and singing, but he has the spirit of Jack Black. He has a tremendous rapport with the children – he’s very childlike, himself – he’s funny, he’s energetic, so he was perfect for the part, and honestly, there was no one else I can imagine playing it other than Matt McGough. He’s the personification of the character Dewey Finn.”
Another unique aspect of this performance is that there are several parent-child actor combinations in the cast, Cain said.
“The great thing about this play is that it has adults and children in it,” she said. “We have one dad who’s never been in a play, but his daughter has been in several plays, so now she has brought him into the theater, whereas Matt (McGough) has brought his children into the theater.”
“School of Rock” will open at ACTA Theatre on Thursday, July 13, and there will be a total of eight performances over the course of two weeks.
Evening performances will be on July 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22, at 7 p.m., with two matinee performances on Sundays July 16 and 23, at 2:30 p.m.
Don’t hesitate to buy your tickets, though, as this is one summer musical that is sure to be a sellout.
“We chose this play because we wanted something that would appeal to young people and get young families in the theater,” Cain said. “I think it was a really good choice. With Ben Cook being the minister of music at the Methodist church and Kevin Grigsby being the pianist at the Baptist church, it’s bringing the whole community together. It’s wonderful that these people can serve in their church, they can serve in their community, they can come together and provide entertainment, and we can teach kids about theater. ACTA does it all.”
As a reminder, tickets for “School of Rock” go on sale Thursday, June 29, at www.actatheater.com. Prices are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and $12 for students.
“The best way to buy tickets is to get season tickets, and you can only really do that till this show opens,” Cain said, adding that season ticket holders get to attend five shows per year and choose their seats before tickets go on sale to the public. “If they want to buy season tickets for all five of our shows, it’s cheaper.”
As of opening night for “School of Rock,” season ticket sales will close for the year and the opportunity will not return until spring 2024.