West End spectacular show performed at Bristol Academy

The smash hit West End musical and global phenomenon School of Rock was performed by an extremely talented cast of students at Bristol Metropolitan Academy for their annual production.

There was such huge demand for this blockbuster show that all tickets for the six performances were snapped up in less than a week.

A rapturous reception from these sell-out audiences was fitting reward for more than 100 students from Years 7-11 who spent 10 months of preparation and rehearsals fine-tuning their talents.

School of Rock tells the story of the overly-enthusiastic guitarist Dewey Finn (played by Year 10 students Ben Beighton-Horne and Luke Elliott) who gets thrown out of his bar band and finds himself in desperate need of work. Posing as a substitute music teacher at an elite private elementary school, he exposes his students to the hard rock gods he idolises and emulates – much to the consternation of the uptight principal. As he gets his privileged and precocious charges in touch with their inner rock ‘n’ roll animals, he imagines redemption at a local battle of the bands.

This production involved an enormous amount of cross curricular support from art and design & technology teams who constructed the set and props. Other members of staff from across the Fishponds academy have supported the hectic schedule of rehearsals.

Matinee performances were also staged for Cabot Learning Federation primary and secondary schools.

MET Productions Director & Programme Leader of Drama, Meesh Vince, said: “This show has created a huge sense of belonging and camaraderie between staff and students. Thank you to Dave Vince, DT teacher and the Artistic Director who created and designed a fantastic stage set, props and technical elements for the show. Thank you to Lucie Morrish, drama teacher, who has been the vocal coach and choreographer. I would also like to thank everyone else involved for making this amazing show possible, thank you.”