‘School of Rock’ opens at Jefferson Performing Arts Center wiith music by Andrew Lloyd Webber,

Guitar riffs, keyboard capers and rock rhythms on the drums are all part of the curriculum at Jefferson Performing Arts Society’s “School of Rock” opening Friday at Jefferson Performing Arts Center in Metairie.

The musical, based on the 2003 movie starring Jack Black, is crafted around music by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, with new songs added for the stage, which premiered on Broadway in 2015 and garnered four Tony nominations. The book is by fellow Brit Julian Fellowes, who brought forth such imperial classics as “Downtown Abbey” and “Gosford Park.”

The basic story surrounds a substitute teacher who morphs his prep school class into a rock band. The show has a range of music, from Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” to Lloyd Webber’s “You’re in the Band,” “Where did the Rock Go” and “Stick It To The Man.”

Serving as “headmaster” of this melodic-scholastic mashup is director Leslie Castay, a teacher at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and a frequent performer who most recently appeared as Tallulah Bankhead in “Looped.” She also directed last season’s “Young Frankenstein” for JPAS.

No stranger to working with students, Castay said the current “class” has been working diligently on rocking out.

“I just love seeing the young performers take to being rockstars,” she said. “They really step up.” The cast features both young and old, but 18 kids are involved in the show, including several who will play instruments during the show. “The final number is just them. It’s a great showcase for them.”

Castay also noted the adult lead (“It’s a beast of a role”) is played by another educator, Nathan Parrish, who fronts his own cover band and walked into auditions with his own guitar. Dude!

The ABCs of rock

Learning has been part of the drill, said Castay, with students learning different types of music and how to embody the rock aspects of the roles.

“It’s been so much fun to watch,” she said.

Principal youth performers for the show include Merah Benoit (bass guitar), August Doussan (drums), Drago Han (keyboards), Andrew Letellier (guitar) and Olivia Yi. The “big kids” include Rachel Looney, Melissa McKenzie and Daniel Rubio.

Additional cast includes Bailey Hall, Eleanor Zafirau, Annalise Perez, Parker Portera-Dufrene, Braiden Rome, Cooper Andry, Laura Toomer, Jane Sale, Blake Bosley, Everly Materne, Basil Stanley, Anna Lanasa, Waylon Hagale, Jenna Winston, Ryan Kelly, Ti Zampino, Katie Kitchen, Emily Harville, Nina Ballon, Sasha Munchak, Emily Breaux, Michael Smith, Allee Peck, Ty Robbins, Matthew Welch, Nicholas Smith and Nathan Long.

And while it may seem a “rock” show by the composer that penned “Phantom of the Opera,” “Cats” and “Evita,” the EGOT got his start in rock with “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

“It’s Andrew Lloyd Webber that they’ve never heard before,” said Castay. “He goes back to his rock ‘n’ roll roots.”

Joining Castay, Mastero Dennis Assaf will conduct, with Max DoVale as music director and Scarlett Saizan-Lancon as choreographer. 

The show will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 22 at 6400 Airline Drive. Tickets start at $20. Visit jpas.org.

Opening this week Sept. 12-18

“HAIRSPRAY”: Opening 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays plus Sept. 26 and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 29; Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts, 325 Minor St., Kenner. Tony-winning musical about a curvaceous teen who only wants to dance on a TV show. Well, her dream comes true, but change always comes with someone being upset and, with social upheavals as the backdrop, the poignant message has a rocking beat that touches on a host of issues ranging from racism and integration to how high should one tease their hair, pageants and body positivity. Tickets start at $41. rivertowntheaters.com.

“THE REMARKABLE ROOMING-HOUSE OF MADAME LE MONDE”: Opening 7:30 p.m. Friday and running Thursdays to Sundays through Sept. 28; Lower Depths Theatre, Loyola University, 6363 St. Charles Ave. The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company’s production of three comedic tales of the macabre, “Penny Dreadfuls” with the main show focusing on an abused man, unable to use his legs, who lives in a London boardinghouse of the vicious and miserly landlady, swinging from hooks in the ceiling to navigate the room. He is visited by an old friend who offers little or no help. Also performed will be “The Case of the Crushed Petunias” and “Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily?” Tickets start at $35. twtheatrenola.com.

“SIX”: Opening 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through Sept. 22; 30 by Ninety Theatre, 880 Lafayette St., Mandeville. Teen version of the story of the wives of Henry VIII who were “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” after being married to the British Tudor king. But these ladies aren’t just queens from the past, but pop princesses with a modern spin on their stories. Tickets start at $25. 30byninety.com.

In production

“A DOLL’S HOUSE”: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through Sept. 22; Crescent City Stage, Marquette Theatre, Loyola University, 6365 St. Charles Ave. Regional premiere of Amy Herzog’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic about a woman, trapped in her “doll house,” who seems to have an ideal life and a happy marriage with children, servants and more. But the charade begins to unravel as secrets bring a mirror up to her life. She isn’t thrilled with the vision, and she feels trapped. Tickets start at $10. crescentcitystage.com.

“TIL BETH DO US PART”: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 22; Playmakers Theater, 19106 Playmakers Road, Covington. Comedy about a successful woman and her devious assistant who worms her way into the businesswoman’s business — and marriage — with hilarious yet horrendous results. Tickets start at $15. playmakers-theater-05.webself.net.