"School Of Rock" by Cabaret Theatre Company.

Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning musical, based on the hit movie, 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, Horace Green. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band – performed live by the production’s young actors. Not only does he do that but he awakes their inner self and they become "cool", not only in the eyes of the other kids but in their own eyes, and eventually in the eyes of their parents.

Dewey wants to enter them into "The Battle Of the Bands" competition against the band that he has just been kicked out of, "No Vacancy", but this becomes more than just a revenge gig, he actually touches the lives of these kids and they also touch his life. 

Andrew Buxton, an actor I've seen play many roles in local theatre, plays Dewey. I already know that he has a great vocal range, which is highlighted in this role. I also know that Andrew brings great energy to a stage, and that also is proven in this energetic role.

Dewey's flat mate, Ned Schneebly, is played by Dom White. I had to look twice at Dom in the second act where the transformation happens from nerdy teacher to Rock God as he is almost unrecognisable.

Ned's fiancee, Patty di Marco, is played by Ashleigh Dudson. There's also a bit of a change in Patty as when she is first seen, she has Ned really under the thumb; she is most definitely wearing the pants in that relationship. But then, when she sees Ned at the end, she has a very different look on her face. 

The school's Headmistress is Rosalie Mullins and she is played by Sara Evans-Bolger. I love these characters who start off as one thing and mutate into a completely different character, as with Ned and Patty, and that is what happens with Rosalie as well, once Dewey discovers her Achilles heel. Sara gets to show an incredible pair of lungs in a solo in Act Two with a marvellous power ballad called "Where Did The Rock Go?". Rosalie turns from a stuffy School Head to a Stevie Nicks loving rock chick in a "why Ms Mullins, you're beautiful" transformation.

The very bossy, and very loud Ms Sheinkopf, is played with great authority by Hilary Leam. You would not want to mess with this Miss or caught running in the corridor!

Olivia Burke plays Summer, the band's manager. Olivia has a lovely voice already, so goodness knows how she will sound in a few years' time.

Tomika is the shy student, but Jasmine Revell, who plays Tomika has a voice that silences an audience. When Tomika sings an acapella version of "Amazing grace" as her audition for the band, the stage falls silent, to match the silence from the audience.

The band, who all have to be able to play the instruments live, consisted of guitarist Zack, played by Oskar Gladysz, Lawrence, the keyboard player, is played by Christopher McColl,  Bassist Casey, whose bass guitar was almost as big as he is, is played by Jake Freestone and Freddie, the drummer, is played by Juliette Wiles. All very talented musicians at such tender ages; and we get to see them shine as the band "School Of Rock".

Billy, the band's stylist, is played by Ted Staley. There are some nice comic moments with Billy with the flounces and the flamboyant costume designs for the band.

The rest of the children are Freya Moseley (Shonelle), Annelise Revell (Madison), Sienna Hardy (Marcy), Zara Aboulmajid (Ruby), Dotty Foster (Sophie) and Zamuel Hinds (James).

There's always one or two actors who manages to catch your eye whenever there's a young cast, and in this production it's no different. Little Dotty Foster just drew your attention towards her with her energy and fun element of her character. Zamuel Hinds brought the "cool" Will Smith image to the rock vibe with his shades and his flossing - and that is not an orthodontic reference either!

The Teen ensemble are Ella Baker, Emily Meadows, Lydia Rowen and Evie Stretton.

The Adult ensemble, who play the teachers and parents, bar patrons as well as other grown up parts are Melissa Ashenden, Lauren Bishop, Connor Bolton, Daniel Carter, Heidi Donohue, Richard Everson, Katie French, Nick Holburn, Stephanie Leeson, Maisie Parkinson and Dawn White.

Directed by Chris Moss, he encapsulated all the fun, power and energy of the original film, making this production an exciting watch. What I also liked about this production was that, with the scene changes, the lighting design took over as did the incidental and reprise music, making sure that when there was quite a bit of scene swapping and prop moving, there was always something to focus your eyes and ears on.

Choreographed and Produced by Sally Everson. All the archetypal rock choreography is there for us; the moshing and headbanging as well as some very energetic moves from the younger ensemble members.

Lighting by Matt Bancroft created a visual energy vibe, at times making you feel as if you were at a concert.

There were several sound issues with a few loud pops, some of which made the people behind me physically jump. There were also missed mic cues, some coming in late and others not coming in at all. Some mics felt a little too loud and others barely audible. I personally would have liked the individual musicians on stage playing keyboards, guitar, bass and drums to have their musical spotlight turned up more for us to really appreciate the solo spots and the talents of the young musicians.

A simple enough set which worked well as the "wall" of the classroom and Ned and Patty's apartment were segmented which allowed extra entrance and exit points for the cast as well as giving perspective and depth to the set. The props easily brought on and taken off by the stage crew and the cast.

Musical Director is Ben Ward, and along with his band of musicians created a powerful rock soundtrack. There are some brilliant and catchy tunes in here, "You're In The Band", "Stick It To The Man", "Where Did The Rock Go?", "School Of Rock" and the beautifully penned "If Only You Would Listen".

You really can't help but love this show, especially as we'd all like to stick it to the man every so often. It's fun, fast and foot tappingly fantastic, and if school had been like this when I was a lad, detention would be certainly looked forward to.

"School Of Rock" is at The Brewhouse in Burton upon Trent until Saturday 9 March.