An iconic rock musical performed in a school production needs a serious look-in to see if our kids are alright. So we sent along theatre reviewers from two different generations to rate the results.
The Gen X’er, Elaine Tan, old enough to be a grand-aunt to the younger performers, was once a formidable theatre and food critic at the turn of the millennium.
The Gen Z’er, Darren Tio, was its target demographic when the movie that inspired it first came out, a decade later. Here’s what they had to say.
This review was published in New Straits Times (7 June, 2025) . Read Here.
A Gen-X Review of School of Rock, The Musical by Cempaka Students
By Elaine Tan
I’ve never liked Jack Black; all his characters are on hyper-drive. Which means he was perfectly cast as Dewey Finn in the 2003 movie School of Rock. Which means the lead actress in the Cempaka rendition of the musical did a great job, because I was almost rooting for her to skip the maths lesson and sneak her students out for Battle of The Bands despite the character’s glaring lack of any responsible virtues. My co-guests, aged 10 and 16, when asked who they liked most, had no such compunction, with the little girl enthusiastically and approvingly declaring “She’s so loud and craaazy!”. My vote went to Miss Mullens for Best Voice.
For us grown-ups with all our big adult problems, this is a time to sit back and watch the kids performing their hearts out; to chat with our young friends in the audience and hear their opinions; to note how well put together the event was, complete with a snack stand. It is always a kind of pleasure experiencing kids doing things – even the prefect-usher who asked to see my ticket when I stepped outside the hall to check my phone.
Don’t play-play; Cempaka Performing Arts Co’s productions are submitted for the Cammies (please google). Altogether a lovely family and friends evening with the young ones and worth pencilling in your diary if you have school aged kids in your life for “something different”.
A Gen Z Review of School of Rock, The Musical by Cempaka Students
By Darren Tio
I love Jack Black, his mannerisms, his energy, and I thought Illena Matin did an excellent job capturing his manic yet affable essence. The original School of Rock was a staple school movie growing up, shown whenever English teachers felt like too lazy for lessons, and it isn’t hard to see why. It featured an actual likeable cast of child actors led by the fun, non-conforming rebel in Black to perform original and catchy mid-2000s pop-rock, all in a fun and cheery beat.
My expectation for the musical was tainted by nostalgia, but also tempered knowing it was a student production. I wanted it to be good, but I wasn’t sure if it was fair of me to have high expectations. In the end, I felt wowed by almost everything in this production. From the performances, some of whom were clear stand-outs, to the production quality to the music (especially Puteri Azahara’s rendition of Where Did The Rock Go?). What impressed me most, I felt, was the scale of the whole thing. In the end, when every performer, dancer, and actor comes on stage for their curtain call, you become aware of just how big the production actually was, and best of all, how excited each of them were to be there.
This was a show that brimmed with excitement and fun from every cast and crew member, imbuing it onto the audience easily so that even we were cheering at the closing number. Cempaka Performing Arts Co. did justice to the School of Rock, reminding me of everything I loved about it and giving just that little bit more.
Elaine Tan is a theatre and food critic and works in communication, project management and strategic planning.
Darren Tio is a KL-based writer who grew up in Pontianak, Indonesia, and has a degree in creative writing.
This review was generated by Artsee.Net as part of its Young Arts Writers’ Sandbox Programme.
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