‘School of Rock’ Getting Broadway Makeover by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber has acquired the stage rights to the 2003 Jack Black film “School of Rock,” and says he will turn his attention to the adaptation when he finishes his current project, “Stephen Ward.”

Very few details have emerged just yet, though Webber tells the CBC that he is “very excited” to acquire the rights to the film.

“I will go from ‘Stephen Ward,’ which is really going to be sort of a chamber musical, to a musical about kids playing the guitar,” Webber said.

He did not, however, get specific on whether he would be working on new music for the musical.

“There may be songs for me in it,” he continued, “but it’s obviously got songs in it as it stands.”

The original film is made up mostly of classic rock songs, by groups including AC/DC, Cream and Led Zeppelin, among many others. The story of the movie centers around Jack Black’s Dewey Finn, a musician who takes on a role as a substitute teacher to make money. He eventually forms a rock band with some of the kids in the class to participate in a battle of the bands.

No other details about the production, including dates or casting, have yet been released. But “Stephen Ward” is still in development and likely won’t arrive on West End until 2014. Webber wrote the score to that production, which features a book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

The musical is directed by Richard Eyre, and tells the story of the emergence of the culture revolution of the 1960s, with new ideals rising up against the old guard.

Certainly a stretch to go from one to the other, Webber has certainly proved himself capable of taking on a large variety of projects. When asked about this eccentric writing, he said simply, “I write what I want to write.”