Noel Sullivan joins cast of School of Rock – The Musical in the West End

New casting has been announced for School of Rock – The Musical, it has been announced.

Hear'Say singer Noel Sullivan will play Dewey, the lead role in the piece, from 19 August. As well as his singing career, Sullivan has also starred in Ordinary Lies 2 and Gavin and Stacey. He can currently be seen on the small screen in Years and Years.

Mark Anderson will take over the role of Ned Schneebly from Alan Pearson from 8 October 2019, Rebecca LaChance continues as Patty Di Marco and Laura Tebbutt will also continue to play Rosalie Mullins. Jake Sharp will play Dewey Finn at certain performances.

The remaining cast includes Keisha Amponsa Banson, Ryan Bearpark, Rob Falconer, Kelly Hampson, Suzie McAdam, Richard Morse, Jayde Nelson, Andy Rees, Alex Tomkins, James Wolstenholme and Benjamin Yates with swings Jessica Kirton, Paul Kemble, Billy Mitchell, Catherine Morris, and Andy Prosser. Three teams of 12 kids who play live at every show make up Dewey's band.

Sullivan said: "It's been a lifelong ambition of mine to perform in a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I have been a huge fan since I was a child and to get the opportunity to work on such an incredible production is absolutely a dream come true. I loved School of Rock the movie and this hilarious musical doesn't disappoint."

School of Rock is directed by Laurence Connor with choreography by JoAnn M Hunter, set and costume designs by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Mick Potter, music supervision by
John Rigby with Matt Smith as musical director.

Lloyd Webber, Julian Fellowes and Glenn Slater's musical opened on Broadway in 2015 and transferred to the West End in 2016. Based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black, the musical tells the story of Dewey, a musician who pretends to be his friend so he can get a job as a teacher. He then puts together a band with his pupils who enter into the Battle of the Bands.