‘School of Rock’ ready to roll through Theatre Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Ethan Glenn has been playing guitar since eighth grade and singing since fourth or fifth grade, so he can walk the walk and talk the talk in “School of Rock.”

The musical, based on the 2003 hit movie starring Jack Black, is coming to the Theatre Cedar Rapids stage from May 3 to 26, loaded with kids who can shred a guitar and slap a bass with the best of them.

Glenn, 24, of Cedar Rapids, a chef by day, is having the time of his life as the biggest kid of all, literally and figuratively. At 6-feet-4-inches, he towers over the tweens and teens his character, Dewey Finn, ultimately is trying to turn into bona fide rockers who can be his backup in an upcoming Battle of the Bands.

But before any of that can happen, here’s some back story.

Behind the scenes

Poor Dewey just wants to be a rock star, but he not only got kicked out of his band because of his scene-stealing antics, he also lost his job at a record store — and his roommate’s girlfriend is demanding his share of the rent.

So when couple Patty and Ned are gone, Dewey answers the phone and pretends to be Ned, a real teacher who is being offered a substitute’s job at a prestigious prep school. The money being offered will more than cover Dewey’s share of the rent.

Might as well jump. How hard can it be to babysit a bunch of kids? And what could possibly go wrong? Plenty.

Glenn identifies with Dewey. The Des Moines native has been around music all his life, with his dad, uncles and grandparents being “super-involved” with bands.

“So that’s just been instilled with me,” he said. “They made me a roadie. I had to haul gear for them to all the shows and help pack up afterward, so I know a lot about how to put things together, how to take them apart. That’s come in super handy in the show. I’ve had to restring guitars and perform maintenance and stuff throughout, so it’s been super helpful having that background.”

That’s all part of the joy he’s found with this role.

“This is my first time really getting to put all my knowledge to the test,” he said, “and it’s really exciting for me to figure out these challenges. It’s kind of like a fun puzzle for me to (figure out), like, well, this is happening here, so I just tighten this or I just take this electronic part to fit this output jack. It’s been really satisfying to watch all of that come to life in a production like this.”

And while Dewey might be a tad more eccentric than Glenn, they both have stars in their eyes.

“He dreams of being a rock star. A lot of that is rooted in my own dreams,” Glenn said. “I love the stage. I love performing, I love playing, so you will take any opportunity that you can, to get that. Sometimes the character will take it too far, like impersonating a substitute. The dream is there — nothing’s more important than being on stage and being part of that music.”

Dream weaver

Helping to make that dream happen for the youths and adults onstage and behind the scenes is Megan Helmers. She has set feet flying as the choreographer for such Theatre Cedar Rapids musicals as “Cabaret,” “SpongeBob,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and the recent blockbuster, “Something Rotten!”

“If you saw my work in ‘Something Rotten!’ this is 180 degrees different,” she said. While that show had killer tap numbers, “School of Rock” needs more organic movement.

“You might see some head banging or some jumping up and down or things like that,” she said. “But it’s all rooted in very pedestrian movement, the kind of thing that you would see if you went to a concert, and maybe they had some backup dancers.”

Helmers, 45, is doing double-duty, too, serving as the show’s director. That’s something she did a lot while living in Des Moines, where she actually met Glenn and worked with him in various musicals. She’s since moved to Minneapolis, and while she’s housesitting for a friend in Cedar Rapids during the rehearsal period, she goes back home whenever possible, to see her husband, their dog and two cats.

“I go back up, get a change of clothes, and come right back down,” she said.

She presided over auditions in February, and when it came to casting the young people, who are mostly ages 10 to 14, but with a couple older teens, too, she said she was looking for “confidence.”

“When you’re auditioning a show for kids, you’re looking for potential, you’re looking for people that you think can come alive on stage,” she said. “The ones that already have that are obviously going to take less time to inhabit those roles, but I’m also looking for kids that interact well with each other, that listen to each other on stage, that seemed to have a good energy, and that seemed to be having a great time in auditions, because this is a long process and you have to really want to do it.”

She found what she was looking for, and even got core band members who play their instruments at a high level.

“We’ve got some theater kids, and some that have never done shows before. It’s a really wide range of kids, so it’s really exciting to see them come together as a group,” she said. “We have a guitarist, a bass player, a keyboard player and a drummer who are all really excellent. They did not need any coaching from us — they already came in with the skills.”

And energy. Lots of energy.

Rehearsals are “a lot of fun,” Glenn said. “It really helps keep your childlike wonder alive, getting to interact with all the kids. There’s nothing more fun than coming to rehearsal and just being able to play around and see and experience new things from the eyes of a child, essentially. It’s been pretty fun for me to interact with all these kids.”

But it’s not a kids’ show. The appeal is far-reaching, and plenty of adults also are in the cast.

“Families can come see it and enjoy it,” Helmers said. “But I really think if you love classic rock, if you love musical theater, this is the best of both worlds.”

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