Although his work in musicals like Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar have made Andrew Lloyd Webber a household name for more the 4-decades, the famous Broadway composer had almost forgotten what it was like to have a hit. Since School of Rock: The Musical made its Broadway debut, the show's success, has Webber every bit as shocked as finding diamond in the rough and breakout star, Alex Brightman, to play the lead. In fact, it would seem that Webber has had some difficulties finding a worthy Dewey Finn replacement for the West End run -- recently postponing the show's London debut until the spring of 2017.
As hard as it is to believe, famed English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber recently claimed that he had all but forgotten what it felt like to have a genuine hit musical running on Broadway (via Official London Theatre):
"I had forgotten what it was to have this kind of hit. It is particularly great as we have no star names and we are witnessing personal triumphs for our brilliant kids and for Alex Brightman as Dewey, the role made famous by Jack Black.
"Now our team will begin searching across the UK for talented children to star in the West End transfer."
Of course, finding just the right replacement won't exactly be easy, which explains why the show's London debut was recently pushed back from the fall of 2016 to spring of 2017.
During an interview with the NY Times earlier this month, Webber recalled how when casting Brightman, he stood out from his all peers for having a juvenile quality that just can't be taught in school:
"The other ones all felt a little bit like an adult
"You say to yourself, 'Do I really want to leave my kids with that guy?'
"Whereas with Alex, he just is a child, and you thought he was perfect."
Hopefully, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the powers that be will be able to find themselves a new Dewey Finn, without having to postpone School of Rock: The Musical's West End debut for a second time.
