For D-W actor, lead in ‘School of Rock’ is a ‘character, not a part’

ALBANY – In the time of the greatest playwright ever, William Shakespear (circa mid-1500s), many male actors assumed roles portraying female characters because there just were not enough female actors to go around.

At Albany’s Deerfield-Windsor prep school, the opposite is true. Because so many of the school’s male students are involved in one, two or even more spring sports, it’s difficult for theater director/instructor Lindsey Stewart to cast males in the school’s annual spring production.

Not that junior Brooklyn Ivy is bothered by such trivialities.

Ivy, who has been “acting in plays here since middle school,” was selected by Stewart to play one of the leads in D-W’s production of “School of Rock,” the beloved story of a rock and roll wannabe who uses a bit of deception to “kidnap” a class of talented musical students and turn them into a tight-knit group.

And that role – Dewey Finn, played with madcap hilarity by Jack Black in the hit movie – requires Ivy to act as a male character rather than the female she is.

“We don’t get a lot of males who try out for our productions, and we have a contractual obligation not to make changes to the plays,” Stewart, who is directing her 12th spring musical after taking over as head of the D-W theater program from her mother, Dianne Giddens, said. “But Brooklyn’s having fun with the role.”

The 11th-grader, who with senior Katherine Collins as school principal Rosalie Mullins, are the lead actors in the play, says she doesn’t mind playing Dewey as a male character.

“I don’t see myself as playing a ‘part,’” Ivy said. “I’m playing a ‘character.’ It doesn’t really matter to me, and a lot of the confidence I have comes from having a big role in last year’s production of ‘Freaky Friday.’”

Collins, who says she plans to pursue Theater Education as a major at Columbus State University when she graduates, said she likes the theater version of her character moreso than the movie’s character (played by Joan Cusack).

“You get to see more of her as a person,” the senior said. “It’s not so much that she’s tougher (in the play), it’s that she’s more polished.”

Collins also has appeared in a number of plays at Deerfield-Windsor, including “Mary Poppins,” “Newsies,” “The Lion King” and “All Shook Up.”

Other actors who are part of the “School of Rock” cast are Lamar Gillespie as Ned Schneebly, Cat Darden (Patty), Dean Morrow (Zack Mooneyham), Brayden Will (Lawrence Turner), Caroline Strickland (Katie Travis), Brayden Ivy (Summer Hathaway), Lauren Johnson (Tomika), Bella Melvin (Shonelle), Avery Medley (Marcy), Hannah Pinson (Mason), Mary William Shemwell (Madison), Lorelei Urick (Freddie), Adeline Urick (Billie), Charlie Kate Rich (Sophie), Henley Hester (James), Parker Moore (Gabe/Mooneyham), Sachi Goyal (Parent/Teacher), Penbrooke Daniel (Ms Sheinkopf), Hayden Young (Parent/Teacher) and Margo Wulf (Parent/Teacher).

Other student characters who are part of the cast include Rilyn Medley, Lennon Clugsdon, Piper Hatcher, Nyla Lewis, Abigail Odom, Nia Goyal, Millen Wright and Ava White.

Stewart said the development of a lower school theater program, headed by that school’s music director, Leah Bowles, will allow her to work toward her goal of having more young thespians ready for the stage when they reach middle and high school.

“What the kids usually find when they take part in one of our productions is that it’s lots of fun,” Stewart said. “Part of our responsibilities (to generate interest) is to find the parts that fit the students’ personalities.”

“School of Rock” performances will be conducted April 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available on the dwsperformingarts.ludus.com website.