Sydney Catholic Schools says they made a mistake by allowing students to perform School of Rock. The apology comes after some parents complained about a brief scene that showed a same-sex couple.
Earlier this month 3,000 students from Catholic Schools in Sydney came together to present an extravagant production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical School of Rock.
The giant production was performed in front of 20,000 students and parents over several nights at Sydney’s Qudos Arena. While the production was initially hailed a great success, some parents raised concern about the content of the musical – leading to an apology from Sydney Catholic Schools.
Parents complained about a brief scene in which a child was shown to have two male parents. While others objected to a scene where characters prayed to the ‘God of Rock’, additionally there was concern over a song that used the words “screwed” and “pissed”.
The chief executive of Sydney Catholic Schools, Tony Farley, has told The Sydney Morning Herald that the musical should not have been selected, and they now realise in retrospect that it was not suitable.
“There have been some complaints raised regarding the content of the show and the suitability for some younger members of the audience,” Farley said. “With the benefit of hindsight, we would not have chosen this particular musical.
“Concerns have included language used in the show that is clearly unacceptable in a school or family setting, adult themes that are alluded to in the show which are in no way endorsed by Sydney Catholic Schools, and disrespect for authority that caused some concern.
“Sydney Catholic Schools sincerely apologises and takes responsibility for any elements which caused offence and are undertaking a full review of all aspects of the production which will ensure that a situation such as this will not occur again.”
Farley revealed that his organisation has received around 80 complaints from members of the public.
NSW One Nation MP Mark Latham had highlighted the concern some parents had. On Twitter Latham said the musical contained an “adolescent same sex scene”, while some people took that mean a scene of a sexual nature, it was in fact just a child having same-sex parents.
Rose Jackson, New South Wales Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness, whose children had been performing in the musical, responded saying she had no problem with the musicals content, and it was important to have balance.
The musical was created by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater. The show’s book was written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellows. It’s based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black.
School of Rock made its debut at Gramercy Theatre in June 2105 before moving to Broadway a few months later. It had its West End debut the following year. The show was first staged in Australia in 2018.
OIP Staff
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