In his latest motion of support for promoting arts education in schools, Andrew Lloyd Webber said in an interview with The Times that he plans to allow schools to produce his latest hit musical, School of Rock, for free.

SCHOOL OF ROCK is being made available for free for performances between now and December 31st 2017 in the UK and Erie. Lloyd Webber will provide the groups with scripts, scores, and other necessary materials for the musical. "It's a no-brainer. School of Rock is about kids making music. Let's get on with it. You have to get music back into everybody's DNA again," Lloyd Webber said, with regard to his opinion that schools should be able to perform musicals before they finish their commercial runs on Broadway, the West End, and elsewhere.

Lloyd Webber has demonstrated a consistent commitment to arts education and promoting emerging artists; in the past year alone, his foundation has donated over £3.5 million to arts projects, and next year the composer will open The Other Palace, a theater with stages dedicated to developing new musicals.

Based on the hit film, School of Rock - The Musical is a hilarious new musical that follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school's beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within.

School of Rock - The Musical received 6 Tony Award Nominations, including Best Musical, Best Score (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater), Best Book (Julian Fellowes), and Best Leading Actor (Alex Brightman).

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of The Likes of Us, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, By Jeeves, Evita, Variations and Tell Me on a Sunday later combined as Song & Dance, Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game, The Woman in White and Love Never Dies. He composed the film scores of Gumshoe and The Odessa File and a setting of the Latin Requiem mass. Recent producer credits include A R Rahman's Bombay Dreams, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz and films of The Phantom of the Opera and the acclaimed Australian production of Love Never Dies.

He pioneered television casting for musical theatre with the Emmy Award-winning "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" and will this year search for someone to perform the title role in an arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. His awards include seven Tonys, three Grammys, seven Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, the Praemium Imperiale, the Richard Rodgers and the Kennedy Center Honor. He currently owns seven London theatres, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Palladium. He was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997.

For the original article in The Times, click here.

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