School of Rock musical rolls into Wollongong this week for the July school holidays

Another So Popera musical production is ready to kick-off at the WIN Entertainment Centre during the school holidays, with a raft of young thespians from age 11 and up.

School of Rock is a musical based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black who plays Dewey Finn, a musician down on his luck who manages to pose as a substitute teacher and change his and his students' lives.

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Dewey finds romance, self-worth, a proper job, and, most importantly, he teaches the children and their parents the beauty of rock.

"He just speaks to me, that kind of childish nature and being able to run around with this bunch of hooligans [the young cast] the whole time is, is really fun," said lead actor Lachlan O'Dea, who portrays the character Dewey.

" I actually just had a son myself six weeks ago so being able to kind of do this and show him that, hey, doing musicals is kind of a, a masculine thing as well and just being a goof up there is just a bit of fun as well."

The production has 13 children in its cast, four adult principal characters and 16 adult musicians in the ensemble.

O'Dea has worked on a number of So Popera shows and said working with children was "a breeze".

"They knew all their lines before the adult cast did," he said.

"They're just a bunch of fun to work with and we get along and have a good time. Have some jokes, play some practical jokes on each other and it's good fun."

Evening and matinee performances run from Friday July 7 until Saturday July 15. Tickets range from $67 to $78.

www.ticketmaster.com.au

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