PRP Drop In Session with School of Rock Portland: Guests Miranda Jones and Maya Shuey

The show is a journey through the works of R and B's "Royalty" - The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, The King of Pop Michael Jackson, and Prince!  The musicians we have playing and singing this material are some of the best the Portland School of Rock has ever seen.  So it's not just about the "cute" factor of kids playing tough and historically important song -  there's some serious music going down!  From an early point the kids wanted to take ownership of the show and Jon Brownhill and I have been more than happy to let them flex their leadership muscles.  We've assigned "Harmony and Percussion Captains" for many of the more difficult arrangements - giving veteran students the chance to teach and work with other students from a directorial capacity.  We've even had many of our more experienced students act as Producers, helping shape the overall vision of the show and many times running rehearsal rooms or sectionals while Jon and I are busy.  This ownership has been a tough road however and we've had our struggles as the season progressed and school got tougher.  However the kids have persevered and continue to work harder every week.  They're poised to put on an amazing show!

The show itself is a greatest hits of our three chosen artists.  The hardest thing about picking material for the show is choosing what not to do!  With so many incredible songs, we decided to put together a couple big medleys - an 8 song Michael Jackson medley that spans his career from Ed Sullivan up through the worldwide success of Thriller (see video!), and a 6 song medley of Aretha and Prince songs we really wanted to play but couldn't squeeze into the set.  The music is ALL OVER THE BOARD since these artists are so versatile in and of themselves, as well as vastly different from each other.  

Any attending audience members are required to bring their dancing shoes because this one is gonna get funky!

For information and tickets.http://portland.schoolofrock.com/event/school-of-rock-performs-rampb-royalty-i