WEST End show School of Rock The Musical opened in style with a thunderous applause for a hard-rocking performance before a packed house at the Alhambra on Monday night.

The show, which features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and is based on the School of Rock film written by Mike White and book by Julian Fellowes, was brought to the stage by The Really Useful Group Ltd.

The cast was led by the charismatic Jake Sharp, who plays freeloading slacker Dewey Finn whose life ambition is to be a rock musician by winning a Battle of Bands in three weeks’ time.

The show’s opening song, I’m Too Hot For You, performed by Dewey and his band No Vacancy brought me back to the 1980s when Glam Rock reigned supreme and got the crowd rocking.

Dewey is stunned when he gets kicked out of the band. His pushover roommate and friend Ned Schneebly and Ned’s girlfriend Patty Di Marco tell him to get a job.

Nadia Violet Johnson is convincingly good in her role as the bossy and overbearing Patty. Let’s put this way, you wouldn’t want to cross her.

Dewey gets a break when he gets a call from Horace Green Prep School, as he impersonates Ned, a substitute teacher, and takes a job at the school.

The introduction of the school’s students, teachers and principal Rosalie Mullins, with the number Horace Green Alma Mater, featured some fantastic choreography and introduced the audience to vocal chords of the talented Rebecca Lock, who played Rosalie.

Credit must be given to the production team for the creative set designs and effortless transitions between scenes.

Sharp’s sharp wit and sense of humour provide laugh-a-minute audience entertainment as we are introduced to the young stars of the show, the students, played by a collection of talented youngsters.

Posing as Mr Schneebly, Dewey avoids all the traditional subjects at school and teaches the children all about rock music as he prepares them to enter in the Battle of the Bands.

The show features brilliant song and dance routines by Dewey and the kids, particularly You’re in the Band and Stick it to the Man.

The show nicely deals with the children’s issues with their parents in a touching piece, If Only You Would Listen.

After the interval, another beautiful song, Where Did the Rock Go?, explores the pressure Rosalie as headteacher is under and Lock puts in an expressive performance.

The show culminates with Dewey coming clean about him posing as a teacher but the children convince him to still attend the Battle of the Bands.

At the competition, Dewey and the children performed a rocking rendition of School of Rock, a song written by the child lead guitarist Zack, played by William Laborde.

Laborde’s and Sharp’s performances with the guitar and shuffling across the stage brought back memories of iconic guitarist Angus Young’s stage antics with AC/DC.

An encore of Stick it to the Man sent the Alhambra crowd into a frenzy and the full cast were treated to the standing ovation.

The show at the Alhambra continues this week, with performances at 7.30pm from tonight until Saturday. There will be matinees at 2pm on Wednesday and 2.30pm on Saturday.

To book tickets, visit bradford-theatres.co.uk/whats-on/school-of-rock