Andrew Lloyd Webber offers $1.3 million grant for children
The legendary composer, whose "School of Rock," competed for the top musical prize Sunday, announced that he is funding $1.3 million to buy musical theater equipment in U.S. public schools and subsidize study.
The three-year grant operated by The American Theatre Wing will include buying instruments and equipment for school theater programs, funding summer study and after-school training, and college scholarships.
The stage version of "School of Rock" stays close to the plot of the Jack Black-led 2003 film, in which a wannabe rocker enlists his fifth-graders to form a rock group and conquer the Battle of the Bands.