If Colin Sheen has learned something during rehearsals for Theatre Under the Stars’ School of Rock, it’s that sometimes reality and fiction mirror each other.

In the Mike White–penned hit comedy film from 2002, Jack Black stars as failed indie musician Dewey Finn, who cons his way into a teaching position at a prep school. Finn quickly finds himself in awe of the young kids he’s surrounded by, marvelling at their musicianship as he decides to sign them up for a battle of the bands.

In the TUTS production of School of Rock, the role that Black made famous is played by Sheen. The Burnaby-raised actor and singer isn’t exactly a mirror image of Dewey Finn. For a start, unlike the character he’s playing, Sheen is a fully functioning adult and productive member of society—when not on stage, he works in Vancouver as a licensed massage therapist.

Where the worlds of School of Rock’s Dewey and Sheen do collide is in the way they’re both in awe of the young charges they find themselves working with.

“We’ve been in rehearsals for a couple of weeks now, so we’ve had lots of time to get to know each other,” Sheen marvels. “These kids are soooo fun—and that’s an obvious and easy thing for me to draw on for the show. They are just so ‘there’—so joyous, and so good at playing their instruments. And they are just good at playing with and off of each other. Doing professional theatre for a long time, the fun gets lost sometimes when it’s a job. But then you get back and see these kids commuting from Coquitlam and Surrey and Langley just for the joy of it, and it’s awesome and infectious. That’s one of my favourite parts of this.”

In the past, Sheen has appeared in productions that include Hairspray at the Arts Club, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Playhouse, and American Idiot at Centennial Theatre. Attending Alpha Secondary in North Burnaby, he grew up excelling at various sports, including baseball, hockey, and soccer. The decision to make the move to the performing arts was a calculated one, and that part of his story dovetails nicely into the message of School of Rock: when a teacher is impassioned enough, they have the ability to change young lives in a lasting way.

“I joined the choir in Grade 12 because they were going to Disneyland,” Sheen says with a laugh. “I really loved the choir teacher at Alpha, so she cast me in a musical. Then I went to Capilano [University] to play baseball and discovered they had a musical-theatre program. I was like, ‘I just did a musical, so I could probably do that.’ And that turned into a career choice—I was able to start working as soon as I got out of school, and things have gone on from there.”

While piano was his first instrument, Sheen later gravitated towards the acoustic guitar, that coming in handy when it was time to start preparing for School of Rock. Paul Simon is a long-time favourite, but taking on the role of Dewey Finn has required thinking a little louder.

“I have to play a lot of electric guitar in the show, so right now I’m learning the differences between acoustic and electric,” Sheen notes. “I’m really used to pushing down the strings hard on acoustic, so playing power chords on electric I had to learn to not push down so hard as you’ve got too many strings making sounds. Turning that clock backwards has been interesting.”

One of the challenges of signing on for School of Rock is that the role of Dewey has become iconic. When you look at the film, the character is in some ways indistinguishable from Jack Black. Because of that, Sheen has purposefully not gone back to watch the movie as he prepares for the TUTS stage version.

“When I was thinking about the casting, I was like, ‘This is a really difficult production to cast because Jack Black is so wacky, but he’s also really authentic to himself,’ ” he says. “So for someone to attempt to emulate that would, I think, come off as disingenuous. When I told people I was doing this, they didn’t say ‘You’re playing Dewey Finn’; they said, ‘You’re playing Jack Black.’ So it became a thing of trying to figure out what is genuine, and what is honest for me, but still honouring the essence of what Jack Black created: this really amazing character.”

That has its challenges—but, more importantly, major rewards—both onstage and off.

“I’m taking lessons right now—because I’m self-taught on acoustic guitar, I’ve never really considered myself very proficient,” Sheen says. “Really, the kids in the show are better than I am, which is what the script says. So in some ways that’s kind of perfect.”

Dewey Finn would approve.

Theatre Under the Stars’ production of School of Rock is at Malkin Bowl from July 7 to August 24.