The 2003 Jack Black film “School of Rock” burst onto movie screens with its story of burnout Dewey Finn, who assumes the identity of a substitute teacher and turns his class of prim private-schoolers into a blasting band of rockers. It may be a goofy family film, but it is startlingly well made, with strong root-for-the-nerd and classic-rock appeal.

As film critic Roger Ebert said, “School of Rock” proves a tale for youth and adults alike can be made that’s “alive and well acted and smart and perceptive and funny — and that rocks.”

Musical impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber recognized the Broadway potential in the story, and adapted it for the stage in 2015, earning rave reviews for “School of Rock: The Musical.”

Ohana Arts, an organization devoted to presenting major stage productions by young performers, gives Webber’s musical its Honolulu debut this weekend, with 16-year-old Noah Faumuina in the lead role as Dewey.

The youthful performers will be performing the “School of Rock” music live, for a “performance within a performance” that gives this stage musical an extra jolt of liveliness.

“It’s an awesome show, with great music by Andrew Lloyd Webber,” said Cari Taira, one of the co-founders of Ohana Arts and the director of the production. “And it’s something different. No schools on Oahu have done this show yet, but even more so, I thought it was an great experience for our students.”

Casting “Rock’s” roles posed a number of challenges for Taira, despite the popularity of the film. As The New York Times’ Stephen Holding said, “The molding of a fifth-grade class into a well-oiled rock machine in a few weeks is … inconceivable.”

Taira had six weeks to put together the show, but she found enough talent among Ohana Arts’ 90 students to cast a five-piece band with backup singers and dancers. All the student roles were filled by age-appropriate youngsters, with Ohana’s older students playing adult roles.

“For this show we really did find the best of the best in talent, musically, who can sing and who can act and who can play an instrument,” Taira said.

Heading up the show is Faumuina, a senior at Hakipuu Learning Center, a charter school in Kaneohe. He makes an impressive Jack Black/Dewey Finn, with boundless energy, natural musical talent and even a bit of the actor’s precise enunciation.

“School of Rock” was a favorite film for Faumuina, who taught himself to sing and play guitar. “I love to sing and love to play music, and I love to act,” he said.

The band came together easily, he said: “We really didn’t have any issues working together. It was like, ‘We have six weeks to put it together, we might as well be friends as we go along our way.’”

Brix Kozuki, a sixth-grader at Punahou, plays the part of Lawrence, an introverted keyboard player who breaks out playing rock. He’s an example of art imitating life.

Kozuki studies classical music at the respected Masaki School of Music, with most of his previous exposure to rock coming from his father streaming it from a computer. Now Kozuki says he likes rock music and would like to learn more.

“The thing is, I didn’t realize the rhythms to be so complicated. It’s a different experience for me, and I’m getting used to it,” he said. “It was kind of hard at first, but now I’m glad that I’m getting exposed to all these different kinds of music.”

Founded in 2014, Ohana Arts has won accolades for “Peace on Your Wings,” based on the story of a girl who contracted leukemia after the Hiroshima bombing. The organization took the show to New York last year, giving members a chance to see “School of Rock: The Musical” on Broadway. That inspired them to try to stage the show themselves.

“School of Rock: The Musical” is one of several shows Ohana Arts is presenting this summer. On Saturday and Sunday, productions of “Avenue Q: School Edition” also take place.