Matilda: The Bedazzling Child

Sitting in my seat minutes before the performance, I cannot help but be captivated with the set put forth for Matilda. The set entails several block letters scattered around the stage creating a very child-friendly image. These letters seem to spell out several words upon closer examination, among which the words love, joy, child, dynamite, enormous, shiny, art, and several others are discernible. Already, even before any actor is on the stage, the audience is enraptured by what is to come; and when Matilda, an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel comes to life, the viewers are buzzing with excitement. The lights fade, and on come the energetic young actors and actresses bringing to life the world of a young child with a wild imagination with immense success.

While many of the audience members were probably drawn to the show through previous experiences with Matilda including the novel itself, written in 1988 by Roald Dahl, as well as the movie production based on said novel produced in 1996, the musical brings to the table something wholly new and enticing. The thrill of watching on as the young five year old lives her life fighting for what is right even though her parents have different ideas is incomparable to anything a movie production can offer. Sitting in the audience and watching Matilda’s life unfold, the audience members feel a connection to the young five year old, rejoicing when Matilda rejoices, and watching on silently and breathless when Matilda encounters an obstacle that she must overcome.

Set in Oklahoma, as the story unfolds, it is apparent that Matilda is different from the rest. Not only is she a child that was completely unexpected, but she is unwanted as well. While the other children boast of all the wonderful things their parents say to them, Matilda enters singing of her sorrowful family life. The show very quickly and artfully puts together Matilda’s family consisting of her mother, Mrs. Wormwood (Lesli Margherita): a dancer only concerned with looks; her father, Mr. Wormwood (Gabriel Ebert): a fraudulent car salesman who gets into all kinds of trouble through lies and mere stupidity; and her brother Michael (Taylor Trensch): a young man always portrayed as watching television and wearing a sweatshirt advertising Michael as a genius (which in itself is ironic and provides quite a few chuckles as it soon becomes apparent that it is not so). Her father never fails to call Matilda all sorts of names ranging from little worm, idiot (even though she seems to be the only intelligent family member), and a little rascal. He also perpetually refers to Matilda as “Boy”, simply because he would have preferred to have another son (not until the very end when he is rushing to get away from the Russian mafia does her dad recognize her as his daughter). Matilda very often visits the library to forget her unfortunate family life through reading and telling stories to the energetic young librarian, Mrs. Phelps, portrayed by Karen Adridge. One such story evolves, and as Matilda’s story gains momentum, it comes to life as the life of Ms. Honey (Jill Paice)- Matilda’s sweet and supportive teacher.

While the storyline itself is very well crafted, it is what goes on in between the lines that creates an uproar in the crowd. Michael’s sweatshirt is one example of many in which the director and producer of the Musical has brought humor into the production. Throughout the show, the audience is taken into a fit of laughter countless times through the simple expressions that the actors use. There is some very witty dialogue present in the scenes, and the songs themselves, as well as the appearances and mannerisms of the characters combined on stage bring about a roar of laughter from the audience. Examples of such genius include Mrs. Trunchbull, Matilda’s principal. Her appearance is outright comical (it is evident right away that the character is portrayed by a man), and her expressions and outcries are inherently humorous providing the audience an escape from the outright belligerency of her character. Mrs. Trunchbull’s motto “Bambinatum est maggitum” (“Children are maggots”) in itself proves her to be a despicable character. She enrolls the children in some very interesting physical education activities, including jumping on a trampoline and falling on a mat beside it. This scene in itself is done marvelously, and provides the viewers with a comical outlet, which proves to be important as Mrs. Trunchbull sings about her ideal world, in which children would play no role, in the meantime.

Mrs. Trunchbull is not the only character that has some very well made choreography. The children do an incredible job bringing to life the joys and sorrows that come with childhood. Not only did the young actors and actresses have to study the art of speaking in a British accent, they also had to learn the choreography and songs as well. They did an absolutely amazing rendition of the songs in the Musical, and near the end one young man absolutely blew away the audience members through his solo. The solo was comical in the sense that it was completely out of the blue, and the scene was portrayed the way movies often portray a character gaining confidence and singing. It is, however, important to note that the young man possessed a voice that is far beyond his years.

Not only are the songs performed with utmost skill, the set itself helps add to the scene. The set is incredibly well done, with tables and chairs and other little things appearing seemingly out of nowhere through them being hidden in the stage floor. One of the most artfully created scenes has to be the scene where the children are arriving at the school gates for the first time, and the older children warn them of what is to come. The gates are formatted in such a way, that giant building blocks with the letters of the alphabet fit in them. As a result, as the older children are singing, the letters of the alphabet are placed into the gate as the sounds correspond to the words that they are singing. For example, the letter q appeared when the next word to be sung was curious. The song starts of with the following:

“So you think you’re able (A-ble)

To survive this mess by being a Prince or a Princess (B-ing)

You will soon see (C)

There’s no escaping tragedy (trage-D)”

This is only a piece of the song, however it illustrates perfectly the genius construction of the song in connection to the alphabet. Another scene that is performed beautifully is the scene where Matilda tells her story. As she tells her story, it comes to life behind her on a screen. The screen shows shadow-like figures performing everything that comes out of Matilda’s mouth.

Not only does the show have extraordinary choreography and dialogue, it has an amazing set with amazing lighting as well. The viewer is guaranteed a captivating show in which children watch on speechlessly waiting for the scenes to develop. The children bring to the stage an energy that is hard to recreate, and as a result, this show is perfect for families to enjoy together.