Matilda the Musical (18th May 2016)

Matilda the Musical 

(May 18th, 2016 Matinee)

I’ve reviewed Matilda a LOT, so this is just a few quick little comments on bits and pieces I liked or disliked.

Clara Read (Matilda)

I’d heard mixed reviews of Clara, and she was the new Matilda that I was most excited to see, so it was really great to have her on. She was also my 10^th Matilda! Her singing voice isn’t the strongest, but it’s adequate – she hits all the notes and sounds very cute. She also had a few line fumbles in the multiplication scene, but she stayed calm and continued on as if nothing had happened like a true professional. But her acting is what made her stand out as a Matilda; it was very intelligent and thoughtful, yet not forced. She had clearly considered how Matilda would react to the world and people around her – most Matildas are, individually, strong actresses, and what sets them apart is their ability (or lack thereof) to thoughtfully react to other characters). Clara isn’t a stoic Matilda; she’s very engaged, and very reactive. Definitely a Matilda that strongly feels that urge to ‘put things right’, because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, not because she’s just messing with people. She was also a likeable Matilda; she wasn’t showing off her knowledge, but rather, showing off how much she loved books and learning. This made her a very sympathetic Matilda, which I loved. Acting aside, she’s the cutest little munchkin, and she has hair like mine – dead straight, and no matter how much it was teased, it was nearly completely straight by the end of each scene. I thought that was a funny little thing, anyway. A final few things; Clara’s “Big Fat Bully” got the best reaction. It was dead silent for a long time, then there was a rumble of “oooooooh”s, and then the cheering started (and went on for quite a bit). It was epic. Clara is also an excellent dancer; her Ninja moves were some of the sharpest and cleanest I’ve ever seen. Her dancing in Bruce was very strong as well. A great Matilda all around, and totally one of my new favourites.

Miria Parvin (Miss Honey)

Stunning as always; beautiful voice, great acting. I love how she changes her portrayal subtly to match the Matilda; she can be quite in awe of some Matildas (Lara), uneasy around some (Lizzie), or more of a friend/mother figure to others (Evie/Clara). She also does a full tour sauté at the end of Bruce, and it’s epic.

Oliver Brooks (u/s Miss Trunchbull)

Oliver is on as Trunch all the time, which is a bit odd, but great for him as he gets more experience. I expect he might be made principal after Craige leaves. I don’t find Oliver’s portrayal particularly interesting, nor has it evolved much in the last while. He’s good, but nothing spectacular.

The Kids

Carla Dixon (Alice) is incredible; great acting, great dancing. You can’t take your eyes off of her; she’s a stellar performer and never loses energy. Superstar in the making. Harrison and Jamie Wilding (Eric and Nigel) both need haircuts, and both had zero energy. Ellie-Rose Eames (Amanda) is ridiculously adorable and a great little performer. She lost energy a bit, but was all-around good. Ynez Williams (Lavender) was apparently ill, and it showed. Oliver Llwellyn-Williams (Bruce) has a good voice, and is hilarious in Revolting Children, but he’s very tall and stick out quite a lot.

Other Notes

There was a big messup in Loud; I’m not entirely sure what happened (I don’t like Rebecca’s Loud to begin with – her voice is fine but her dancing isn’t strong). The choreography looked like it may have been changed (I suspect Rebecca may have an injury of some sort; she’s been skipping the back walkover about half the times I’ve seen her), but something definitely went wrong. Rebecca nearly got dropped at one point, which was a bit scary. I do love Tom Muggeridge as Rudolpho though; he's so much better than John Brannoch. 

Michael also flubbed the beginning of Telly; he somehow got off the music, and was glaring at the conductor until they managed to sync up. It was pretty funny.