Matilda the Musical
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| Children's Cast |
On Sunday, December 14th, I saw a captioned performance of Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge Theatre in London. I'd first like to address the captions - I was entirely unaware until I walked into the theatre that this would be a captioned performance. As it turned out, beneath the website's calendar where you choose your dates, they have a few notes of when captioned/signed/relaxed performances are. But there is no note next to the date, no warning before you book your tickets, no notice on the ticket itself. You have to actively scroll down (so you need to know to check beforehand), which I think is a very faulty system. Anyway, it was an interesting, if a little irritating, experience. I spotted a few patrons signing in the audience, but I think the majority of the audience was hearing, and was, like me, unaware that this would be a signed performance (the three families around me were all as confused as I was). Fortunately the captions are not too distracting, but are certainly geared towards adults as the text is too small and quick for a child under 12 to read. Something to note when booking tickets.
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| Understudies |
Not much of note in this performance. Of the children's cast, all but Matilda and Bruce were new to me. I've now seen Tasha Chapple for the 3rd time as Matilda. She's a wonderful, talented child, but her performance has lacked development between her early shows and now. Her voice is beautiful, and she really comes alive during the stories. Otherwise, she plays a very stoic, emotionless Matilda, which is harder to sympathise with. Oliver Loades is a mediocre Bruce until you get to Revolting Children, when his big voice and brilliant comedic timing come into play. I wish he would bring this energy and enthusiasm to the rest of his performance. This was possibly the most diverse children's cast I've ever seen; nice to see, but it's not something I look for. Miriam Nyarko's Lavendar was nice enough; not as quirky or energetic as I prefer, but nothing to fault either. She spoke clearly though, which was very good as Lavendar's lines are easy to mangle. The rest of the children's cast was competent. Great dancing, clear speaking and singing voices - not extraordinary, but nothing to complain about.
I loved the understudy Mr Wormwood that was on (Tommy Sherlock). I've seen him in his ensemble track a few times and he's got a fabulous, powerful voice (unfortunately his understudy did not live up to that; very strained on the big notes of the Doctor. He was obviously not comfortable with what he was doing). Anyway, Sherlock gave a fresh, entertaining performance as Mr W. His "Telly" was very engaging. Demi Goodman was a nice Mrs Phelps. Not one of my favourite characters in general but she did everything well. I was having trouble zoning in on the details of the performances as my focus kept getting pulled to the flashing of the captions. Otherwise, the rest of the principle cast was on and I've reviewed them all before.
Overall, I did enjoy the show. I don't think I'll be returning until Tasha has left the show, though, so this was probably my last time seeing Matilda until March/April 2015!
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