This production had dual casts in principal roles. In the interest of fairness to all, we reviewed both casts. Kym Clayton reviewed the Newts cast and Ben Proeve reviewed the Toads cast.
Newts Cast
The Adelaide Youth Theatre is a classy outfit that has nurtured many young performers since its inception in 2010. The company receives strong support from the parents of the children involved, as well as from professional creatives, and it shows in the polished production elements and the skill of the young performers which is uniformly high.
AYT’s current production is Matilda JR, and it is being produced with dual casts. This review looks generally at the production, and specifically at the ‘Newts’ cast.
Matilda JR is a high-energy adaptation of the Tony-winning Matilda the Musical, tailored for young performers and audiences. The junior version deliberately trims the narrative and the musical complexity, and focusses more on the core characters and ensemble musical items to make it more immediate and suitable for a duration of around an hour. The story line follows Matilda Wormwood, a young girl who is precocious, book-loving, and unloved by her self-absorbed parents. She takes refuge and finds meaning in her young life through the learning opportunities provided by her kind teacher Miss Honey, despite the fact that the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull does her level best to denigrate her staff and her students and make their life a misery. In fact, her motto is “Children are maggots”! But Matilda is up for the fight and with her budding telekinetic powers (!) and sharp wit that is at a level beyond her tender years she is able to rouse her fellow students and fight against Trunchbull’s injustices. Through bright musical numbers and clever but concise dialogue that children can understand (in the main), Matilda JR explores the importance of imagination, resilience, and action against vindictiveness and cruelty.
Matilda JR includes twenty-four named characters and many (many many) others in the ensemble. There are far too many to mention by name, and this review necessarily concentrates on just some of the main characters.
Matilda is played by Charlotte Quach with gusto and confidence. Matilda needs to be bright and courageous, and Charlotte gives her such qualities. She sings “Naughty” and “When I Grow Up” with clarity and musicality.
Miss Honey is played nicely by Alyssa Faranda with gentleness and humanity. With her white dress and long dark hair held in place with a ribbon, she almost looks like Snow White! The emotional bond between Honey and Matilda is central to the plot, and it comes through clearly.
Mr and Mrs Wormwood are played with pleasing type and style by Riley Mobbs and Evie Dew. They are funny and come across as neglectful and disdainful of Matilda. Dew is especially effective.
Emma Smith plays the Acrobat and her routines with Kyle Mobbs who plays the Escapologist are as stylish as they are impressive. Mobbs delights in extracting every ounce of humour he can out the other cameo roles he plays.
Co-Directors Sarah Hamilton and Sophie Stokes have astutely cast a male as Miss Trunchbull, hence following the tradition from British pantomime of men playing formidable female roles. In this production Miss Trunchbull is played by Ethan Joy, and he is a standout. His costume is sufficiently in a drag style, with exaggerated hips and bosom, and his makeup is delightfully grotesque but not overdone. Joy has a strong and melodic baritone singing voice and makes a terrific fist of “The Hammer” and “The Smell of Rebellion”. The directors give him some mildly risqué business as he stresses particular words and statements by thrusting his ….er, well ‘chest’ forward! The adults in the audience get a great laugh out of this, and in pantomime style, it safely flies above the heads of the kids in the audience.
Matilda’s schoolmates are numerous in number, and they play their roles with great enthusiasm. Through their ensemble numbers they clearly demonstrate group solidarity and emerging confidence and desire to break loose of Trunchbull’s tyranny. They sing and perform “When I Grow Up” with great humour as well as contrasting pathos. The costuming and choreography of this number is delightful, clever and sharply accomplished. It’s a highlight. Indeed, the dance and movement routines throughout by choreographer Shenayde Patterson (with assistance by Alessia Charman) are interesting to watch, helpful in the telling the story, appropriate to the skill of the dancers, and very well executed.
A very welcome accomplishment of the entire cast is their crystal-clear articulation under the tutelage of musical director Serena Cann in song as well as in speech.
The set is by Adrian Joy, Daniel Hamilton and Anthony Skipsey, and it’s simplicity is its strength. It is well designed, is easy to use, especially by the slick stage crew under the watchful eye of stage manager Summa Arriza who had her work cut out for her with such a large cast and numerous set changes. Exceptionally well done.
The capacity audience, mainly consisting of children, loved the entire show and enthusiastically responded to everything that the cast wanted them to notice. Their suspension of disbelief was complete.
AYT’s production is charming, pacy, energetic and accomplished. The ensemble works like clockwork and the principals are uniformly strong. The whole thing is a delight.
Toads Cast
I have never seen such a horrible, miserable, revolting group of kids as the Toads cast from Adelaide Youth Theatre’s production of Matilda Jr… is what Miss Trunchbull would probably say, but I would wholeheartedly disagree! The alternate cast have not only brought much energy and excitement to this production, but have soldiered on during a scorching summer’s day!
The large ensemble operated as a tight unit, never missing a beat of their choreography and engendering much sympathy from the young audience through their fear of their dreaded headmistress. “School Song” was a highlight, with the crisp choreography creating distinct contrast between the fresh-faced new kids and weathered older students. They must be commended especially for their vocal clarity as I could understand every word sung! This made their stellar performance of “When I Grow Up” all the more pleasing and uplifting. Elaynah Magourilos as Bruce and Milla Ilic as Lavender were particularly strong in this song, and in all their moments, bringing much expression to their characters.
Jack Grosser and Asha Coppin as Mr and Mrs Wormwood were superbly gaudy and cruel, ensuring the audience was against their characters from the get-go, with convincing accents to boot. They were well-supported by their son of few words, Michael (Roni Perkinson), and flamboyant dance instructor Rudolpho (Noah Magourilos).
Josh Curtis brought all the nastiness required to perform Agatha Trunchbull, commanding the stage from his first entrance and nailing the more vocally-demanding songs. His moments of sudden flamboyance were hilarious, and with the excellent stagecraft he demonstrated you could be convinced that he has years of experience under his belt.
Meri Wagland was delightful as the sweet Miss Honey, charming the audience and portraying a compelling three-dimensional character. Her stunning vocal control and angelic quality shone in every song, resulting in a beautiful rendition of “This Little Girl” that tugged on the heartstrings.
April Sprules as the titular Matilda was excellent, winning our hearts and maintaining a strong stage presence throughout her demanding role. Her vocals were clear and crisp and she never shied away from a big moment, delivering a show-stopping performance of “Quiet”. This is a confident performer and one to watch.
The Toads cast gave a magical performance and should be proud of their massive effort. Never mind when they grow up, they are already fantastic!
