Bertie Carvel and Lauren Ward take their final bows in Matilda today. I was lucky enough to see them last week. Lauren has such a gorgeous voice. I hope she doesn't stay away for long. Anyway, I wish them well. Craig Bierko and Jill Paice start on Tuesday.
It's always sad to see a cast member leave, but there's something about Bertie and Lauren leaving together, especially when they both originated the role in Stratford 3 years ago. They are THE Miss Trunchbull and Miss Honey. Will miss them both even after seeing them 5 times!
Looking forward to Craig and Jill. It'll be different, but here's to hoping they will make it their own!
Best wishes to them both. I will miss seeing them, as someone mentioned, they are those characters. Looking forward to seeing what Craig and Jill do with the roles.
Unfortunately I don't think we'll be seeing her again anytime soon. From most accounts she's pretty happy being a mom and raising her family over in England, which is a big part she was given such a relatively short contract. But I do agree, an amazing talent that I wish we could see more of.
Plus, she's theatre's Leslie Mann. Basically she has to wait for her husband to do a show for her to be in. (She's therefore also theatre's Monica Horan).
The applause was extra long and loud after Bertie's numbers and Lauren seemed like she was crying during "My House." After the usual curtain call, everyone turned to Bertie and Lauren and there was an enormous ovation. They put their arms around each other. Both of them seemed very moved. Bertie seemed very humble and appreciative, but also a little embarrassed by the reaction. He awkwardly had the cast take another bow before the applause had even started to die down. It was a mess so they did it again with better results. There were no speeches.
By the way, Oona was on. She's absolutely fantastic. And Sawyer Nunes was on for Bruce. His singing is terrific and he's wonderfully and appropriately hammy during "Revolting Children."