MATILDA Previews — Page 14

"I do have a few questions for those who have seen the show. First, what exactly happens in the scene where Trunchbull swings Amanda by her braids? I was sitting in row G of the mezzanine, so I wasn't able to see anything but what was happening on stage. How is the stunt done? I didn't see any wires. Does something happen in the balcony? All I saw was the children looking out into the balcony, and then something like a dummy looked like it dropped from the balcony. I was wondering if I missed something."

The kids run out into the center orchestra section with a blanket to catch the dummy. It was so freaky when the house goes dark for that effect!

Thank you!! Do you know if the actress playing Amanda is wearing a wire or was there something else to the stunt?

Thanks so much! It was very well done. If I was her mom I'd be scared!

Wow, I'm shocked to see how the reviews here went from, "OMG it's amazing" to "Wow, this was disappointing." I'm getting nervous now :/

I saw most of the fist week of previews and found it to be thrilling, inventive, spectacular, and heartwarming.

Of the four Matildas (all of whom I saw perform), I preferred:
• Oona for her very strong acting - a very spunky yet brooding girl; good vocals
• Sophia for her characterization, sweetness, playfulness (especially in "Naughty"), and great vocals
• Bailey who is potentially the strongest that I saw with a strong character (a bit of a mix between Oona and Sophia) and excellent vocals

I didn't enjoy Milly's performance as much, but I'd give her another shot since she was, indeed, not feeling her very best for her first performance (very bad allergies).

The kids, as described to me by one of the ensemble children:
The man children will all do 6 shows a week while getting 2 days off for the swings to swing in - to give the main children a little rest and the swings a little in-performance practice to keep them fresh and in it. In the kids' ensemble, there are four boys (Bruce, Nigel, Eric, Tommy) and four girls (Lavender, Amanda, Alice, Hortensia), so the swings would, theoretically, be able to swing in for that many performances a week just fine (barring injury, vacation, etc.).

There are still understudies for the children's roles, which is why there are sometimes so many options listed in the kid section of the roles. Then, on top of that, I believe Heather Tepe (who was as Ballet Girl in the closing cast of Billy Elliot and is not exceptionally tall or old) swings for nearly ALL of the kids' parts.

To help show the kid breakdown:
Based on what it looks like on stage and how the kids have been covering for each other thus far, the 4 girl/4 boy ensemble seems to be broken down into:
• size-wise larger boys' parts: Bruce (heavily featured part), Tommy (not really featured part)
• size-wise larger girls' parts: Alice and Hortensia (neither a very featured part)
• size-wise smaller boys' parts: Nigel and Eric (both semi-featured parts)
• size-wise smaller girls' parts: Lavender (heavily featured part), Amanda (featured part)

• Bruce: Sawyer is the main swing from what I can tell thus far (he is the only other boy to have played Bruce), with Judah playing the other larger boy part (Tommy), and Luke being the other swing

• Lavender: Emma plays Hortensia which is, from what I can tell, is a pretty small, not-featured part (mainly left to being in the background, or dancing). Emma is a bit larger in comparison to castmates, so her size paired with her thankless regular track makes it seem obvious and fair that she understudies the one featured girl part that does not require her to be [SPOILER] lifted and swung in the air.

• Nigel: Luke is the main swing from what I can tell thus far (he is the only other boy to have played Nigel), with Ted playing the other smaller boy part (Eric), and Sawyer being the other swing.

• Amanda: Ava plays Alice which is similar to Emma's part - seemingly small and left to dancing/being in the background. Ava is rather petite and tiny so it seems only fitting that she understudies the one featured girl part that DOES require her to be [SPOILER] lifted and swung in the air.

• Hortensia: I actually find it surprising that they don't have another person understudying this part. It IS fairly small, so it would be kind of easy to pick up. Both Emma and Madilyn are taller, so it seems fitting for Heather to understudy that part, but she doesn't. On the other hand, there is nothing written in about this character's size (I don't even think they give her name at any point in the script), so I don't see why Erica couldn't have learned this part. It's odd. I wouldn't be surprised if, over time, they add Heather and/or Erica.

• Tommy: seems normal (lists Sawyer, who covers larger-sized boy characters) until you get to Heather. If she can cover a part of a larger boy, you'd think she could cover a part of a larger girl (Hortensia). Whatever.

Hope that helps. Ask if you have any questions and I'll try to answer best I can.

Bruce does the "Whoa-o-o-o-o-o-ooooo!"

He also starts "When I Grow Up"

The boy on the recording is absolutely fantastic.

Updated On: 3/28/13 at 09:45 AM

Bruce sings the lead. Sawyer was Bruce when I saw it, and his vocals were excellent.

that's right about Stratford, forgot.

I'm trying to purchase tickets for a future performance and wanted to ask a question to all those who sat in partial view A right orchestra (or even some of the rows further back on that side).

Could you clearly see the children when they were huddled near the chalkboard? What about the back row of kids during gym class (including Matilda, who is centered in that row, furthest upstage)?

Did the stage seem high from row A? Did you only see shins-and-up or worse?

Thanks!

The good: Bertie Carvel, “When I Grow Up,” clever staging, brilliant children’s ensemble, chuckle-worthy performances from Lesli Margherita and Gabriel Ebert, wonderful set and lighting.

The bad: Unintelligible accents, Miss Honey, the painfully boring escapologist scenes (which for some reason comprise most of the show’s book), an unorthodox score that only worked some of the time, bizarre pacing and again, Miss Honey.

How is the score "unorthodox"?

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POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

The little girl (actress) is swung around by Trunchbull. I could clearly see the handles hanging by each shoulder which Bertie grabs her by. He swings her around and then there is a blackout. I assume the little girl is then put down and leaves the stage. When the lights come back up she is gone and the cast is pointing up to the balcony, giving the impression that the girl was flung (she wasn't). We see her spun not flung. Then the dummy is dropped.


As to the quality of the show itself, I think the whole thing is very professionally done. But the book is very much a kiddy book, with asinine plot developments that eiather go nowhere or come out of nowhere. The whole thing probably makes perfect sense to someone with a 7 year old sensibility. The characters never seem to change --in fact nothing really changes until the last few minutes of Act 2. Matilda is the same from beginning to end (except for her "powers" which are one of those plot devices that come out of nowhere), as are her parents and Trunchbull. The only one who changes a little is Honey, and it seems to happen mostly in Act 2 and is very subtle. Things "happen" but situations don't change, which is odd. Usually a plot is a progression from point A to point Z, not a "Start at point A and then get picked up plopped onto point Z, skipping the C, D and so on".
People keep comparing it to BILLY ELLIOT, probably because it is British, involves kids and has several youngsters playing the title role. But there is really no comparison; BILLY ELLIOT is a FAR FAR stronger work, with a real adult story and characters who you watch change throughout the show, not who are suddenly "this" after being "that" (or worse, who are "this" at the beginning of the play, and are still "this" at the end). We see Billy change, we watch his dad and brother change, we watch his teacher change, we watch the community change. None of this happens i MATILDA. There are "Characters" but no development. They just "are". Just like the story. Things "happen" but nothing really develops or changes.
And the story that Matilda tells the librarian is the strangest of all as we are thinking it is somehow related to Matilda and her life, but it ends up being about Miss Honey. The show is called MATILDA not MISS HONEY. I was really surprised at how little the show had to do with Matilda; she tends to completely disappear behind stronger, stranger and usually more evil characters.
Just a bizarre little piece -- Ireally don't know how to describe it. But I was not sitting there thinking "When will this horrid thing end?" But I was sitting there thinking, "Wow, this is really not that good."
Just my opinion of course.

Updated On: 3/28/13 at 04:01 PM