MATILDA Previews- Page 15

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 8:38pm

I'm assuming that they are following the same method as Billy Elliott did and not releasing a set schedule to the public, and will probably be switching it up pretty regularly.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 9:22pm

Didn't someone post a schedule near the beginning of this thread?

I also must agree about not gettinrg the songs out of your head. I posted earlier that I was listening to the music online and I find myself listening every day. Deciding if I want to buy it.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 10:22pm

The cast members themselves don't know until the week of. So no, there is no public schedule of who's performing when.

[brenway]

Posted: 3/29/13 at 7:35am

Saw Matilda last night, and let me just say it exceeded my high expectations. Bailey Ryon was absolutely amazing, so was Lesli, and Bertie. The actors that played Bruce & Rudolpho were highlights in my opinion. GREAT SHOW!

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 3/29/13 at 10:55am

brenway -

Could you please post which children were on last night, besides Bailey? There should've been an insert that lists the children. Also, if you could include any understudies - probably just Ryan Steele for Rudolpho, but you never know.

I have kept track of which kids/understudies so far but I'm out of town this weekend and still wanted to try and find out to keep track. Much appreciated if possible, thanks!

[getatme]

Posted: 3/29/13 at 11:15am

According to his twitter, Phillip Spaeth actually got to perform for the first time last night.

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 3/29/13 at 11:58am

Oh, hey, there's a first!!! I'm glad Phillip is healing, but I absolutely loved Ryan Steele in the part. It seemed like the part was written with him in mind (obviously, I know it wasn't, but he fits that part so nicely).

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 3/29/13 at 9:53pm

If anyone is going to the show this weekend, or going by the box office - especially tonight (Friday) and tomorrow's matinee - could you please post the list of children on the board outside as well as the "At This Performance" board? A photo is great, or copying it down from the board or the little paper insert.

As I said earlier, I've been keeping track since the first preview and am interested in still knowing what's going on even though I'm out of town for the Easter holiday.

Thanks!

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 11:19pm

Bump!

Anyone see Matilda Friday night 3/29 and have any cast information? Please post or PM if you do (children/at this performance board). I truly appreciate it!

[Jsturt]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 11:38pm

tony award tony award tony award tony award they might as well just have it now bets musical ever best writing best music best acting

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 1:27am

How about Best Punctuation? Or maybe Best Use of Upper Case Letters? Or Best Space Bar?


(Which leads me to believe you are simply a troll.)

[notabb]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 2:05am

Jsturt, aren't you up past bedtime. If you keep singing " I Won't Grow Up " so loudly and often............you won't.

[Kbradstein]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 12:42pm

i am going tonight and super excited! i will post a picture of the board, and i am jst wondering what happened with Phillip Speath? Is he performing? i think he is great, but i would also love to see Ryan Steele as Rudolpho!

[suestorm]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 2:05pm

i think they should be commended for mot making public who will play Matilda in each performance.... these are little girls afterall

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 2:10pm

^^ Completely agree.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 8:56pm

Broadwayshowfan, did I read correctly that you were at most of the performances the first week of previews? This would lead a logical mind to figure you are involved in the show in some way, thus rendering your gushing rave review as biased and therefore moot.

Or did you just have a big old stack of money and nothing to do with it but pay for the same show over and over and over again?

[Belle9]

Posted: 4/1/13 at 9:31pm

If she was involved with the show, wouldn't she know what kids were going on each night? There's no need to jump to conclusions.

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 1:14am

Matt Rogers (and everyone else) - No, I am not involved with the show in any way. (Belle9, thanks for your valid point!)

It is possible to go to most of the performances in the first week of previews and not be involved with the show. You just pay to do it.

What actually happened:
I have no reason to have to explain myself to you, but this is what happened: I had tickets since late last year to attend the first preview. I went and wanted to go back. I bought tickets and went back Wednesday, but ended up seeing Oona Laurence again. I had wanted to see a different Matilda and after to talking to someone in the show, I found out how their rotation was working that week. I eventually got tickets for Thursday, Friday, and also Saturday by using a discount code and rushing - twice.

Why do it?
I ended up seeing all four Matildas including three of their first previews, and I enjoy seeing first/early previews to see how the show progresses, as well as shows with kids/rotating child casts to see how uniquely people play the different roles. Other people on the board habitually see first previews but you don't seem to have something wrong with that. Also, there were other people there multiple times that first week, so it wasn't just me.

As for finances:
I am not rich - far, far from it. I have a certain budget to see shows and I stay within it. I paid, on average, less than half price of the full price of tickets. In general, I use a variety of discounts, memberships, and careful purchases (example: discount codes, Audience Rewards bonus point offers and point redemptions, TDF, rushing, etc.).

As for your argument:
I don't think it's "logical" to figure your chain of thought. It seems odd to think that there are only two possible options in this situation - that I am either involved with the show or I "have a big old stack of money and nothing to do with it but pay for the same show over and over and over again." The truth is that I just wanted to see the show and made it work.

I was simply interested in seeing who was on for each performance because I thought it would be interesting to follow along. I loved BILLY ELLIOT and they had a Twitter feed devoted to posting who was on. It's not that I expect or wish that they post ahead-of-time which Matilda would be on; I was just asking if anyone passing by or attending could tell me which Matilda was/had been on, along with other understudy children or others in the cast. They are, I believe, required by Actors' Equity, to post which Matilda is performing at that performance (two of three ways: board in lobby, insert, announcement; they choose board and insert like most shows) so it's not like it's particularly privileged information.

And, finally, even if I did want to see the same show over and over, is that terrible? Would it make me any less of a valid theater patron? If I had a stack of cash, why is it bad to buy lots of tickets? Isn't it good to support the arts? ...Or am I just jumping to conclusions, just like you?

Sorry if you were misled or assuming things about me, but I'm really neither involved with the show nor rich - just a fan.

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 8:19am

Broadway Show Fan, thanks for posting...would you mind saying more about the different Matildas you saw? Do you have a favorite or can you tell which little girl Ben Brantley will see or be the one who performs at the Tonys, etc?

I am also a big huge fan of MATILDA...I am lucky enough to have seen the very first performance of Bailey Ryon and she was perfect...so adorable and great stage presence! I especially liked the part where Bailey sings "Naughty" at the beginning of the show in Matilda's bedroom...I went back and saw Sophia Gennusa who was fine and it was nice to see the youngest (Sophia's only 9) and smallest Matilda. But I had a strong preference for Bailey who really impressed me.

I will be going back a third time on Saturday...no idea who I will see. But I'm excited. Has anyone else seen more than one Matilda and how did they compare?

[Kbradstein]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 9:19am

im trying to post a picture of the kids cast board last night, that i saved to my desktop. anyone know how?

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 10:29am

Kbradstein - if you want, you can just type up the information as follows:

Matilda:
Bruce:
Lavender:
Nigel:
Amanda:
Eric:
Alice:
Hortensia:
Tommy:
"At this performance" board:

It always goes in that order, and you can just run down the list of names and type them in. Even though I've been active on the BWW board for years, I still have no idea how to post pictures. =/

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 11:37am

In a previous post that is on page 14 of the thread, I said:

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

------
[spoilers abounding below]

The person who saw the show with me each of the five times I went said that she is still very attached to Oona. She loved her brooding, dark, mischievous way of portraying Matilda. Oona has such fantastic facial expressions that are very, very mischievous and quirky. She's a very strong actress with excellent timing and very engaging. Her singing was good but did not blow me away - but then again, we saw her first two performances, which were two of the first three. That's a lot to live up to. She had definitely improved from the first preview to her second performance though, so I can only imagine that she will get even better.

Sophia seemed very young but so much talent packed into such a young, tiny girl. Her "Naughty" was probably the best or one of the best though, simply because she was very playful. During the lyric "the endings are often a little bit gory" she made such a face! Her choreography during the song was so, so crisp, and paired with the facial expressions (such as the nervous looks as she's creeping down the hall) were very funny. While she had such great comedic timing and expression in "Naughty," I wasn't sure she had a strong focus during the entire show and sometimes seemed to be lacking in direction (especially in moments when she wasn't front and center). I'm sure that as previews go on she will work on and improve at being very "in the moment" during the whole show.

Milly seemed weakest, but I heard from a cast member that she was definitely not feeling well (allergies) for her first performance. She was also pretty nervous. Sometimes she seemed to be a little emotionless and just kind of "there" with some blank stares, but again, not feeling well and nerves on your Broadway debut must be hard at any age, let alone 10. I feel like she has potential to really develop her character into either a very sensitive Matilda or maybe even a very sassy one - look at this video for why I'd think that's a possibility: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN88AAfLPYM

Bailey was just all-around fantastic. She didn't appear to be nervous at all. Her singing was crystal-clear with beautiful emotion and even a controlled vibrato (especially noticeable during "Quiet" - what wonderful control to sing high and quietly, and still added so much emotion!). Bailey was playful and sweet, but she was also a bit moody too, and it suited her skills and she seemed to have a very well-rounded character.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I'd love to hear how Sawyer is compared to Jack Broderick (if anyone's seen both). When I have more time I'll discuss the differences between Frenie and Erica, who both play Lavender - but have to run for now!

[getatme]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 12:13pm

I, too, have seen all four of the Matildas and several of the child alternates as well. I didn't purposely see all four girls, simply I had made plans to rush/see the show with several people within the first three weeks of previews.

Largely, I agree with your broadway_show_fan regarding the strengths and weaknesses of each of the girls. I don't have the best memory of Oona, but only because she was my first Matilda and I was sitting in row F of the balcony. I do think her acting is some of the strongest, though, as you said, she isn't the strongest singer.

Bailey is, in my opinion, probably the strongest of the four. She just seemed very sure of everything she was doing and she had several really beautiful moments when Matilda isn't the focus of the scene. She seemed to struggle a little bit with the accent at times, but her acting didn't suffer because of this. She also just has a lovely little voice.

Sophia was definitely good, probably the strongest singer of the bunch, but her acting didn't wow me as I'd hoped it would. She seemed to struggle at times with facil expressions and largely seemed a little bit blank and just relying on her speaking voice to convey emotions.

Milly impressed me, though, she made a couple small errors that could have tripped her up, but instead she very quickly adjusted and covered up any mistakes she may have made. She was a little bit spunkier than the other girls which sometimes worked very well, but other times seemed out of place.

Overall, though, I have to say that I'm very impressed with all the young talent the creative team was able to find for this show, not just limited to the girls playing Matilda.

The first two times I saw the show, I was lucky enough to see Sawyer Nunes on for Bruce and I must say, I thought he was a real standout. I can't really put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with the fact that he looks younger than Jack Broderick, he's a little kid and so it makes all of Bruce's scenes a little bit tougher because it seems as though Trunchbull is going after a really young boy. His voice is really wonderful and he's able to convey a lot of emotion, the beginning of "When I Grow Up" really broke my heart.

When I finally saw Jack, I was really impressed, though. He's taller and looks a bit more grown up than Sawyer, so when Bruce finally strengthens up, it's as if he had it in him all along, he just needed the spark to do it.

The first time I saw the show, I believe Erica was on for Amanda. I don't remember much about her, though. I believe the only other alternate I've seen on is Luke Kolbe Mannikus for Nigel and I thought he was adorable.

This reads as gush-y and shill-like, but I really have been quite impressed with all of the kids, some more than others, but it's definitely a talented bunch.

[Kbradstein]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 12:58pm

The kids cast was this last night 4/1/13

Matilda- Bailey Ryon(Amazing)

Bruce- Sawyer Nunes (loved him)

Lavender- Frenie Acoba

Nigel- Jared Parker

Amanda- Beatrice Tulchin

Eric- Luke Kolbe Mannikus

Alice- Madilyn Jaz Morrow

Hortensia- Emma Howard

Tommy- Judah Bellamy

The show was overall wonderful, crazy, exciting and so sweet. i was in love with everything about the show, including the amazing cast!

[Ukdude]

Posted: 4/2/13 at 3:04pm

I just wanted to let you guys know how brilliant matilda is... I saw it in London in September and what a great piece of entertainment, anyone that loves wicked will love it... But it's far more superior in substance, characters and execution than wicked or any other show around at the moment....I really hope it's a hit on broadway because it deserves to be...ill be interested to see the reviews