Matilda Junior The Musical

This is the story of a young girl called Matilda Wormwood. One of Roald Dahl’s greatest characters from one of his greatest stories.

Matilda was born with astonishing intelligence and the power of telepathy to Mr and Mrs Wormwood, who have their own astonishing idea of love and affection. Matilda’s parents were incredibly disappointed that Matilda was not born a boy; actually, Matilda was often referred to as an inconvenience; whereas her brother Michael Wormwood was automatically put on a pedestal as the man to take over the dodgy family car business.

At an extraordinary young age and desperate to soak up knowledge, Matilda was self-taught but she fulfilled her wish when her parents let her finally attend school. The school was called Crunchem Hall and Matilda obviously stood out. It is here where another classic Roald Dahl character is introduced, the formidable Headmistress Miss Trunchbull. A cruel and insecure ex-athletic Hammer Throwing champion, who finds herself in a prime position to control and punish children with her idea of what makes a well-behaved child! Matilda was certainly a strong force, with the help of her school friends she led a revolt which saw to the end to Miss Trunchbull’s reign. Maltida’s class teacher on the other hand, the sweet and caring Miss Honey connected with Matilda and nurtured her intelligence with care, love, protection and kindness, the theme of family shone through in the end and of course family doesn't need to be blood related.

This musical is quite special. The music, combined with the lyrical genius of Polymath Tim Minchin, quite deservedly sticks in your mind and after seeing this production by West Bromwich Operatic Society Youth company (WBOS Youtheatre) I was certainly humming the song “Revolting Children” over and over again, literally at every opportunity.  Amber Seddon, The Musical Director for this show has a bright future ahead of her as she comfortably and skilfully led the company through the numbers.

This was a very entertaining and fun evening observing a youth cast with varying levels of experience coming together with great cast roles. WBOS Youth have a group of incredibly promising talent and I am often impressed with how hard they appear to work to achieve high standards and professionalism.

This production of Matilda was performed at Dormston Mill Theatre in Sedgley, which is based in a real high school. The venue had a sense of a school atmosphere which contributed to a slight immersive experience, combined with the set and stage which was perfectly used to its full potential. This production was just a little over an hour with no interval. It started with a very confident entrance of a company who threw themselves in with the opening song “Miracle”

Another theme of Matilda (as with many Roald Dahl books) is the theme of Adults Versus Children; the cast tonight were all youth performers. There was noticeable consideration of definition which helped distinguish the children characters from the adult characters. Costume also played a main part in this. The depth, skill and warm touches of a strong direction by Ben Cole and choreography by Claire Flavell and Kalvin Lamey portrayed some superb examples of style and how the body was used to help convey the story and character.

Matilda’s parents, Mr and Mrs Wormwood (Jake Dale and Lucy Picken) alongside their son Michael (Freddie Wetherall) all had nice moments. Jake Dale had a lovely moment at the end of the show in particular, where he stopped to make sure Matilda was going to be looked after by Miss Honey before he went on the run. This moment seemed to be the first inclination that he might have actually cared for his daughter. Lucy Picken was very convincing as the Mom who was obsessed with her dancing career; it was also quite funny when her dance partner, Rudolpho (Jordan O’Brien) joined the group on the run from the Russians, which just confirmed her priorities. By the way, fantastic Russian accents by Freddie Banks (Sergei) and Oscar Goldsmith (Sidekick).

The presence and awareness of the title character of Matilda (Holly Edwards) was perfect. Holly was a great cast choice. Holly came across a natural and mature performer on stage despite her age and showed moments of pure delight, especially when she performed the song “Quiet”. It was a beautifully simple and entrancing performance.

The Librarian, Mrs Phelps, (Isabella Hale) was also beautifully played. These moments when Matilda shared her story of The Acrobat, played by the brilliant Honor Whitehouse and The Escapologist, played by the equally brilliant Madison Jeffs, helped the dynamics of the show. These were some of the best moments which brought out some tenderness and pathos.

The scenes with Miss Honey (Poppy Rantell) also displayed some of the best moments of the show. Poppy had a delicate voice and showed a lovely confidence with her part.

The character of Miss Trunchbull is a gift to play and Harley Pearson was very entertaining. There was an ominous presence when the character took to the stage for the first time and Harley exuded a real slap of inappropriateness towards the school children. Even though spinning Amanda Thripp (Imogen Jeffs) around by her pigtails was incredibly inappropriate, there was a slight (brief) moment where I wondered what would have happened if Harley let go!
It was amazing control to keep this scene “spinning” safely with no apparent dizzy spells afterwards!

The character of Bruce Bogtrotter (Nathan Thevar-Ward) was just awesome. Nathan was an absolute joy to watch and you could tell he had so much fun with the character. He had a great voice as well. He led the Song “Revolting Children” into a truly great company performance finale.

Thank you for a very entertaining and catchy evening. I truly enjoyed the talent and skill and I am always eager to see more. This production of Matilda certainly reignited my love for Roald Dahl as well, so thank you very much. 

West Bromwich Operatic Society Youth Company will be back with Fame in November 2023! Another corker of a show. Judging by the talented dancers in this company, this will be a blast.

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