Matilda the Musical Jr

‘Attention, Maggots!’ … Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda the Musical Jr’, is based on the book by Dennis Kelly with Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin.  Matilda is a young lady who has astonishing wit, intelligence and special powers! She's unloved by her cruel parents, but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly loveable Miss Honey. Matilda's school life isn't completely smooth sailing however – the school's mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don't abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts, and could be the school pupils' saving grace!

I have said this before and I don’t mind repeating myself… what I love about Chorley Youth Theatre is that it is not only ‘youth on stage’, but ‘youth in charge of everything’… from production, to direction, to backstage and even the technical side of things!  I had the pleasure of speaking with the two Director’s Chloe Jones and Aaliyah Townsend after the show, both of whom spoke about the enjoyment, experience and knowledge they had gained!  There were two other young people in charge of Choreography: Myah Brookfield and Ruby Johnson; two more in charge of the technical side of things, Jasmine Davenport and Ben Holden and, finally, two more in charge backstage - Ellie Brookfield and Hannah Borer.  I really do think these kinds of opportunities should be encouraged where ever and whenever youth is involved. It gives young people the opportunity to experience all the elements of theatre and this will not only have an impact on their lives today, but will also impact way into their future and possibly support their senior society in years to come! I spoke with Paul Carr who is part of the Adult Support Team here at Chorley Youth Theatre.  Paul told me that in addition to running weekly Musical Theatre Workshops they were now running Backstage Workshops for young people who are solely interested in the backstage elements of theatre… ‘wow’… what opportunities being offered here at Chorley!   Well done to all the young people mentioned above on a job well done, be ever so proud of what you achieved and to the adults who are supporting youth in any way shape or form. the future looks bright here in Chorley. Well done, guys!

The Cast...  ‘Matilda’ was played ever so well by Eve Fulop.  Eve looked totally confident throughout, blessed with good stage presence, good diction and a good singing voice, Eve made this part her own.  Be proud young lady, good job!  Playing Matilda’s ‘dim’ brother, ‘Michael’, was Evan Ditchburn. This isn’t the biggest of parts, but Evan left his mark!  Great characterisation, great mannerisms and great facial expressions, kept in character throughout, well done young man!  Zak Whitbourn played Matilda’s not so truthful, not so bright father, ‘Mr. Wormwood’.  Again, another with good stage presence, created a believable character, slightly rushed some of his lines, especially when he got angry, something to work on! Well done young man, good job!  Completing the Wormwood Family was ‘Mrs Wormwood’ played by Eadie Gosling. Confident throughout, captured her character perfectly with wonderful facial expressions and great mannerisms. Be ever so proud, young lady - great job!  Rachel Moran took on the role of the ‘terrifying tyrant’ that is Miss Trunchbull. Another with good stage presence, good characterisation, loved the scene where she swung ‘Amanda’ (Isobel Ashworth) around with her pigtails, looked very realistic, well done!   Gabrielle McCarthy played Mrs Phelps, the kind-hearted Librarian who becomes friends with Matilda. Gabrielle created a believable character, great diction. Well done, young lady! Georgia Budge played our cake eating ‘Bruce’; confident, good stage presence, did a really good job navigating the ‘cake eating scene’ …well done!  Laura Tingle was the ‘perfect fit’ for the role of ‘Miss Honey’.  Confident, stage presence aplenty, always in character and a singing voice to kill for… well done young lady be ever so proud!  It is difficult to start putting people at the ‘top of a list’ but I do feel I need to ‘stick my neck’ out and give ‘special mention’ to Finn Harty who played a ‘triple role’ - ‘Parent’, ‘Big Kid but the part I would like to highlight is that of – ‘RUDOLPHO’, Mrs Wormwood’s Dance Partner… again not the biggest of parts… but Finn made it his own and he was hilarious! Never out of character, his movement and his dance moves, his mannerisms, his facial expressions and his accent – ever so good!  The scene involving ‘Mrs Wormwood’s dance lesson’, interrupted by Miss Honey was acted to perfection.  Be ever so proud young man… wonderful job!  The following were schoolfriends of Matilda: Isobel Ashworth played the ‘flying pigtail’ school friend ‘Amanda’; Thomas Bramwell played ‘Eric’; Martha Cook played ‘Hortensia’, Ella Green played ‘Nigel’, Ruby Johnson played ‘Alice’; Katie Jones played Matilda’s best friend ‘Lavender’; Thomas McCann played ‘Tommy’. Ava Walsh had a triple role... ‘Parent, Big Kid and a Russian’; Harry Smith took on four roles – ‘Escapologist, Mechanic, Parent and Big Kid’, Hollyanne Gillivray played a ‘Chef, a Parent and a Big Kid’, Sophie Clipston played an ‘Acrobat, a Parent, a Big Kid’; Charlotte Clipston played ‘Sergei, a Parent, a Big Kid’; Francesca Budge played a ‘Little Kid, a big kid and a Russian’, and finally Myah Brookfield who played a ‘Big Kid’.  Be ever so proud everyone of what you achieved… great production!

There is little doubt that Chorley Youth Theatre are blessed with many talented young people, but to nurture that talent and provide guidance, support and advice for those young people, both on and off stage, requires experienced role models and Chorley Youth Theatre are blessed. Paul Carr and Sian Wharton-Jones provided the creative support for this show, they also had Sandra Dickinson to oversee the costume side of things.  Ian Brookfield is the Child Protection Officer who doubles up as rehearsal supervision.  Ian also teamed up with Dilwyn and Caroline Rogers Jones to deal with Set Construction and painting.  One other vital commodity required whenever or wherever young people are involved in theatre work are Chaperones. Karen Adamson, Ian Brookfield, Rebecca Dickinson, Keiron and Gill Fulop stepped up and gave of their time to perform this role. Youth Theatre could not happen without people like those named above, so well done to each and every one of you. Without your support and commitment, those young people would not have the same opportunities to further their passions!  

The set, supervised by Elie Brookfield and Hannah Borer (Backstage Team) was minimal but worked very well with most of the pushing and pulling being carried out by the actors. The set was supported by superb projected images and video clips, which enhanced the production so much.  Lighting and Sound was under the watchful eye of Paul Carr with assistance from Jasmine Davenport and Ben Holden on follow spot. The lighting was effective, but we did have one or two issues with the sound, but it was minimal and did not affect the overall performance.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your production and a special thanks to Ian Robinson and Paul Carr for their welcome and support throughout my visit… I really do love the ‘birds’ eye’ view from the Lighting Desk area.   Hope to see you all … thanks again!

‘YOUTH IS THE HOPE OF OUR FUTURE’ (Jose Rizal)

Jim Briscoe
District 6 Rep
NODA NW

 

 

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