Matilda the Musical Jr

Matilda the Musical Jr a musical staged by Pilkington Musical Theatre Companies ‘Team P.J’s at St John Rigby College, Gathurst Road, Orrell on Friday, 27th January, 2023.

'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!

This was Pilkington Musical Theatre Companies ‘Team PJs’ debut show… and what a show they’d chosen!  ‘Matilda the Musical Jr’ is a great musical, with a well-known storyline, some great and interesting characters and some wonderful songs for ‘Team PJ’ to start their stage careers with!  Not only was this a ‘debut production’ but a debut location for Pilkington MTC to stage a production at St John Rigby College in Orrell.

CREATIVE TEAM… when you ‘put any show’ on stage it is imperative to have a group of solid, dependable, enthusiastic people at the helm and ‘Team PJ’ had this and more… Seb Farrell (Director), Katie Griffin (Musical Director) and Anna Whittle (Choreographer) did a great job with this production and after speaking with Katie before and after the performance, you could just tell and see the enormous pride and pleasure she had in this group of ‘young people’ many of whom, before this show, had never been on a stage, let alone on stage in a theatre, in a cast, performing in a musical in front of a ‘live audience’…  well done guys, good job… all looks good for ‘Pilks’ future!

THE CAST… thirty six young people took to the stage for this production, one of the ‘youngest casts’ I’ve seen in a long while, but, what they lacked in experience, they certainly made up for in enthusiasm, energy and commitment, no ‘stage fright or nerves here’, or least non you could see… this was just a set of ‘mates/friends’ on stage, some for the very first time, having the time of their young lives and that’s what ‘amateur youth theatre’ is all about!   So, this is where I usually ‘stick my neck out’ and start selecting favourites… MY favourites!  Selecting favourites can, on occasions, be very easy, but sometimes, especially with Youth Groups, it can become a challenge especially when, as we saw tonight, you just know that everyone on stage had given their all and that really is all you can ask, from any cast, young or old!  Having said all that, I do think it would be remiss of me, on this occasion, not to give a few ‘shout outs’ to some cast members who I felt went above and beyond, so please find below my three favourite performances……..

Let’s start with my ‘Show Stealer’ and this really was a real difficult decision between two young people who worked their socks off!  Iris Wall who took on the lead role of ‘Matilda’ and Jacob Sayer who took on the role of ‘Miss Agatha Trunchbull’ both of whom did fabulous jobs with their respective roles… but in the end, I plumped for Jacob’s portrayal of the ‘terrifying tyrant’ that was ‘The Trunchbull’.  Jacob played this role as a ‘semi comedic role’ rather than a ‘terrifying tyrant’ and it worked!  His crazy antics, his movements, mannerisms had the ‘full house audience’ in stitches!  Confident, great stage presence, great characterisation, he worked really well with all members of the cast, be ever so proud Jacob, great job young man!  Honestly, Iris was not far behind with her portrayal of ‘Matilda’.  Iris just oozes confidence and character; she has great stage presence and is blessed with a lovely singing voice and made this part her own!  Loved the characterisation and her interaction with Miss Honey and Mrs Phelps the librarian and the rest of the cast…. well done, Iris, be ever so proud, great job!  Kiera Bowles is my third and final choice playing the role of our ‘cake eating character’ ‘Bruce Bogtrotter’.  Keira was another who provided us with a confident performance and a great characterisation of this character!  Kiera has a good singing voice, good stage presence who provided us with some great ‘laugh out loud’ moments!  Worked well with all the cast and engaged
with the audience ever so well… be ever so proud Kiera good job young lady! 

Isabelle Fawcett took on the role of ‘Miss Honey’ another who made a really good job of her character, be proud Isabelle.  Isla Graham played Mr Wormwood, Matilda’s father; Olivia Upton played Mrs Wormwood Matilda’s mother;  Raphael Rufo, played Michael, Matilda’s brother; Eva Stock played ‘Mrs Phelps’ (Librarian… friend to Matilda); Morgan Davidson and Gabriella Dyson played ‘Escapologist’ and Acrobat’ respectively; Esme Dobson played Mrs Wormwoods Dance Teacher ‘Rudolpho’; Charlotte Pennington played ‘Nigel’, Darcy Threlfall played ‘Lavender’, Maisie Alexander played Amanda Thripp, Annabelle Swift played ‘Eric’; Thea Caldwell played Hortensia; Isobel Heyes played ‘Tommy’; Penny Outten played ‘Alice’; Amelia Upton played Sergei / Mechanic; Zara Samuel played Cook; Emily Battle, Patrick Gallagher, Lucy Jones, Amelia Lavelle, Gracie Lea-Gange, Flynn Molyneux, Isabella Pennington and Annie Stock played the ‘Little Kid’; and Martha Davies and Jessica Holmes played the ‘Big Kids’ all kids pupils at Crunchem Hall Elementary School.
 

STAGING/SET/TECH… an ‘open stage’ greeted us as we entered the theatre, with school desks and a table festooned with balloons set centre stage. Simple staging was used throughout, with scene changes being carried out in view of the audience.  There are many scene changes in this production, which kept the stage crew very busy and on their toes!  It was great to see that the Stage Crew was made up from senior members of the company, including the Chairman, supporting and encouraging their youth section in this way… well done folks!  All changes were handled well which enabled the production to flow … Lighting/Sound was good – congrats to all involved!

 

Costumes/Props and Stage Furniture were apt and enhanced the show ever so much.  It was also great to see District 6 Societies coming together and sharing/providing pieces of scenery, stage furniture and costumes… this obviously helps the hiring society save money, whilst possibly making the ‘owner’ a little money … ‘sharing is caring’ and supports everything I want District 6 to stand for… ‘STRONGER TOGETHER’…well done, Waterloo & Crosby and Pleasure Folk for providing this help… every penny counts these days!

 

Youth Shows require a lot of commitment from parents and also from other people connected to the society and the society in their programme thanked parents and Suzi Davies, Pauline Doyle, Kerry Graham, Chloe Pennington for their endless contribution throughout the production.

 

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I to this ‘first ever show’ by ‘Team P.Js’… be ever so proud of what you achieved and we really do look forward to seeing you all again soon!

 

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

Stay Safe… Keep well
Stronger together

 

Jim Briscoe
District 6 Rep
NODA NW

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