Audrey Cymone stars as “Matilda.” Her parents are played by Erica Hanrahan and Josh Adamson. “Miss Honey,” the teacher who supports Matilda in her desire to keep reading books, is played by Nicole Santiago. In the role of “Miss Trunchbull,” the nightmare teacher no one would ever want, is played by Michael A. Shepperd.

Michael Matthews, who directed the award-winning production of Cabaret at Celebration Theatre, directs. The choreography, which is said to be entirely new, is by Kate Dunn. The look of the show has also been re-imagined.

When the national tour of Matilda brought the show to the Ahmanson Theatre, I had the chance to talk to Minchin about the show. You can read my interview with him here.

I first saw this completely delightful musical in London and immediately fell in love with it. Though Dahl was an integral part of my childhood, Matilda was not one of the books I read.  This musical made me wish I had.

Whether you have read it or not, Matilda is truly a wonderful musical. And if “When I Grow Up” doesn’t move you to tears, nothing will.

For tickets go here.

Main photo: Audrey Cymone and the company of Matilda (Photo by Jason Niedle)/Courtesy of the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment

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The musical began life in London in 2013 where it ran for over three-and-a-half years. The book is by David Greig with music by Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman (also Hairspray). Sam Mendes (Broadway’s current The Ferryman) directed. This production used only “Pure Imagination” from the film. Here’s what that production looked and sounded like:

Before opening on Broadway in 2017 the show underwent some major changes. A new director was brought in, Jack O’Brien. Both the choreography and the production design of the show were changed. Three other songs from the film, “Candy Man,” “The Oompa Loompa Song” and “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” were added to the US production. The show ran 305 performances. It is that version that is on tour. Here are clips from the Broadway production:

Noah Weisberg (Legally Blonde and South Pacific on Broadway) plays Wonka. Three young actors: Henry Boshart, Collin Jeffery and Rueby Wood, alternate in the role of Charlie Buckett.

Other cast members include James Young as Grandpa Joe, Amanda Rose as Mrs. Bucket, Jessica Cohen as Veruca Salt, Madeleine Doherty as Mrs. Teavee, Kathy Fitzgerald as Mrs. Gloop, Nathaniel Hackmann as Mr. Salt, Daniel Quadrino as Mike Teavee, David Samuel as Mr. Beauregarde, Brynn Williams as Violet Beauregarde, Matt Wood as Augustus Gloop.

This is the same production that was previously at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

For tickets go here.

Main photo: Rueby Wood in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. All photos by Joan Marcus/Courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts

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At this point asking Minchin about his journey with the show seems redundant. Particularly since he articulated it so well in a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Our conversation was predominantly about the use and role of satire in his comedy music and in musical comedy.

“I don’t think they are as different as people might think,” he says. “I guess there are a couple of distinctions. When you are writing to serve a narrative I think musicals work best when the songs are telling you something about the character, something about the story and telling the audience something about themselves. Every song should have that goal and how much you succeed is for other people to judge.”

He offers specific examples in Matilda. “’Loud’ is a social satire about opinion over information. ‘Quiet’ is about the need to find space. And ‘Miracle’ is about parents’ rose-colored glasses view of their own children. They have breaks, but you set the story as well. In comedy you just have to find something you are angry about and make it rhyme.”

Minchin laments the lack of use of satire in most contemporary musicals. “I think satire and wit is fundamental to what makes a good musical,” he offers. “Making musical theatre not mawkish or not saccharine is the first challenge. Wit is your first go-to thing to avoid mawkishness, to avoid over-sentimentality that, rather than making you care, makes you not want to. I think if you can get it right you can be incredibly disarming.”

Whether because of the success of Matilda or in spite of it’s success and the success of his stand-up work, Minchin can be self-deprecating. “I think my comedy is very manipulative,” he observes, “arguably not very funny. I’ve never read a book about the structure of jokes. I’m sure what I do is a fucking cliché and I’m sure I use the same tricks, but I wouldn’t know. I don’t ever unpack it until I’m having these conversations really. I’m quite good at getting my brain out of the way of stuff. I think to make art you need a lot of craft. You need some chops to take a great photo. To paint you need to know how to use paints and a brush. But once you’ve got some chops you need to try and forget about it. Pretend it’s not there. Pretend it’s an emotional and not an intellectual thing. Kind of suspend your disbelief a bit and try and write some version of the truth.”

Next up is a musical adaptation of the 1993 film Groundhog Day that will premiere next year in England. “Groundhog Day is in some ways more musically pop,” he says. “That’s a terrible phrase. What I mean is there are songs you could play on the radio that there isn’t in Matilda because they are so narrative and wacky and a bit dark. Groundhog Day is about how to live your life. I’ve thought really hard about how to reflect these stages of his life in music and what does that mean? What is he falling towards musically? What has he learned and how do you make that sing?”

After these first years of Matilda’s life, does he feel by doing interviews and attending openings like he’s in his own Groundhog Day? “Well if it is than I should be learning how to see things from a new angle without having to change my circumstance. I suppose that’s the lesson, isn’t it?”

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

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