The perfect formula for a hit musical

THIRTY years after Roald Dahl’s Matilda was published by Jonathan Cape, the stage musical it inspired is primed for its North East premiere.

Tickets for the show have been snapped up at Sunderland Empire where the show is running for a month.

It promises to be one of the theatrical events of the year in a region not short of good shows, big and small.

Many people settling down to see the show in Sunderland will have grown up with Roald Dahl, loving the author’s anarchic, child-friendly humour.

Matilda, telling of Matilda Wormword, a little girl with special powers, was published towards the end of Dahl’s life and was followed only by Esio Trot, The Vicar of Nibbleswicke and The Minpins. The latter pair were published posthumously in 1991.

Matilda has always been many people’s favourite. It was made into a film in 1996, directed by Danny DeVito and with Mara Wilson as Matilda and Pam Ferris as scary headmistress Miss Trunchbull.

Then in 2009 the Royal Shakespeare Company announced its plan to do a musical adaptation written by playwright Dennis Kelly and with music by Tim Minchin. It was to be directed by Matthew Warchus.

It opened in Stratford in 2010 and then transferred to the West End and won a clutch of awards, setting a record by being nominated in all 10 categrories for which it was eligible at the Oliviers. The UK tour was announced a year ago and it comes to Sunderland via Leicester, where it opened in March, and Dublin.

Craige Els plays Miss Trunchbull, as he did in the West End from 2014 to 2017, and is joined by Carly Thoms as Miss Honey and Sebastien Torkia and Rebecca Thornhill as Mr and Mrs Wormwood. Sharing the role of Matilda are Annalise Bradbury, Lara Cohen, Poppy Jones and Nicola Turner.

For the creative team behind Matilda the Musical, this will always be a big one on the CV and they shared their thoughts ahead of the UK tour.

DENNIS KELLY (WRITER):

The hardest thing had been working out a structure for the show, he recalled. Roald Dahl had been a master of his craft but his craft had been books – very different to a play or musical.

“For example, in the book Matilda is quite passive at the beginning and doesn’t meet Miss Trunchbull until near the end, so we had to pull that story forward.”

But it was evident pretty soon that they had a hit on their hands. After the number called Naughty, the first preview audience “went wild. And at the end they were on their feet, which isn’t something I’m used to as most of my plays are really dark. “It was a great moment and the first time we realised we were really on to something.” Of the darkness in Matilda, he said: “One of the reasons children like Roald Dahl is because he doesn’t lie. “Kids are constantly lied to but Dahl says, ‘Life’s hard and people die but you can manage.’ So we certainly didn’t want to whitewash the story. That being said, there’s obviously a line you have to be aware of. “Matthew Warchus said to me that when adults cry in theatre it’s great, but when kids cry you know there’s something wrong.”

MATTHEW WARCHUS (DIRECTOR)

There’s a scene in the show, during the number When I Grow Up, where the cast use swings. Matthew recalled they’d tried various ideas, including roundabouts and skipping ropes, but they hadn’t quite worked.

“Then we rigged some swings up in the rehearsal room and Peter Darling, the choreographer, spent a few hours working with them.

“I remember him coming to find me and saying, ‘I think we might be on to something.’ And he was right.

“Now they’ve become an intrinsic part of the show.

“I think they really work as an emblem of freedom and defiance.”

Musing on the qualities that make a good Matilda, Matthew said: “When we send out the casting breakdown, we say we’re looking for children who are small for their age, who are about 10 or 11 years old and have a clear speaking voice.

“We want girls who are tough; we don’t want simpering, sweet, storybook types.

“Matilda’s a fighter, she’s like a female Artful Dodger.”

TIM MINCHIN (MUSIC AND LYRICS)

Tim’s comedy career was going well when he was invited to meet Matthew Warchus at the RSC but the chance to help put Matilda on stage was too hard to resist. Clearly they got the right man. He explained: “Writing musicals is hard because it’s really easy for them to be cheesy nonsense. And with Dahl it felt especially important to avoid this.

“I passionately wanted to avoid a ‘Disneyfication’ of the story.”

Reflecting on this hugely successful show, Tim said: “Matilda is a love letter to the power of stories, imagination and kindness in the face of cruelty, greed and superficiality. I think it’s become even more relevant in recent years.”

Matilda the Musical is at Sunderland Empire from tomorrow until June 2. For tickets, tel 0844 8713022 or visit www.ATGtickets.com/Sunderland