Matilda The Musical is produced by GWB Entertainment in association with The Royal Shakespeare Company and presented in Singapore by Base Entertainment Asia.
I have always wanted to watch Matilda in a theatre setting, after thoroughly enjoying the book and the movie. There was palpable buzz amongst the excited audience as we got seated and waited for the musical to start in the lovely Singapore Marina Bay Sands Theatre.
Matilda The Musical was brought to life by playwright Dennis Kelly, Director Matthew Warchus and the anarchic Australian musician and composer Tim Minchin, who wrote the music and lyrics. The choreography by Peter Darling saw the children dancing with so much energy in every number. The sharp, punchy moves and the choreographical symmetry was one of the main highlights for us!
Three child actresses take turns to play the title role, and Yolani Balfour was the star on the evening that I was there. She was utterly convincing as precocious, unloved, bookish Matilda, every bit the genius as her character is meant to be, as she orated all those complex and long lines, and even delivering a long spiel in Bulgarian! Yolani’s strong vocals meant that she belted out emotive tunes alongside all sorts of movement and choreography.
My favourite song in the musical, apart from rousing crowd favourites like “When I Grow Up” was Miss Honey’s “My House” by Gemma Scholes. She had the most beautiful singing voice of the entire cast, and the haunting lyrical refrain of “it isn’t much, but it is enough for me” was an encouraging reminder of the beauty of contentment. It was an ode to finding joy in little things that might not be much but are definitely enough, especially when surrounded by love.
James Wolstenholme had a commanding presence, towering over the rest as Miss Trunchbull and effectively conveying her utter contempt for revolting (pun intended) children. Miss Trunchbull and Matilda’s book-despising parents were perfect villains! Charming reverse psychology deployed after the intermission to warn all the children in the audience never to emulate nasty habits shown in the musical, such as reading books!
I enjoyed the themes throughout the musical of standing up for what is right, having the courage to speak up against bullies, not just grinning and bearing it and taking all injustice lying down. Rather, one should always have the moral courage to fight back, even if it is deemed “a little bit naughty”.
Some fun facts:
- At 4 ft 4in tall, Matilda Wormwood is the most petite leading lady in London’s West End
- The Crunchem Hall School badge that features on the children’s blazers is designed by Quentin Blake
- The sound effect of the crying baby in the song “Miracle” is a recording of Sound Designer Simon Baker’s youngest son
- Miss Honey and Matilda enjoy cups of real hot tea on stage complete with milk and a biscut at each performance during the song “My House”
- Over 100 children have played the title role worldwide
In total, Matilda The Musical has travelled to 91 cities and won 99 international awards, including 4 Tony awards and 7 Olivier awards. Over 11 million people having seen it worldwide! That is simply testament to how it is one of the few musicals that is perfect for children to watch, and yet entertaining for all ages.
Details on tickets are shown below, so what are you waiting for? Get your seats today here whilst you can have late nights out before the school holidays end!
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves – what an amazing night of magic and spunk!
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