Matilda the Musical - January 2015

Time for the truth: I have been avoiding going to see this for a while now. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie! Think perhaps, I was worried, it would just not live up to the movie. Then there was the thought that it was just too much geared towards children. Perhaps, it was because Tim Minchin had written the music and lyrics. Quite honestly, I am not sure what it was but I just did not want to see it. But I caved into my daughter's demands and brought her tickets to see it on her 11th birthday. And I will hold my hands and fully admit I was completely wrong to put off seeing this fabulous show. It is beyond me why I waited so long now!

I have never been to the Cambridge Theatre before. We had seats in the Upper Circle, which are not always the best seats to have. However, I was quite surprised. We had plenty of legroom, which is a rarity in theatre. We also had a great view, besides the one rail that very slightly obstructed our view. The set itself was huge, colourful and extremely clever. Definitely one of my favourites I have seen on stage. 

The children are quite obviously the stars of the show. They shine throughout! At our performance, Matilda, the title character, was played by Tasha Chapple. We were very lucky to be able to speak to her after the show, along with her father. She is an extremely talented young performer, who I feel has a bright future ahead of her. Throughout the show, she is telling a story and Tasha performed those lines with such expression. And then when it was just her on stage, she managed to feel the theatre with her presence, her voice and talent! 

The role of Miss Trunchball was played by Craige Els. He really impressed me with his vocals. But what impressed me most was his dancing and the fact that despite he had on a fat suit, he did a fantastic forward roll over the vault during one of the numbers. Another cast member who impressed was Kay Murphy, who played the role of Mrs Wormwood. She did fabulous piece of Salsa dancing, with her legs just literally going everywhere and then shocks the audience by just throwing herself into the splits! Mr Wormwood, played by James Clyde, was fantastic and so funny. The 2nd half begun with him coming out onto stage to sing a song after telling the kids in the audience not to read (as a joke obviously) and it was not until after that song did the lights go down and the 2nd half truly begun.

As for the music and lyrics, all I can say is Tim Minchin wrote a masterpiece, which truly embodies the story that Roald Dahl wrote. I was in love with song Naughty before I saw the show but the entire soundtrack is fantastic, that I do plan on buying it. One song that stood out for me was School Song. It is set on the children's first day at school and is staged so well. During the song, the words have written to emphasise the letters of the alphabet and is staged that building blocks with the letters on are placed within a frame during that section. I thought it was a genius number with fantastic staging! 

So yes, I hold my hands up, I was so wrong to doubt the quality of this musical. It is not just for children, but for adults as well. The music and lyrics are amazing, the staging is fantastic and the set is one of the best on the West End. I definitely want to go and see this musical again!