We’re told we have to do what we’re told, but surely sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty! Like doing all those things you shouldn’t do— reading books, loving musicals, and going to Small Town Stars Theatre Company’s production of Matilda! Those are all naughty little things you absolutely should be doing— and the third thing on that list you should definitely be doing this weekend! Directed by Joel Roberson with Musical Direction by Kelly Stoneberger, and Choreography by Delaney Goodwin, this charming and creepy little musical tale, inspired by Roald Dahl’s iconic book, is a plucky little pick-me-up performance that is simply fun to watch.
With a homespun, semi-minimalist approach to the show’s scenery, Set Construction Chief Tim Beavers encourages the audience to engage their imaginations, following in the vein of Roald Dahl himself with all these inspiring tales. Beavers, who doubles up in the performance as both the Doctor and Serge the Russian (and lends us a lovely singing sound when he does), makes excellent use of the enormous stage, flanking it with periaktoi, which enables smoother scenic transitions. The swing-set, featured during “When I Grow Up” is a set-piece favorite (as well as the little wood burning stove inside Miss Honey’s shed) and Beavers’ overall approach to keeping things clean, simple, and functional allows for the audience to focus on the kids, their energy, and the adults performing on stage with them.
Costume Designer Miranda Secula-Rossell, also serving as the show’s Producer, finds little ways to make the show’s sartorial selection pop. When all the students have to be in dreary drab grey affairs to show you the horror that is Crunchem Hall, Secula-Rossell finds other ways to sneak individuality and colorful bursts into the costumes. Of course, the irony is lost on no one when she outfits all the kids for the PE-scene/ “The Smell of Rebellion” in prison-stripe ‘gym tops.’ You get an array of fabulous nonsense seen on Mrs. Wormwood— everything from an Adelaide-style feather-robe to a mirror-ball shimmy dress and a couple of looks in-between. Secula-Rossell does a nice job of fitting costumes to characters, really augmenting the imaginative experience for the overall production.
Getting a large group of young performers to move around the stage in time to the music— especially with all of the old-school desks on the stage— is quite a feat, one that Choreographer Delaney Goodwin manages quite well. There’s a lot of crisscross legs and gesture-based dance moves which match the energy of both the kids performing and the overall rhythm of songs like “Revolting Children.” There’s also some fun nuance to the work that Goodwin layers onto the Mrs. Wormwood and Rudolpho character. Rather than making their choreographed scenes high-intensity ballroom/tango/salsa/etc., Goodwin focuses on much simpler moves, which actually creates this layer of character varnish that really serves the story well. You get the notion that Mrs. W & Rudolpho think they’re world-class dancers, rather than actually being them and it’s a far funnier approach, really allowing them to sell their intense character work to the delight of the audience.
Musically the show is strong; Kelly Stoneberger’s direction as the show’s MD, alongside the smooth pacing that Director Joel Roberson (and Stage Manager Dagny Beavers) set down, really keeps the audience engaged. You get a lot of excellent articulation throughout the various patter numbers, a lot of emotional expression in the ballad numbers, and some wild sounds coming out of those feral maggots— ehem, I mean uuh— those revolting children when they’re raging through numbers like “Revolting Children.” Taking up those English accents while singing is no easy task and Stoneberger’s work in that department is well reflected. There’s a lot of vocal energy roaring through the group numbers and a lot of beautifully focused emotion pulling through with the main characters, like Matilda and Miss Honey.
With an enthusiastic ensemble (Rory Long, Ronni Snyder, Cassie Gertner, Gabby Gertner, Cindy Beavers, Micah Haddock, Ezekiel Gonzales, Roselyn Shenk, Oella Balint, Sydney Imbraguglio, Lexi Day, Mark McAlevey) aided and accompanied by the ‘younger named children’— (Xavier VanDusen as Eric, Lia Molony as Hortensia, Tristan Haddock as Nigel, Alexis Pearce as Amanda, Lila Yinger as Alice, Beckett McIntyre as Tommy, Mae Ruby as Lavender, and Archer Ketter as Bruce)— we get worlds of enthusiasm, explosive energy and a bunch of really wild emotive bodies and animated facial expressions. Keep your eyes out for Rory Long who leads the schoolyard gang in “School Song” like some sort of apocalyptic zombie-student totally ready to terrify the younger kids. You also get excellent performances from the younger kids— particularly the super peppy and very enthusiastic Mae Ruby as Lavender and the overly nervous, you just desperately want to hug the kid and say it’ll all be okay, Tristan Haddock as Nigel.
Watch out for belting Bruce (Archer Ketter) or maybe we should call him burping Bruce. He’s got a great sense of vocal control when pushing his way into those ‘whoa’ sounds at the top of “Revolting Children” and he’s an extremely animated physical performer who puts his whole body into motion, particularly during that scene that leads into his eponymous number (which he doesn’t really actually sing much of; he’s too busy chomping chocolate cake!) Ketter ends up deploying a hilarious little special effect during his “Burp Monologue” which will leave you giggling like mad— even more so when The Trunchbull makes a callback to that special effect during “The Smell of Rebellion.” It’s an adorable nod to the suspension of disbelief that accompanies theatre at all levels, but particularly so at the community level.
The performance itself is chock-a-block with quirky little unique moments that make this show a Small Town Stars Theatre Company show, which lends an air of authenticity to the production. Any day of the week I’ll take a performance that makes a show truly its own over trying to carbon-copy the video or how it was done on Broadway. You get the louder than life Mrs. Wormwood (Jessica Harris Keays) who is spastic, over-the-top and zany all round, thinking she’s the world’s greatest dancer, and just flamboyantly flailing all around the stage with her dancing accessory, Rudolpho (Darryl Warren) and it’s just a hilarious, recurring caricature-bit that really delights and tickles the funny bone. Keays has that brassy, full-belt sound that really punches through “Loud.” And although they share less than half a scene together, Jordan Wheeler— as the over-excitable librarian, Mrs. Phelps— is matching that insanely high-octane over-the-top caricature-style energy that Keays’ Mrs. Wormwood is bringing to the table. Only Wheeler’s character is much more invested in Matilda and all of her stories, which presents a nice contrast to Keays’ aloof distaste to the ‘little worm.’
If you want a smarmy, slick, thinks-he’s-charming-but-so-totally-isn’t greaseball jerk of a son-of-a— whoops! This is a kid’s show. But if you want THAT character? You got him with Paul Keays’ Mr. Wormwood. He really comes into his own at the top of the second act (a written-contrivance to wrangle the audience back to attention after the intermission that he delivers superbly) and you get a keen sense of just how well he can patter, with perfect articulation, through that “Telly” number. Bombastic, aggravated, mouthy, and basically just a little ill-tempered dynamite stick, you get a lot of laughs as well as antagonistic evil from Keary’s Mr. Wormwood, which ultimately helps propel the show’s narrative forward, giving Matilda all that extra fuel she needs to be extraordinary. And shoutout to Ryan Kimber, playing the Wormwood boy, Michael, for his very still, very silly portrayal, particularly when he shouts— “backwards!”
Two of the more underrated characters in the show really get highlighted in Small Town Stars production— the Escapologist (Kyle Secula) and the Acrobat (Elizabeth Vinson.) You get glorious shimmering red costumes (compliments of Miranda Secula-Rossell) that really help them pop as flames of Matilda’s imagination but their stage presence is glorious. Secula and Vinson execute majestic body-climb acrobatics with one another, creating these striking moments of performative dance whenever they’re together on stage, whirling mesmerically around each other with this gentle passion that speaks volumes of their characters’ tragic love story. Both Vinson and Secula have divine voices (though the libretto leaves them with precious few places to be heard) and when they speak their story-lines in tandem with Matilda, it’s matched flawlessly in both emotion, intent, and energy. Secula in particular gets a glorious duet with Matilda, “Story 4: I’m Here.” His voice is rich, heart-melting, and perfectly suited for this touching number.
It’s always an intriguing choice and somewhat of a risk to cast against the way a role is either written or traditionally performed, a feat which Katie Ketter seems to have some (very recent) experience with. Tackling the role of Agatha Trunchbull (which is more traditionally setup as a man in drag), Ketter brings her A-game to the table, growling, barking, and playing the feared and loathsome headmistress with a bit of an unhinged edge which is actually quite unsettling. There’s something really unnerving about the way she smiles when playing this character— it stiffens the spin and puts the teeth on edge. Her callback use of ‘Bruce’s’ “special effect” which reprises itself during “The Smell of Rebellion” is just the— icing on the cake. You get a good, solid vocalization out of Ketter for “The Hammer” as well as the aforementioned rebellion number. And when she’s degrading Miss Honey, she really lays it on thick.
Sweeter than her namesake, Erica Hansbrough as the meek and timid Jennifer Honey is just a delight to watch. She strikes the epitome of balance between the “terrified of her own shadow” teacher who must somehow find a way to support the desperately in-need-of-love-and-nurturing Matilda. Her facial expressions and ability to engage her entire body with the way she’s feeling is truly superb. You get to see a lot of this during Mrs. Wormwood’s big feature number, “Loud” where Hansbrough’s poor character just desperately wants to sneak away. Vocally, Hansbrough is a perfect fit for the role; sweet, soprano, gentle, and emotional. You get moments of emotional fortitude when she’s singing as well, particularly during “This Little Girl” and “My House.” The thing that I find most charming about Hansbrough’s Miss Honey is the way she can see through Matilda. (That’s Joel Roberson taking Matilda’s “exaggerations” of how perfect her home life are and really pushing them into that ‘child-is-obviously-lying-to-hide-the-truth’ zone and letting the world know that this kind caring teacher can see exactly what’s going on.) Those knowing maternal, nurturing looks (alongside a dozen other amazing expressions that Hansbrough achieves throughout the performance) are really what ground the beautiful humanity of the Miss Honey character in this performance.
A little bit naughty, very precocious, and with a huge voice that can fill that tremendously cavernous stage, Grace Hansbrough is living large as the show’s titular character. (The role is split during the performances between Grace Hansbrough and Cassie Gertner.) As Matilda, Hansbrough is genuine and delivers a performance that really speaks to the clever little girl Roald Dahl wrote about in the source material. She’s a beautiful blend of a cheeky persona, a strong singing voice, an active stage presence, and a full comprehension of how to exist in the moment, particularly when standing up to the big adult bullies that Matilda is frequently faced with in this story. Her accent is on point and her big solo— “Quiet” is strikingly well balanced both emotionally and vocally. Hansbrough really shines in her earlier moments as well, singing “Naughty”, where she gives you that exacting blend of mischievous and judicious all neatly packed into one little girl. It’s a delight to watch her perform in this role.
You should go out and support these revolting children— these magical little maggots— because they’re just so full of energy, so full of pep and pizazz (and the adults aren’t too shabby either!) It’s a real plucky pick-me-up, I know I said that before, but it’s true. And they’ve got real swings! Catch Matilda this weekend before it swings away into the ethereal, theatrical beyond.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes with one intermission
Matilda plays March 22nd – 24th 2024 with Small Town Stars Theatre Company at Manchester Valley High School— 3300 Maple Grove Road in Manchester, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance online.
