The children are revolting in New Canaan – at least until July 26 – where an impressive production of the Tony Award winning musical Matilda is currently playing.
Featuring music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly based on the classic 1988 book by Roald Dahl, Matilda is the rather dark tale of British schoolgirl Matilda Wormwood (Charlotte Surak), a bright tween with a vivid imagination and the power of telekinesis. Shunned by her truly dreadful parents (Christopher Hudson Myers, Rachel MacIsaac Myers) and disciplined by an appalling school headmistress, Miss Trunchbull (Meghan Louise Taylor), she eventually finds solace and support with her kind teacher, Miss Honey (Mary McNulty, lovely) and local librarian (Kiesha T. Fraser, working really hard!).
There’s much to recommend this revival, including the brisk and precise direction (Allegra Libonati), impressive physical production (James P. Hart, Jr.) and non-stop choreography (Eric Stretch) with an expert ensemble of adults and children. And though it doesn’t feature live music, the recording is excellent and the voices match it with gusto.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t include one major caveat here. Miss Surak is a poised and personable Matilda with excellent stage presence and the required lung power. But whether she is over-miked or the accent is proving difficult, I understood only about 10% of her dialogue. I was not familiar with the Matilda story, so I was often at a loss to follow the plot. I eventually had to read a synopsis to see what I missed. It was a lot. Surak is not alone with this problem, though, since many in the cast, including Mr. and Mrs. Myers and Taylor, were also often hard to hear.
It’s a tribute to the general excellence of this Matilda however, that it still all works so well at STONC. McNulty is perfection as Matilda’s teacher, a fluttery presence who grows stronger as the show progresses singing her solos (“This Little Girl”, “My House”) beautifully. Taylor, costumed to the zenith by Lauren Nicole Sherwood, is a frightening physical presence that terrifies with ease. Christopher Hudson Myers is at his best singing about his love of television (“All I Know”), but then the show simply explodes with the brilliant 11 o’clock number, “Revolting Children”. Here we find the entire company – led by terrific child actor Jack Ranieri as the cake-eating Bruce – pulling out all the stops and bringing down the house in the process. All told, there’s plenty to recommend this revival in New Canaan.
Matilda continues at Summer Theatre of New Canaan, 70 Pine St, New Canaan, Connecticut through July 26. For further information and ticket reservations call the theatre box office at 203.966.4634 or visit: www.stonc.org.
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and the Stratford Crier and former Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website: www.ctcritics.org.
