In the past seven years, Carmel Christian has already done two musical adaptations of Roald Dahl’s cherished children’s novels: “James and the Giant Peach” in 2016 and “Willy Wonka Kids” in 2020. This past semester, our middle school has added yet another Dahl-inspired musical to Carmel’s inventory with “Matilda Jr.” Unlike Danny Devito’s more recognizable 1996 film adaptation, “Matilda Jr.” is a one-act version of the full-length “Matilda” musical by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, the same production company behind the acclaimed musical “Les Misérables.” British-Australian comedian Tim Minchin made his musical theatre debut when writing the lyrics and score, and British writer Dennis Kelly adapted Dahl’s narrative for the stage. The story follows the intelligent five-year-old Matilda as she uses her brains and wit to brave her pretentious parents’ abuse and insatiability. She confides in her schoolteacher once they learn of their shared experience with abuse, which encourages her to gain the confidence to battle the evil headmistress of Crunchem Hall for the sake of her classmates.

“She is really the one who stands up and says, ‘That’s not right,'” said seventh-grader Clara Jane Kraska, the actress behind the show’s titular character. “The way they’re being treated isn’t right, and I feel like she’s the brave one because no one else stood up.”

“We can have our cake and eat it too!” 🎂 Tech week:

As soon as the house lights dim, the audience is greeted with a cacophony of horns and bells that transports the audience into Dahl’s delightfully strange world. Soon enough, the ensemble dominates the stage, utilizing the book-shaped platforms set on stage left and right as well as oversized letter blocks. Throughout the show, actors and crew would move the blocks around the stage in accordance to a song or set piece appropriate to the scene, such as spelling “REVOLTING” downstage during the “Revolting Children” sequence or having Matilda sleep on a set of blocks that spell “BED.” Like the actual performers, the blocks had a system of choreography in place in order for their movers to avoid misplacing them or running into each other during transit.

The Blue and Gold interviewed several members of the “Matilda Jr.” ensemble to gain insight on how rehearsals looked throughout the fall. During the first rehearsals, cast members would join together in the aerobics room to sing through their songs first and their corresponding choreography second, repeatedly running numbers step by step until they fully grasped their material. They then moved their rehearsals to the Uptown Auditorium to work blocking (or, where their characters stand on stage in a given scene) as well as choreography in order to unify themselves with the space in which they will perform. Soon enough, the last two weeks of rehearsals crept upon the ensemble and crew, and, as rehearsal time extended to as late as nine o’clock in the evening, the lenience of the learning process began to wear away. Once tech week arrived, cast members could no longer focus on the smaller pieces of their story and, instead, turned attention towards the big picture. Knowing every line, every character choice and every director’s note was mandatory; they could not add the elements of costumes, microphones and all props and set pieces if they failed to have the basis of the show nailed down. Even so, the middle school musicals each year always succeed in polishing the imperfections from the prior two months to assemble a captivating and impactful show, and “Matilda Jr.” was no different.

“I feel like the energy sometimes runs a little low,” claimed seventh-grader Noah Shepherd, “but we’re working on that, and I think it’s really gradually getting better.”

Shepherd played the role of Bruce, one of the many students at Crunchem Hall who is doomed to face the headmistress’ wrath.

“The ending number is the most energetic number, and we’re tired out by then because it’s an hour-long show, so to keep that energy up is really hard. We’ve had to put a lot of work into it,” he said.

“Matilda Jr.” is, in fact, an incredibly high-energy show, especially for Carmel students who are just beginning their journey through the theatre program. For instance, the “School Song” number happens as soon as Matilda and several children her age meet the current students at the Hall, learning about their headmistress’ reign of terror. The lyrics incorporate the entire alphabet as they heed their warning, so students upstage form the shape of the corresponding letter with their notebooks as the song proceeds. The ensemble had to retain their focus and energy to ensure that their favorite numbers such as this were presentable for an actual audience.

“Nobody but me is going to change my story.” 📖 Why it matters:

When asked about his character, Shepherd claimed that Bruce is meant to lighten the story’s mood. “But also at some point in the play, he becomes sort of depressed and he’s not himself, and it’s the fault of the bad guy. I feel like that’s there to emphasize how bad the “bad guy” is,” he said.

This “bad guy” would be the infamous Agatha Trunchbull, the aforementioned headmistress of Matilda’s new school. Trunchbull’s actress, eighth-grader Lottie Bailey, loved her role and was excited to show the audience her menacing yet grimly humorous take on the character.

“The Trunchbull is a strong character who has always been hard on others. She’s a mean and cruel person that likes to interrogate and bully children,” Bailey explained.

Some of this bullying involves forcing Bruce to eat the rest of her chocolate cake after learning he stole a slice as well as putting the students through her own excruciating version of physical education. Her verbal and physical abuse does not end here; Miss Jennifer Honey, the meek schoolteacher on whom Matilda relies throughout the story, had had her fair share of acting as Trunchbull’s personal doormat.

“Miss Honey is a character that meets this girl Matilda on the first day of school,” said Miss Honey’s actress, seventh-grader Elli Noel Caton, “and she sees herself in Matilda because [Matilda] has parents that are mean and cruel. The Trunchbull raised Miss Honey and was mean and cruel to her, so she doesn’t want Matilda to turn to [Miss Honey] because Matilda is a strong and independent person, but Miss Honey just defines herself as pathetic and useless all the time.”

Because of the Trunchbull, Miss Honey fears she has “not got the spine” to stand up to anyone, especially to Matilda’s parents when she wishes to move Matilda to a more advanced class. In the number “This Little Girl,” Miss Honey sings of the struggles teachers and educators face when they long to cultivate a student’s potential, and she reminds herself that her bravery is for Matilda’s own good as both a student, and a human being. Matilda and Miss Honey can deeply empathize with each other because they both face two of the same challenges: overcoming fear and bearing unique experiences that cause them to feel alone in the world. Truly, the whole story of “Matilda Jr.” is an accurate representation of the struggles of being different in a bigoted society. The show masterfully illustrates the experience of overcoming those who perceive difference as a weakness to take advantage of or as a virulent opponent they must stomp out.

Even Matilda herself does not understand her mind’s full potential until the middle of the musical. Matilda believes her brains are spilling out of her eyes when she discovers her high intelligence has developed into telekinetic powers. She manages to overturn Trunchbull’s cup of water during phys ed and, through the use of projection, later poses as the ghost of Trunchbull’s brother-in-law as she uses her mind to write on her chalkboard, causing the headmistress to flee the school for good. Matilda’s solo before she stands up to Trunchbull begins with her rapidly jumping from one thought to another as she is consumed by her anxiety. She eventually settles the noise in her mind, allowing herself to gain her ground as the lights fade from bright red to a tranquil blue. Minchin’s chaotic lyricism combined with Kraska’s restless performance causes the song to be a successful portrayal of how overcoming an anxiety attack feels.

Kraska admitted what inspired her to portray strong anxiety in such an accurate way.

“My solo ‘Quiet,'” which the song is appropriately titled, “really stands out to me because my sister has a condition where she gets really overwhelmed. I don’t really know what it feels like to be really overwhelmed, so she was saying the other day, ‘Pretend you’re like me getting overwhelmed.’ So it’s really funny because I always pretend I’m my sister,” she said.

🎭 The “Miracle” of performing arts:

Kraska was not the only one to get to experience something new during the production. The class of 2024’s very own Karleigh Robin had the “exciting experience” of assistant directing “Matilda Jr.” Throughout the show, Matilda tells her local librarian a tragic story of two renowned circus performers, the Acrobat (played by senior Savannah Robin) and the Escapologist (played by senior Caeden Moore). Robin had the opportunity to direct and choreograph their vignettes, which appear as Matilda narrates the tale. Although her assistance focused primarily on those scenes, Robin enjoyed managing and bonding with the middle school cast, which helped her prepare for her aspiring career in educational theatre.

“It’s been really fun to work with all the middle schoolers because I know some of them from an internship I did when a lot of them were in sixth grade,” she said. “I’m excited to continue to explore doing this.”

Robin further described how proud she was of the ensemble now that rehearsals were nearing their end.

“They’re starting to get to the point where they’re really comfortable with everything they’re doing. They’re having more energy, and it’s just really fun to watch. They have really bubbly personalities that are going to translate really well onto the stage, and you can tell a lot of them are going to be super successful performers when they’re older,” she stated.

Due to the dedicated ensemble, imaginative artistic choices and fantastical yet authentic story, “Matilda Jr.” will certainly go down in Carmel Christian School history as one of the middle school’s most memorable productions. If you missed seeing this show for yourself, consider looking forward to this coming spring to witness “the rumor, the legend, the mystery” itself, the high school’s production of “Anastasia.” Inspired by Don Bluth’s beloved 1997 animated musical, this enchanting tale opens to the public on March 22. Rehearsals have already started and will persist throughout the following four months. Stand by as The Blue and Gold continues to document Carmel’s 2023-2024 fine arts season.