LAKEPORT>> The Lake County Theatre Company debuted a local production of “Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical”, a musical adaptation of the classic children’s story of the same name. The production is minimalist using few props, minimum sets, and bare production. Part of the charm of this production lies in the resourcefulness in wardrobe, inventiveness, and clever special effects in the climax. The cast is a spirited group of young and seasoned professionals navigating the play’s comedic and dramatic tone.
Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly’s “Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical” makes the story of Matilda Wormwood dance off the page. Matilda navigates a life of cruelty at home and at school. The original Dahl story depicts a clever little girl using her wits and motivation to take on horrible parents and a nasty headmistress.
Minchin and Kelly’s play has great energy abound capturing a childlike perspective of the world. The music numbers frame how the adults are different and bizarre in their own way. For example, the librarian Mrs. Phelps eagerly listens to a story of Matilda’s making about a daring couple of performers. There’s also slower, personal scenes for our title heroine or with the mousy homeroom teacher, Ms. Honey.
The Lake County Theatre Company’s production is all more noteworthy as it is the first full length musical done with children since 2011’s production of The Wizard of Oz. According to Laura Barnes, Producer and Assistant Director, a crucial difference was, as stated, they “…only got three days on this stage, with our set, rehearsing.” She went on to say “we also have to be minimalistic because we don’t have our own venue, so we can’t build our set on our stage (…) we have made the best, sweetest lemonade we can make with, uh, the space we have and the amount of time we had and the resources that we had.”
The actors rise to the challenge of limitation, thanks to having veterans and newcomers of varying ages. Noel Wood’s experience of primarily Shakespearean theatre grants big laughs in his performance as the sleazy and dimwitted Mr Wormwood. Matching him in turn, despite having no theatre background, was Chelsie Harms’s incredibly colorful Mrs Wormwood.
Krista Kenny, who plays the librarian Mrs. Phelps, fittingly expresses, “I think Matilda especially really impresses me.” Cambriella Yapelli, who plays Matilda Wormwood, captures the audience’s attention through comedy and drama alike. “And I’m just glad, you know, first nights are notorious for having issues.” Kenny further said, “But this one went really well.” The attending audience reactions varied from laughter and applause to clapping along with wholehearted approval.
With limited time and resources, LCTC succeeds in conveying different scenery and scenes through the black box and handmade props. The staging is on point through every scene transition between the Wormwood home to the library to the school and all else related. How inventive the cast and crew had to be was shown across musical numbers to, again, the props and tactics employed for a non-permanent space. The climax itself uses a digital display to “ghostwrite” a grave message to the antagonist.
Additional performances of “ROALD DAHL’S Matilda: The Musical” are from March 14 to March 16, with showtimes consisting of Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Maintees will be on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m..
Tickets, $17 in advance to $22 at the door, are available at soperreesetheatre.com or calling (707) 263-0577.
