Maggots!!!!

This one has been a long time coming - like Hamilton, I booked this one months in advance, although I guess it was more to do with it coinciding with my Dad's birthday. Last week, I finally saw Matilda: The Musical, based off the classic Roald Dahl book (written nearly 30 years ago!), one of my favourites as a kid (plus I LOVED the film adaptation).

Written by Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly, the show was originally the RSC's Christmas show in 2010 - the West End called immediately and in 2011, it transferred to the Cambridge Theatre, where it is still playing to this day (and is right near Udderlicious, my favourite ice cream place in London). The following year, it won 7 Oliviers, including Best New Musical, Best Actor for Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull (yes, in this version, the Trunchbull is played by a man) and Best Actress for the 4 actresses playing Matilda herself, who became the youngest ever Olivier winners. Fun fact, one of the original 4, Kerry Ingram went on to star in Game of Thrones, as Shireen Baratheon!
A Broadway transfer then came along, winning 4 Tonys (but lost Best Musical to Kinky Boots).

As you may/may not know, there is a lot of hype around show, similar to Les Mis, Hamilton, Wicked etc etc, so the question is, did it live up to the hype. The answer is HELL YES!!! That is when it started....! After a nightmare journey in, being stuck in Manchester traffic for nearly an hour, we ran into the theatre to find they were running behind due to technical issues. Thankfully, it was eventually resolved and the show did go ahead as planned. So now onto the show itself.

It may have been set problems earlier, but it still looked pretty seamless to me, not to mention how imaginative it is, particularly during School Song. I also loved the use in lighting during scenes in Matilda's house, which shows her neglectful parents (played by Rebecca Thornhill and Sebastian Torka) and her brother in the circle with Matilda outside; you'll understand that one more when you see the show.

As with many adaptations, it would have been impossible to put in EVERYTHING from the book, and it could have maybe explored Matilda's powers a bit more - but it didn't really matter compared to the actual evening itself. Like the original book (and the film), the story is incredibly engaging and enchanting, and the characters of beautifully written.

Craig Els is deliciously over the top as the evil headmistress Miss Trunchbull, but not so much that she turns into a pantomime dame/villain. He manages to play her with the perfect amount of menace and funny, quite a different take to Pam Ferris' terrifying interpretation in the film but no less enjoyable and no more an opposite counterpart to Carly Thoms' Miss Honey if he tried.

However, I have to say that the real stars in this show are the group of children. Often the young kids in a show can be the annoying ones, whether they be non-funny comic reliefs or the "Gee Mister" type - but I am seriously jealous how a. how talented these kids are, and b. how much energy they must have to pull of this show - as there is some seriously hard choreography.

In particular, I have to mention Sophia Ally as Matilda herself, who had the enormous task of carrying the whole show, was hardly ever offstage, and had 2 solo numbers (Naughty and Quiet) - she did NOT disappoint AT ALL!
Finally, I need to mention Dylan Hughes as the lovable and unforgettable Bruce Bogtrotter - his moment Bruce, the iconic chocolate cake scene was another big highlight in the show.

Seriously, where the hell do the casting directors find all these kids!

Insanely, I don't think the run is sold out, so GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! This is definitely one to see, whether you were a fan of the book when you were young, or you like a slightly darker piece of theatre - I should have mentioned that the script and the songs are as clever, witty and dark as Dahl himself was. I certainly hope that Dahl would have been happy with this adaptation of his story if he had lived to see it.