RATING: 4/5
THE Nardone Academy in Fife brings you this delightful musical.
Based on the Roald Dahl’s kids’ novel, Matilda, and then brought to life as a movie in 1996, then successfully brought to stage with original songs by Tim Minchin.
This show is the “junior version”, shortened down adaptation, which is perfect for all the kids – even the younger ones – with a runtime of 60 minutes.
The kids put on a fantastic performance, packing a lot into the one-hour show.
Even whilst queuing up for the show, Miss Trunchbull (played by Cole McLaren) was out scouting the audience and scowling in full character.
Erin Kempton plays the quiet but super intelligent Matilda. The star of the show boasts brilliant singing for an exceptional performance from Erin.
The scenes with Matilda and the librarian throughout the show are a lovely touch, helping to break up the scenes and the musical numbers.
Her parents are played by Keava Doig and Dylan Weatherup.
The cockney accent and swagger of Mr Wormwood was perfect, whilst Mrs Wormwood was on par with Rhea Perlmans’ movie version, screeching and all.
A highlight was Bruce Bogtrotter (Noah Brotherton) and the cake scene.
Not a giant cake from cook to eat but a cake still, nonetheless.
This will bring back some memories for the adults in the room when they first saw the scene in the Danny Devito movie or reading the book for the first time.
The energy from the kids in the show is electric.
The songs are performed by the Nardone Academy brilliantly, although choreography could be a bit tighter.
The stage was not that big, so can’t fault them for that. It would be great to see this company perform it in a bigger venue.
Definite must see with the kids!
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