Matilda the Musical: All you need to know 📕
🎶 Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty 🎶
The Royal Shakespeare Company's beloved stage adaptation of Matilda brought Roald Dahl's magical story to life and the show has now been entertaining audiences around the world for over a decade.
Here we'll dive into what you need to know about the Royal Shakespeare Company's Matilda the Musical including where you can see it, who's in the cast and the film adaptation.
What is Matilda about?
Based on the novel by children's author Roald Dahl, Matilda tells the story of a misunderstood schoolgirl called Matilda, who has an exceptional intelligence and eventually learns she has telekinesis. Despite her cruel parents, Matilda is encouraged by her teacher Miss Honey who can see her potential.
With her magnificent wit and powers, Matilda becomes the glimmer of hope her classmates need to take on their terrifying headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.
Matilda the Musical: West End cast
Estella Evans, Selena Karir and Arabella Stanton will join Sophia Goodman in the title role of Matilda, with their first performances from the 12th September 2023.
Kieran Hill will join the company in the role of Miss Trunchbull alongside Lydia White as Miss Honey. Rakesh Boury and Amy Ellen Richardson will continue in the roles of Mr and Mrs Wormwood.
Nolan Edwards, Sean Lopeman, Ruairidh McDonald, Kane Oliver Parry, Deborah Tracey, Esme Bacalla-Hayes, Ronan Burns, Ella Caldwell, Stan Doughty, Karina Hind, Roan Pronk, Gabrielle Davina Smith and Lauren Varnham will join the existing adult cast which includes Thea Bunting, Aaron Jenkins and Sam Lathwood.
The other young performers who join the London company in the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Nigel and the rest of the pupils at Crunchem Hall are: Sidhant Anand, Charlie Cox, Jack Dennis, Megan Donovan, Rosy Drury, Jake Durant, Phoebe Easom, Jaydon Eastman, Benjamin El Refaie, Jax Fenner, Max Garlick, Lilia Guinoubi, Gina Harris-Sullivan, Coco-Lili Hodder, Elliott Marsden, Sophia McAlister, Charlotte Mellington, Kanon Narumi, Toryn O’Callaghan, Zarian Marcel Obatarhe, Kristiano Ricardo, Harriet Rogers, Azalea-Belle Sharp, Archie Smith, Joshua Wahab.
When did Matilda the Musical first open?
The musical first opened as Matilda, A Musical at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in late 2010 with previews beginning on 9th November and the official opening night on 9th December.
Matilda the Musical began previews in the West End on 25th October 2011 with the official opening night taking place on 24th November.
Who wrote the music for Matilda?
The music and lyrics for Matilda were written by Tim Minchin who at the time was known as a musical comedian. Since the success of Matilda the Musical, Tim went on to write the music and lyrics for the musical adaptation of Groundhog Day which ran at the Old Vic before transferring to Broadway.
Who wrote the book?
The book for Matilda the Musical was written by scriptwriter Dennis Kelly who has written for theatre, TV, film and radio. His play DNA became used as a core text for some GCSE students.
Has Matilda the Musical won any awards?
The musical has won over 90 international awards. In 2012, Matilda swept the Olivier Awards with a whopping seven wins! The four original West End Matildas - Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington Cox and Sophia Kiely - jointly won the Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical
Matilda holds the record for the most wins at the Oliviers for a single musical tying with Hamilton and the 2021 revival of Cabaret who took home seven Olivier awards in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
Is there a film version?
You may have heard of the original film version of Matilda from 1996 which predates the musical adaptation. However, a new film based on the musical was released in UK cinemas in 2022 and is now available to buy digitally and watch on Netflix.
The new film version stars Emma Thomson as Miss Trunchbull along with Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey, Alisha Weir as Matilda and Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as Mr and Mrs Wormwood.
Where is Matilda the Musical in London?
Matilda's West End home is the Cambridge Theatre which is located in London's seven dials right next to Covent Garden. The nearest tube stations are Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line), Leicester Square (Piccadilly Line, Northern Line) and Holborn (Piccadilly Line, Central Line).
Is Matilda on tour?
Not at the moment, there has only been one UK and Ireland tour of Matilda the Musical so far. The tour opened at the Curve in Leicester in March 2018 and closed in Norwich in August 2019.
Is Matilda on Broadway?
It was, Matilda the Musical transferred over to Broadway in April 2013 at the Schubert Theatre. The show broke the theatre's box office records and ran until 1st of January 2017.
How to get tickets to Matilda the Musical
Tickets for Matilda the Musical are available by visiting the Box Office or by booking online. The show is booking through until 15th December 2024.
Is there a ticket lottery for Matilda?
Yes there is! A £25 ticket lottery for Matilda the Musical can be entered on the musical's official website.
WATCH: Trailer for Matilda the Musical:
Our favourite musicals based on books:
Cabaret
Kander and Ebb's hugely successful Cabaret which is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic was based on John Van Druten's play I am a Camera which in turn was based on Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical novel, Goodbye to Berlin.
Cats
A slightly different type of adaptation came with Cats. A collection of T. S. Elliot's poems about cats were published in 1939 in a book called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
The poems were used as lyrics in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical Cats which was at one point the longest running musical both in the West End and on Broadway.
The Color Purple
Alice Walker's 1982 novel The Color Purple has been voted one of the UK's most loved books and Alice became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The novel was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985 and a musical that explores more of the themes included in the source material opened on Broadway in 2005. The musical version of The Color Purple is now being adapted into a film.
Doctor Doolittle
During the First World War, Hugh Lofting began sending illustrations to his children about a physician who could talk to the animals. He went on to publish the stories with the first one released in 1920.
The stories had their first big screen adaptation in 1967 with Rex Harrison as the titular character. The film and stories were adapted for the stage with the first run taking place at the Hammersmith Apollo with Phillip Schofield in the leading role.
Gypsy
Gypsy Rose Lee, who was famous for her striptease act, released her autobiography titled Gypsy: A Memoir in 1957. The book served as the inspiration behind Jules Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents' iconic 1959 musical, Gypsy.
Legally Blonde
Now many of us know that Legally Blonde was based on the hit 2001 film starring Reece Witherspoon, but did you know that the film was based on a book of the same name?
Author Amanda Brown wrote a novel based on her own experience at Stanford Law School. Before the book was even published, the manuscript caught the attention of Hollywood and both the book and film were released in 2001 with the musical adaptation first opening in 2007.
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables is considered one of the best novels of the 19th century and it's fair to argue that Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's musical adaptation is one of the greatest musicals of all time. Having opened in the West End in 1985, it now holds the record as the world's longest running musical.
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins made her debut in P. L. Travers' children's stories with the first book released in 1934. It took Walt Disney 20 years to convince Travers to allow the film to be made - but she wasn't a fan of the final product.
When she was approached by Cameron Mackintosh for the stage adaptation, one of her conditions was that nobody from the original film could be involved with the production. This meant that the Sherman Brothers were barred from writing the additional music.
Matilda
Roald Dahl's beloved story of an intelligent young girl that had telekinetic powers was brought to the stage in 2010 when it opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Matilda the Musical has music and lyrics by Tim Minchin transferred to the West End in 2011 and won an impressive seven Olivier Awards.
Oliver!
It's fair to say that Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! is one of the most famous British musicals around. It's fitting considering the musical's source material, Oliver Twist was written by one of the most famous British authors, Charles Dickens.
The Phantom of the Opera
There have been many adaptions of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera - including multiple musicals. But it's Andrew Lloyd Webber's version that became an icon of the genre of musical theatre.
The musical first opened in 1986 and is now the second longest running West End musical and the longest running Broadway show.
South Pacific
A collection of short stories about the Pacific Campaign in World War II by James A. Michener was published in 1947. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific which opened on Broadway in 1949.
Wicked
Considering Wicked's huge success as a musical, many don't know that the musical is in fact based on a novel. Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was first published in 1995.
It's worth mentioning that the content of the novel has much more adult themes compared to the musical adaptation.
Read more:
Wicked: Everything you need to know about the West End hit 💚
Les Misérables: Everything we know about the legendary musical 🇫🇷