On April 3, 4, 5, and 6, the Hatboro-Horsham Theater Department took us into the world of Matilda. The story follows a young girl named Matilda, who has an imaginative mind and neglectful parents. Her whole world shifts when she goes to school and is bullied by the headmistress, Mrs. Trunchbull. Together, with her new classmates and her kind new teacher, Miss Honey, Matilda learns some valuable lessons about her world and herself.
One big part of Matilda is all the fun music that brings the story together. Mr. David Fernandes returned as the music director and worked with a live pit. He notes that “this music moves from absolute absurd chaos to lovely melodic lines and jazz all within minutes! Each character and plot point have a designated theme that is either sung or heard in the underscore played by our live orchestra. If you listen to the music, it foreshadows to the audience what happens next in the story.”
Sophomore Gabriel Conti-Brown, who plays Mrs. Trunchbull, says that everyone [has] given their all, from the smallest parts to the biggest parts.
Sophomore Rylan Nellett, who portrayed Miss Honey, speaks about her favorite memories throughout the show: “During rehearsals when we’re not doing blocking or anything, but we’re just vibing with each other, and you know, it’s kind of like we’re putting everything together, like big pieces, but at the same time we get to be simple and have fun with each other at the same time.”
Freshman Faith Ciciarelli, who played the lead Matilda Wormwood, loved when everyone put their costumes on for the first time because it was fun to see the cast look like their characters. She also felt the costumes helped keep everyone in character during rehearsals.
Junior Emily Murray, who played the energetic Lavender, shares some fun details, and points out that “if you watch the kids doing any of their background stuff, [they’re] doing some weird things, so that’s always fun. Also, Michael and Rudolpho doing anything is hilarious.”
Many of the cast, crew, and audience members loved one particular scene that happened at the end of intermission starring Mr. Wormwood and Michael. Junior Paisley Lauzier, who portrayed Mrs. Wormwood, spoke on the amazing song, “Telly:” “So far, my favorite memory has probably been definitely watching “Telly” and getting called on because I felt so embarrassed, but in a good way.” Some elementary school students came to see the show and left many wonderful messages about how much they liked “Telly” and the rest of the show.
This group also learned something new throughout their experience performing this show. Freshman Ryan Walsh, who played timid Bruce, learned that you need to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people. Senior Kasey McLaughlin, who played the show-stealing Mr. Wormwood reminisces about his time in HHTD. He says, “You can’t recreate this anywhere else. Sure, it may be similar, but you can’t recreate this.” This show was special to so many of the students, and they created a bond with each other that will last a long time.
Nellet summed it up well: “I just love how we are all able to work together, and we can do body language, or we can improv and we don’t have to ask permission to just be able to act with each other and collaborate with each other in ways that convey our story.”
