Alright, so Boston 6/21/2016.
I’m no professional reviewer like my friend @krokodile , but I’ll give it a spin. So let me start with a few general notes about the show.
- This board is so weird... I had a few understudies on that were listed in the program, but not on the board. Also, Will Coombs played Nigel not Aiden Glenn. And my mysterious missing Tommy was played by Trey Middleton.
- Speaking of Will Coombs, I was in doubt at first that he was on because seeing him in Miracle was so strange...there were definite blonde pieces of hair coming out of his spiderman hoodie... and Will is not blonde. So I really thought for a moment that Aiden or Trey were actually on (I know, both not blonde either but lighter hair). Anyway, I’ll get to the real review of these kiddos in a few.
- I sat in a limited view in the Opera House (tickets are waaaay too expensive for that place and I wasn’t about to pay 200 dollars for a show I’ve already seen 4x). By the start of the 2nd act, everyone around me had moved because they “couldn’t see”.... MAYBE DONT GET A LIMITED VIEW SEAT THEN? It was weird. You definitely couldn’t see the back of the stage (I couldn’t see Sarah when she was sitting on the book case), but I really didn’t think it was so bad for only 20 dollars. (!)
- Before anyone asks, I really don’t think there were any mistakes in this show. I’ve seen something go wrong in every show I’ve been to...but this one was pretty flawless (although, I may not have seen it :) ).
- My Matilda was Sarah McKinley Austin. For those of you that have followed my account, I have seen Ripley Sobo, Fina Strazza and Tori Feinstein (x2). Sarah was definitely a unique Matilda, but overall gave me so many flashbacks to when I saw Miss Ripley. She’s passionate, emotive, and definitely expressive. She has these big sad eyes that really just make you feel for this kid. I’ll probably be hopping all over the place but a few highlights are as follows.
- She has such unique body movement. That’s such a weird thing to pick up on but she really brings her own flair to the way she carries herself as Matilda. She’s almost a bit fidgety at times, and others she’s very confident. For example, she seemed a bit nervous when she was talking to Miss Honey in the first few classroom scenes. She kind of held her hands around her jacket and moved them up and down. Then, as time progressed she seemed to open up more and more, and by “My House” you could see the obvious comfort ability between Matilda and Miss Honey. And on the opposite end, her gestures to her parents and Miss Trunchbull completely read “you are the dumbest people I’ve ever met”. Her facials towards her parents reminded me SO much of Ripley.
- Her stories kept everyone at the edge of their seats. I honestly am so bored of these stories at this point, to the point where if I listen to audios I’ll just skip over all of them. But Sarah had such an interesting way of story telling. It really didn’t seem like she was thinking about her lines, but rather thinking about what SHOULD come next in this story. She also has the BEST voice for the escape artist. It gets so deep and just cracked me up.
- She’s just a little firecracker/powerhouse in general. I just simply adored her portrayal. She was the first Matilda I had that got REALLY upset over her dad ripping up her book. Her back was to me at that point but her body language and the crack of her voice was all I needed to hear to feel completely heartbroken for this little girl. Also, side note... I always thought Tori was a pretty hard Matilda to beat in terms of beautiful “Quiet”’s, but Sarah may have passed her in that sense. She was just so into the song and I could tell she was so... in her head? if that makes sense. It seemed like she was just letting everything go.
- Alright next I’ll comment on Paula Brancati as Miss Honey. I really didn’t know anything about her coming into Tuesday night, but my god... she was just heartbreaking. The whole time I was watching her I kept thinking “gosh, @krokodile would love her”. I hope the audio does her justice, but honestly she was just everything Miss Honey should’ve been. So warm, light, and emotional. I would compare her to Alison Luff a bit... she wasn’t as fragile as Jill Paice or Jennifer Bowles, but definitely brought the passion and heartache during “My House”. The only thing I didn’t like was that she spoke the words “it isn’t much” for the entire song...Idk I’m really picky (you can hear it on the audio), and it’s a personal choice but I just didn’t like the way it sounded. Overall though, she is a fantastic Miss Honey and she’ll only get better and better.
- OKAY LET ME TALK ABOUT Kim Sava as Mrs. Wormwood. So this was my very first Mrs. W that I’ve seen that isn’t Lesli. I’m not going to compare the two because they’re vastly different, but oh my god I loved Kims take on the role. She was HILARIOUS and had a wonderful voice. She was just so high energy and enunciated so well and idk, I could talk about how great she was forever. It was to the point where I had to look in my program because I have heard such great things about Darcy that I was like “well maybe that is Darcy”, but no no it was Kim and people should talk about Kim more because she’s FABULOUS.
- Speaking of fabulous/hilarious... Brandon McGibbon was the BEST Mr. Wormwood. He did so many things that were so different from what I’ve seen. My favorite example is during the scene right before “I’m Here”, when he said the lines “ Now, a drill's motor: It rolls backwards thousands of times a second “ he got really low and close to Sarah and spoke directly to her like she was dumb as a rock, then got back up and continued talking. It was SO interesting and added so much to the character. He had little moments like that all show that just made me realize how funny of a character Mr. Wormwood is. He was just so great!
- Ah, okay so like with Mrs. Wormwood, I have never seen another Miss Trunchbull until Tuesday. Dan Chameroy was just so perfect as Miss Trunchbull. He was the perfect mixture of feminine and masculine, and I’ve never heard an audience laugh louder. He was absolutely amazing and just brought so much to this role.
- Another great stand out was Keisha T. Fraser as Mrs. Phelps. She was so adorable with Sarah and was so enthusiastic about every story. She also had a great accent going on!
- Justin Packard was a fantastic Doctor/Escape Artist. I think the most recent Doctor I saw on Broadway as Geoff Packard, so that’s cute! He actually did remind me a lot of Geoff, for both roles. He has a wonderful voice and was really funny as the Doctor. Sarah’s mic was turned way down in “I’m Here” so I got to hear Justin’s passionate, lovely voice and it was just great.
- Stephen Diaz as Rudolpho and the Party Entertainer was hilarious. He was like a little firecracker in “Loud” and was so energetic. I know, firecracker and energetic are two words I’ve already used in this review, but this cast was really on fire and just seemed so happy/thankful to be there.
Okay so it’s kind of tough for me to review the ensemble members because I didn’t really know who was who (I don’t know the tour cast that well, and they just had a cast change). But I will mention a few that stood out to me/little things I remember.
- Laurin Padolina I believe was the one in charge of making sure the mat stays against the box in “Smell of Rebellion” when the kids are doing their trampoline tricks. She was SO funny when the mat came out a bit, she sprinted over and sprinted back and idk she made some great facials. Dan also threw his sweatshirt against the wall instead of into the wings and she sprinted out and idk why it made me laugh so much but she was really funny.
- Darren Burkett as Michael Wormwood was GREAT. Generally not a role I tend to comment on, but he had a great way of saying his lines. I know that’s funny to say, but he didn’t scream them... he almost seemed proud of every word he said. It was really adorable.
- I, for the life of me, wish I knew who danced in “Loud” because I got to see two of them in the wings right before the number going over their dance. It was precious and reminded me (since it is not obvious at all) that this cast is so new. I THINK it was Jacqueline Burtney and Gray Monckza but I could be totally making that up. Any who, this ensemble was great in its entirety. So I won’t leave out the names: Cameron Burke, Anthony MacPherson, Eric Craig (Sergei) and Natalie Wisdom (Acrobat).
Alright so now to the new Toronto kiddos! I believe this was either their second or third performance. It’s unclear if they performed on Sunday evening, but I assume they did. So I’m going with third show.
- Aiden Bushey played Bruce and was really adorable. From where I was sitting, I didn’t see him a lot unfortunately, but he really had a wonderful voice in “Revolting Children”. He also had a great monologue before “Bruce”. Again, I couldn’t see him in a lot of scenes but he really is amazing and will continue to be great in Toronto!
- Riley O’Donnell played Lavender and seriously I think I may have a new favorite here. She just stole the show and is such a star. The kid has so much energy and excitement, and she’s just cute as a button. I’ve never heard an audience respond to Lavender in such a positive way. The shows I’ve been to, everyone LOVED Lavender (I mean, Grace and Sofia...seriously what’s not to love about those two?), but everyone was just dying over Riley’s cuteness. The audience literally clapped and cheered after she said “there’s a bit coming up, that’s all about ME!”. She’s also a really, really good dancer and one of the best dancers out of the new kids.
- Will Coombs played Nigel (even though the cast board says Aiden), and as I said, I had no clue it was him until probably the first classroom scene. He looked way different on stage than he does in his headshot. He did possibly one of my favorite things of the whole show. During Miracle, before the kids made their entrance with the lab coats on, he was in the wings completely dancing and spinning his stethoscope around. It was SO cute and hilarious and I really don’t think he thought he was visible. Other than his humor, he really was a great Nigel. He had great enunciation and was an incredible actor.
- My tiny, adorable Amanda was played by Isabella Stuebing. I could see Isabella very visibly in “Bruce” and “Revolting Children” and she completely killed it. She’s definitely a very accomplished dancer, and brought along an energy to match that. She’s pretty comparable with Beatrice Tulchin, although Isabella is SO tiny. She also ran Dan off the stage right before “Revolting Children”. She was screaming “Run” in his face and it was PERFECT.
- Eric was played by Tanner Quirk and he was just so cute. He seemed really nervous before the ear pull and in “Smell of Rebellion” in general. I didn’t think he’d be so little, but he was smaller than Sarah (and Sarah LOOKS literally 5 years old). He was a really, really great dancer and so funny crawling all over the floor. I thought he was going straight for the orchestra pit when Dan was pulling him on his mat, but he hung on for dear life.
- Alice was Molly Richardson and she is another one that’s clearly a VERY accomplished dancer. She brought so much spunk and hit her moves so hard in “Bruce”. Sadly, I couldn’t see her a lot of the time, but she really was fantastic from what I saw of her, and I love how crazy her pony tail is. She also had really, really great facials but none were too over the top or annoying whatsoever.
- Hortensia was played by Kendyl Ito and oh my god, she’s SO SMALL. I feel like I’ve said that for almost every kid, but Kendyl is not an actual child. She’s another one I couldn’t see well, but when I did she just looked like she was having the absolute time of her life. She seemed like a really great dancer as well.
- Lastly, Tommy was played by Trey Middleton. This was a really nice surprise since I figured Trey had graduated, but he was just great. Another one to be a wonderful dancer with great energy. The cool thing about this cast is how well they all worked together. These kids looked like they’ve been dancing together for years.
Well, that’s all I’ve got. I had a really great time at the show and I’m planning on going back on Saturday evening. I’m 100 percent positive that I will have a Cantilda, so look out for another review and audio coming your way. Any questions at all about the show or Boston or anything... feel free to message me! Have a great night everyone :)
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