MATILDA Reviews- Page 6

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 5:17pm

The view from the balcony is perfect, it's been discussed on here in multiple threads.

NY Magazine is positive:
"Matilda the musical is not quite brave enough to be fully smart, but it’s still very good. Along with Carvel, who seems to love being outfitted with the largest sports bra ever, all of the adult actors pull off the comedy deftly. As the rubbery Mr. Wormwood, Gabriel Ebert (unrecognizable from last year’s 4,000 Miles) is an especially nitwit pleasure.
But it’s the young ones, under Matthew Warchus’s expert direction, who are in charge of the pathos, and seem strangely committed to it. I’m not sure that Oona Laurence (one of four rotating Matildas) smiled even once during the show, including the curtain call. How odd to be asked to carry so much sorrowful responsibility as a child! It must be a relief for the young actors — I know it is for the audience — when at the beginning of act two they get to sing a lovely, simple, Beatles-like tune called “When I Grow Up” while flying on rope swings high above the stage. In it, they dream of being old enough to handle the burdens that life, with its rude sense of humor, has already given them."

http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/theater-review-matilda.html

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Huffington Post is a rave:
"Okay, now how do you raise those greatly elevated levels? Not by a better cast, although this one is every spoken word, every sung note and every danced step as good as the London ensemble I saw. Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull repeats his performance, committing one of the best cross-dressing turns since Alastair Sim let loose in the St. Trinian's flicks. Lauren Ward nicely repeats her turn as unsticky sweet Miss Holly and with Ted Wilson is as hilarious as big-voiced Eric as he was.

The rest of the cast members are stateside replacements who have, for only one outstanding accomplishment, gotten accents down as if they were all born across the sea. The enchanting Matilda I saw was Milly Shapiro, whose rendition of the song "Quiet" is especially poignant. (The Matilda role is shared by Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence and Bailey Ryon, and most of the to-die-for children's roles are also played by four young performers.)"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-finkle/first-nighter-matilda-tea_b_3064811.html

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NorthJersey.com is positive:
"Equipped with a smart book by Dennis Kelly, and witty and imaginative songs by Tim Minchin, director Matthew Warchus and choreographer Peter Darling let their inventiveness roam free, using the entire theater as a playing space.

In many ways, the show is reminiscent of another hit British musical, "Billy Elliot."

Both are about the difficulties faced by a gifted child in hostile family circumstances, with the title role alternated among multiple young actors.

And like "Billy Elliot," "Matilda" has an extravagant desire to please, even to the point of including numbers simply because they’re fun, rather than needed to tell the story."

http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/theater/202646671_Theater_review___Matilda___best_new_Broadway_musical_of_the_season.html?page=all

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The Village Voice is mixed to positive:
"As the nasty teacher Miss Trunchbull, Bertie Carvel has a hunchback and pretty much a hunch front too. He wears a brown burlap-looking dress over a blouse and tie, which go perfectly with his pinched face and hair. He's a scream as he carries on with extreme pique and almost runs over the audience when cannbonballing through the aisle.

But the show's over-the-top level can be tiring--almost running over the audience indeed--and a lot of the songs are wordy emissions that sound more work-in-progress than classic stage tunes. Still, it's a kiddie show done with spirit, audaciousness, and a minimum of cheap sentiment. Matilda will surely go waltzing home with some Tonys."

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2013/04/matilda_opens_o.php Updated On: 4/12/13 at 05:17 PM

[AndrewAndrew]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 6:09pm

Based on the much beloved children's book by notorious weirdo Roald Dahl (Willy Wonka etc.) Matilda, the biggest thing to hit musical theatre in recent memory. It's finally made it to the American theater, but is this kid over-hyped or truly gifted?

Find out in our full review!

AndrewNdrew video review of MATILDA

[Sweet_Henry]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 8:36pm

Many thanks to all who've provided links to reviews; I joined BroadwayWorld specifically in order to track response to MATILDA. I saw the show in London last June, and was more excited by it than by any other musical in the past few decades (I was part of the Broadway community as a teen-aged actor in the 1960s and 70s, but now live on the west coast).

This is my 1st post on this board, so please bear with me if I've gone about it in a clumsy way (this is a reply to the post that originally began this thread. Should I have done it differently?)

Anyhow, here is a very, very positive review from Adam Green for VOGUE MAGAZINE:

"...though I had liked Matilda a lot when I saw it on the West End last year, I really loved it this time around. It felt sprightlier, more moving, and life-affirming, without having lost any of the darkness that marks it as a product of Dahl’s mordant imagination. It’s an utter charmer about the redemptive power of stories and the imagination that’s all but impossible to resist."

http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/stage-notes-matilda-on-broadway-and-tales-from-londons-west-end/#1







Updated On: 4/12/13 at 08:36 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 10:57pm

"IF this British import wins over the American penned KINKY BOOTS it will be a sad day for American theatre.

It's already a sad day for the theatre, one of the saddest in history. And it has nothing to do with British vs. American or Kinky Boots.

It has to do with the shameless effrontery of those now shoving yet one more lemon down our throats.

One more blow of the demolition ball to the sacred temple of the theatre.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 11:20pm

It's already a sad day for the theatre, one of the saddest in history. And it has nothing to do with British vs. American or Kinky Boots.

It has to do with the shameless effrontery of After Eight now shoving yet more narcissistic self-gratifying nonsense down our throats.

One more blow of the demolition ball to the sacred temple of the theatre.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 11:23pm

Did everyone sign an agreement to use "mordant" in their reviews right now?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 11:26pm

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Which After Eight will say is nothing like how lemonade used to be, but continue to drink anyway.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 11:32pm

I'm sorry to be rude, but it has to be said: After Eight, people like Matilda. Get over it!

Updated On: 4/13/13 at 11:32 PM

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 4/13/13 at 11:16am

"If there's gonna be a psychotic hype train following around a show from this season, I'd much rather it be Matilda than some of the other options."

And that has just become my favorite pull quote, ever. :)

[broadwayghost1]

Posted: 4/13/13 at 1:54pm

My view from the balcony at Matilda

Updated On: 4/13/13 at 01:54 PM

[Jack Hughes]

Posted: 4/13/13 at 2:31pm

Dear Mr. Eight

Sometimes I wonder if you're kidding, if you're half kidding/half earnest, if you just love being a provacateur, if you're middle aged, sort of old, or perhaps a precocious 14 year old playing a character, but it doesn't matter. I would just like to say that your posts, and the exchanges they generate, keep me checking these boards on a more frequent basis than I ever would have imagined, and are a great source of entertainment.

Please keep doing what you're doing, with tongue in cheek, or not, and thanks for the fun.

[BOM]

Posted: 4/13/13 at 2:44pm

I actually ended up getting two front row mezzanine seats.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/13/13 at 10:36pm

Dear Mr. Hughes,

Thank you for the (backhanded?) compliments. I'm glad you find me entertaining. As for your confusion as to who or what I am, I'll clear it up as best I can. I'm old and in earnest.

I also tell it like it is, which is the only way I can tell it.

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/13/13 at 10:51pm

After Eight is definitely part of the larger family around here. Love him or leave him; he's not going anywhere. Cheers!

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 3:16pm

"How do you solve a problem like “Matilda”? How do you handle the juggernaut it’s become? ...."
Matilda Review: The Anti-Annie Conquers Broadway, Alas

[Nickhutson]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 5:30pm

Of course Lauren Ward is an American actress... and the wife of Matthew Warchus.

Updated On: 4/15/13 at 05:30 PM

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 6:50pm

Thanks for telling me Nick. I've edited accordingly.

[Sweet_Henry]

Posted: 4/24/13 at 6:26pm

In THE NEW YORKER (April 29 issue), Hilton Als gives "Matilda" an entirely positive review, praising all the principals (describing Oona Laurence as "deep" in the title role, Gabriel Ebert and Lesli Margherita as "faulous," and calling Bertie Carvel "a great new star"). He says the show is "directed with head-spinning alacrity by Matthew Warchus."

There's not a negative word, yet it's an oddly incomplete review that doesn't even mention Tim Minchin, the score, the production design, etc.

Bottom line: he loved "the strength and wildness of the show, which you can't put on pause. Nor would you want to."

Sorry not to include a link. This review is available online only to subscribers.



Updated On: 4/24/13 at 06:26 PM