Newtildas

[ethan231h]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 6:10pm

so on Show People this week with Lesli Margherita said that they are getting g4 new matilda's next month, does anyone know who? wasn't this a short performing period for them?

Thanks!!

Updated On: 7/18/14 at 06:10 PM

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 6:19pm

That does seem rather soon for them to let the current Matildas go. How often do they change the London Matildas?

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 6:47pm

That seems about right, though. The OBC Matildas started previews in March and left late last year, having stayed about 7-8 months. Next week will mark about 8 months for the current Matildas.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 7:07pm

^ You are correct. For some reason, I thought the OBC had had a longer run. It seems like an expensive endeavor, having to coach a new set of kids every eight months, but kids do have unexpected growth spurts and could age out of the role in less than a year.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 9:24pm

I don't think they are aging out at all...or growing too tall with a growth spurt. I think the Matilda company simply does not want to disrupt their lives for too long. The originals opened in April and left 8 months later and this is pretty much the same this time around. The Newtildas will have had a great experience and then get to go back to school is September in a regular schedule if that is what they want.

They all have this wonderful experience and then it's time to let some other talented girls have the opportunity as well. Some of the London girls had even shorter runs. Both Sophia and Kerri left in early April after opening in November (yes Kerri did Stratford I know).

Well I have gotten to see 7 Matildas. I wouldn't mind seeing Ripley again..I think they are all pretty amazing but she is something else. 4 more to see?



Updated On: 7/19/14 at 09:24 PM

[VotePeron]

Posted: 7/18/14 at 11:43pm

Newtilda's rehearse the role for 3 months. There was a post on Playbill.com back in April/May about seeking girls to be the new Matilda's. I agree it does seem the OBC were in it longer, however it does equal out.

Having seen all 8, I agree with Kathy that Ripley is extraordinary. Her and Bailey really packed the full punch! However, all 8 were/are successful in the part, and I was never once disappointed!

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 2:47pm

I have a question: Does anyone happen to know what's up with the new accent they have talk the Newtildas?

I saw the Broadway production for the first time since previews in April, and Gabriella was on, and I noticed that her accent is very rhotacized (the r's are pronounced in the same way they are in American English). The result is something like a West Country accent (specifically Cornish) and at times almost Irish. I looked up the other three Matildas on YouTube, and it appears that they all do this. I just assumed that whoever did such an excellent job accent coaching the OBC girls must have left the production and the Newtildas had received sub-par accent coaching. But none of the other new children in the cast use the rhotic accents. They all sound pretty solidly London. Now I'm thinking this was a conscious choice on the director's part? Perhaps they were afraid Matilda would be too difficult for kids to understand?

I found it quite jarring. The accuracy of the accents was something that really impressed me about this production. The rhotic accent actually makes the lyrics more difficult to understand, especially "Naughty" and the beginning of "Quiet", and it doesn't really make much sense for Matilda to have an accent from another part of the country from her parents or schoolmates in the context of the show.

EDIT: You can hear what I'm talking about in the video below.

Newtildas perform Naughty Updated On: 7/20/14 at 02:47 PM

[lillebjorn]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 3:21pm

By coincidence, I asked a friend in the show about this a few weeks ago and, apparently, it was a decision by the producers to change the Matildas' accent but not to change anyone else in the cast. I think the original decision was to Americanize them to a Mid-Atlantic accent! The reason given for the change was that the audience couldn't understand them. Halfway through the NewTilda rehearsals, the producers decided they sounded too American (!) and the coach shifted the accent to being pretty much British with R's which would indeed make them sound Irish at times.
I thought the original girls accents were excellent, considering their age, and many reviews, including the British newspaper The Guardian, commented on how good the kids accents were.
My friend said the coach remains the same one from the beginning of first rehearsal - and why did they not get a bio in the PlayBill? They deserved it and how! My friend also said the cast and many connected with the show were VERY unhappy with the decision to change the accents!
As it has panned out, the producers are now happy and it appears most of the audience don't notice. I haven't seen it recently. I think British with R's would sound weird but if that's what they wanted... The cast were ultimately relieved and thought the coach had done "an amazing job" to create a dialect that fulfilled the request and still kept the girls sounding as if they belonged within the world of the play.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 4:09pm

Thanks, lillebjorn! Interesting. I remember before the transfer there was some discussion about whether they would Americanize the show for Broadway, but Minchin's lyrics make that pretty much impossible. Many of the rhymes and wordplay only work with a British accent (especially "School Song" and "Revolting Children"), so I guess I can understand why they would leave everyone else's accent the same and felt they could change Matilda's. Still, I can't help but think any child who couldn't understand the OBC Matildas' accents would have much of a chance at understanding the show as a whole. Most of these lyrics go over even an adult's head upon first listen.

Can anyone who has seen the show recently say what the girls are currently doing? Is it still the Cornish-sounding accent?

[lillebjorn]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 4:36pm

I think, from the conversation I mentioned, that they still are using the same British with R's and will remain so. I asked my friend about the upcoming tour and they hadn't heard whether it will be the same dialect concept as NY or fully American. I hope not. I agree that Tim Minchin's lyrics and Dennis Kelly's book are so British that it could be a train-wreck just making it American.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 4:52pm

I noticed those accents too. I saw Matilda in late February with the first batch of Newtildas, and I was taken aback by the different accent compared to the rest of the kids (who were the original kids from opening night with the understudy going on for Bruce). I saw it with friends who didn't notice anything different, but I thought it was an odd accent choice actually made it more difficult to understand live. But then I heard some recordings of the new girls with the different accent and it didn't sound so bad.

Maybe it was just the live sound issues that this show has a problem with. Even so, it was a great experience.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 6:48pm

I think with these new girls it comes and goes...and you notice it more at certain times than at other times. Having seen all of them...it was interesting that you noticed it with Gabby because I think that she does a good job of not making much of the new choices..it doesn't sound all that awkward. I think the new accent is stronger and more jarring with some of the others (not a criticism of the girls - I know this is what they are asked to do)

But I do think it's difficult for all the Matildas because they have learned an accent that doesn't really exist...so it's hard to keep it up. One usually is able to learn an accent by hearing and mimicking it..but there is nothing to copy as it's made up.

That said, I saw Ripley most recently and I noticed the new accent much less than when I first heard her months ago. I think an actual British accent crops up more often....but because she is so sure of herself by now, it doesn't matter any more and people get what she is saying regardless.

But of course these girls have done this for 6+ months...so they are pretty comfortable with it. I assume with the new Newtildas it will be more jarring again in the beginning until they get comfortable with it too.

I personally don't like the new accent(duh) but I can't objectively say if it helps or hurts the general public from understanding the words. When I first saw Matilda last summer, I had no idea what my first Matilda was saying for much of the time but I blamed the sound system more than the accents. By now I know the dialogue/lyrics, so I obviously know what's being said...so I can't judge.



Updated On: 7/20/14 at 06:48 PM

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 8:42pm

Thanks, lillebjorn. I'm really curious how many aspects of the show will be translated for the tour, in particular the set, but I'll be curious to know how they handle the accent as well. I hope they eventually revert the accent to what they were, both for the tour and in NY, and just fix the sound issues people have been reporting. I think that would solve most of the intelligibility people have been having. I suspect audiences noticed the accent, but just assumed the same thing that I did (the girls just hadn't received adequate coaching), but the show as a whole won them over.

VIETgrlTerifa, the sound design has definitely been a recurring complaint about this show, both in NY and in London. I saw the show in Stratford, and the sound design was much more subdued -- quieter and very clear, at least from where I was sitting. The new sound design is much louder and murkier.

KathyNYC2, listening to what is on YouTube, Gabby's version of the new accent is definitely less pronounced than the other girls', though it is still there. I'm a London transplant, so maybe it's just more noticeable to me than it would be to an American audience. I'm glad to hear it's not as noticeable anymore. I can't imagine how awkward it must be to learn an accent which, as you said, doesn't really exist. It probably makes it more difficult to achieve a consistent accent because they're being asked to mix American and British pronunciation.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 7/21/14 at 12:08am

Having seen every new Matilda multiple times, I felt I should comment. I don't mind the new accent. Ava hardly even used it on Saturday night. And, it DOES help with understanding their lines. They say so much, so quickly, that it is super important they are understood. People who aren't common theater-goers can't pick up on what they're saying as much as we can. Ava and Gabby do the accent the best - 90% british with a touch of american, while Paige and Ripley do it more 50/50.

However, their performances grow and evolve SO MUCH over the course of their run, that it's hard to tell. A few months ago, Ava was lifeless on stage, and last night she was beaming, reacting, and fully immersed, giving one hell of a performance. It all varies.

But, no. I do not mind the altered accents, I do not think they deter from the show (as I think they help it), and I would believe they are training the New Newtilda's to do it as well.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/21/14 at 10:18am

I didn't really notice the accent issues, because I have always assumed that the only two characters in the show, who speak with London/Received Pronunciation accents (Miss Honey and the Doctor) were the only two characters who were Londoners. I don't watch quite enough BBC to be able to spot the dialects on some of the other characters. None of them are "stage cockney." The Wormwoods veer close to Catherine Tate's "Am I Bovvered" character, and Trunchbull has some of the same accent affectations that Tim Curry is famous for, but whether that is a regional thing or simply his own unique approach to speaking, I don't know.