BWW Blog: MATILDA Lead Sarah McKinley Austin - HOW TO SUCCEED Under The Stars

By: Nov. 21, 2016
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MATILDA lead Sarah McKinley Austin, left,
and her guest pose for a pre-show pic in
Sarofim Hall at The Hobby Center
for Performing Arts located in Houston, TX.
Photo courtesy of Sarah McKinley Austin

Ten-year-old actress and singer Sarah McKinley Austin set down the spells and sat a spell in Houston's Hobby Center to watch a Theatre Under The Stars performance of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, which must have left a lasting impression on the 5th grader. Read what Sarah had to say about HTS below.

I was invited by TUTS to attend the musical HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING at The Hobby Center in my hometown of Houston, Texas. I recently returned home after a year-and-a-half of performing in the national tours of ONCE (as Ivanka) and MATILDA (as Matilda). This time it was fun to sit back and enjoy the show as an audience member!

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING is about a man named J. Pierrepont Finch (Chris Dwan) who tries to rise to the top at the World Wide Wicket Company. Finch, the main character, is very adventurous! I loved how he used his little book "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" to go from window washer to chairman of the board. Chris Dwan was spectacular in the lead role!

One of my favorite characters was Rosemary Pilkington (Ashley Blanchet), Finch's girlfriend and secretary. Her character has a very good sense of humor and I liked her bouncy hair and cute clothes. One of the funniest scenes occurs when she shows up to a party in a one-of-a-kind green dress from Paris and all the other secretaries are wearing the same dress! Rosemary also has one of the fastest "quick changes" ever. I had a seven second quick change in Matilda but hers is more like Superman in a phone booth. You must see this show to believe it!

Sarah McKinley Austin, standing above with the HOW TO SUCCEED cast, won't
let a little thing like "little" stand between her and a dream role. The ONCE THE MUSICAL actress says she'd like to play HTS's Hedy LaRue, an audacious red head with "a swag wardrobe" who "rocks in her high heels." Photo by Melissa Taylor

There is also a rad scene where someone yells "Coffee Break!" Everyone lines up for coffee but the coffee maker is empty. Even though I'm only 10 years old, I could relate to the lyrics "If I can't have my coffee break...something inside me dies!" The song and choreography was so funny! It made me think of my own favorite - the Starbucks peppermint mocha Frappuccino; it is so good! Lucky for Starbucks, my friend Nicole also cracked up when she heard this song. I think a new generation of coffee drinkers is on the way!

If I could choose a role to perform when I'm older, I'd want to be Hedy LaRue (Felicia Finley). She has bright red hair, a swag wardrobe and she really rocks in her high heels. Her character is very dramatic and it would be fun to play that role on stage!

Sarah's not Hedy LaRue but she makes do.
Shown here portraying Matilda in MATILDA,
THE MUSICAL. Photo by Aram Boghosian
for The Boston Globe

Seeing this show brought back many amazing memories from when I performed at The Hobby Center in ONCE THE MUSICAL. I was very impressed by the talent and skill of the performers in this show. Their acting, singing and dancing skills were impressive! I'm so glad I got to see HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING and I would love to perform in a Theatre Under the Stars production someday!

Correction: November 22, 2016
An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Sarah McKinley Austin as a 4th grader currently travelling with the MATILDA! National Tour. At the moment, McKinley Austin -- a 5th grader -- is not on tour.

Someday, someway Sarah will appear under the stars. Until then, she'll just have to settle for her stint starring as the titular character in a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical tour.
(How can the suits at TUTS sleep at night?)

Learn more about Sarah by visiting her website at sarahmckinleyaustin.com or following her on Instagram @sarahmckinleyaustin. For information about the MATILDA THE MUSICAL production currently touring the U.S., see us.matildathemusical.com/tour.

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is a non-profit musical theatre company based in Houston, Texas. TUTS has produced 300+ musicals including local, national and world premieres. In addition to hosting many educational initiatives, TUTS is a member of the Independent Presenters Network and regularly helps mount shows on Broadway (which subsequently show locally to Houston audiences). Get to know TUTS and The Hobby Center at tuts.com and thehobbycenter.org.



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