Review: MATILDA at the 5th Ave is Anything but R-E-V-O-L-T-I-N-G

I'm going to confess that I am in love with "Matilda, The Musical". I have been ever since I first heard the cast album. What I feared would be another bland attempt at putting a beloved children's classic on stage turned out to be a treasure trove of clever lyrics and great storytelling. And so with my love and familiarity of the show I was able to overlook some of the technical issues I saw with the current production at the 5th Avenue Theatre for my own personal enjoyment of the evening. But looking back on the evening I cannot deny that those issues were there, not only technical but who this show is intended for. But we'll get to all that in a minute.

If you're not familiar with Roald Dahl's classic tale, well I feel bad for you. "Matilda" goes so far beyond a children's story as it encourages kids to be extraordinary and think for themselves just as the titular Matilda does. Matilda (wonderfully played by Gabby Gutierrez the night I saw it) is the most self assured and thoughtful 5 year old you'll ever meet which is a miracle in itself as her parents (Quinn Mattfeld and Cassie Silva) are possibly two of the world's worst parents. They only care about all things loud and easy and constantly berate Matilda for her love of books and tell her how worthless she is. So when Matilda begins school she meets the lovely and kind Miss Honey (Jennifer Blood) who encourages the young girl, and all her students, to be all they can be. Unfortunately the school is run by the tyrannical Agatha Trunchbull (Bryce Ryness), a former Olympic champion who hates children and refers to her charges as revolting maggots. But the Trunchbull doesn't scare Matilda as she has learned from dealing with her parents that the best way to deal with bullies is to outsmart them. Even so, things become too much and her world begins to fall apart and that's when magical things begin to happen.

It's a lovely and very clever story which is why I'm thrilled that the musicalization of it from writers Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly is just as heartfelt and smart in order to do it justice. Matilda is so smart that a mere Disney-fied singing version of her would have never done. And the staging and presentation of this incredible world is absolutely stunning with some of the most well thought out and well used theatrical devices I've seen. Having said all that I'm really not sure how suited this is for little kids (as I saw a number of them at my performance). There's just so much stage wizardry and implied action telling the story that I think some kids would find it confusing. In fact I heard a number of "What just happened?" comments from the audience.

And then there was the tech. No, unlike in other performances, the show did not need to stop to reset or fix a set piece. It all flowed without a hitch. But, as you might expect, it was difficult to make out all of what the actors were saying, specifically some of the kids. It's going to happen when you have not so experienced young actors who aren't quite adept at enunciation and breath support doing thick British accents in a large theater. Luckily for clarity sake they had the open captioning reader board up the night I was there and while I usually find them annoying I found myself glancing over from time to time to catch a line I didn't quite get.

But tech and age level aside, for myself, I find this to be an amazing show and the cast certainly brought in the goods. Gutierrez was a delight and embodied this strong little girl with grace and heart. Blood makes for the perfect counterpart for the horrifying parents and has a pure and stunning voice that would make angels weep. Mattfeld and Silva bite into their horribly juicy parts and run off with the comedy of them especially the hilarious Mattfeld who completely nailed his number all about his love for "telly". But it's Ryness who completely walked off with the show. The costumes alone got the audience howling but his strength and presence is a force of nature and his Act Two number, "The Smell of Rebellion" is worth the price of admission.

So while I still love the show I cannot overlook the issues with the production. Work on the sound mix, get the kids some elocution lessons and maybe advertise more for 11 year olds and up and there could be no stopping them. But solely for me and for my enjoyment of the show, I would give "Matilda" a resounding YAY with my three letter rating system. A smart and thoughtful bit of theater magic that never talks down to its audience.

"Matilda" performs at the 5th Avenue Theatre through September 6th. For tickets or information contact the 5th Avenue Theatre box office at 206-625-1900 or visit them online at www.5thavenue.org.

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