Matilda: The Musical at Asheville Community Theatre
The British accents aren’t a good idea, but practically everything else in Asheville Community Theatre’s production of Matilda: The Musical is worthy of the grand applause the cast and crew received on opening night.
Sure, Dennis Kelly’s song-and-dance adaptation of the beloved Roald Dahl children’s novel is set across the pond, and a good amount of the show’s humor and charm is rooted in the auditory pleasures of American ears hearing English inflections. But that audience has to actually hear Kelly’s and lyricist Tim Minchin’s words for the jokes and heartfelt material to land, and this otherwise extraordinarily talented amateur cast struggles with enunciating through the foreign elocutions.
Fortunately, the gist of Matilda: The Musical cuts through the sound issues and is conveyed visually under the guidance of director/choreographer Zoe Zelonky — as well as when two or fewer characters share a scene and technical difficulties don’t win out.
As the titular gifted young girl who’s shunned by her ignorant, unintelligent family, Josephine Monastero shines supernova bright, commanding the stage with confidence and charisma that seems impossible for such a tiny person. If Ainsley McClure, who’s alternating nights in the lead role, is half as good as Monastero, attendees are in for a treat.
However, it’s far from the only terrific child performance that Zelonky wrangles from the committed ensemble. Though we get a taste of the sharp youthful cast during introductory number “Miracle,” the supporting players really get to show their stuff once Matilda starts school.
Most of these actors are in true chorus mode — singing and providing background action, yet Charlotte Reynolds, Elias Ritter, and Faris Faulkner make the most of their limited dialogue. In addition, Jude Soto is a riot as Bruce Bogtrotter, stealing scenes with his “burping skills” and his resolve while handling his punishment for stealing a slice of cake from cruel headmistress Miss Trunchbull.
Oh, right — adults show up, too! Sharvis Smith is delightful as Matilda’s kindhearted teacher Miss Honey, and Stacey Uria shows superb comic timing as librarian Mrs. Phelps, who hangs on every word of Matilda’s serialized story about an Escapologist (Shua Scilex) and his Acrobat wife (Evan Brooks) — a tale dramatized somewhat awkwardly with doubled dialogue, yet made possible thanks to Jill Summers’ versatile set design.
Elsewhere, while many of his lines are lost in a thick cockney accent, Matt Wade delivers steady laughs as Matilda’s dimwit grifter father. And though too squawky to understand most of the time, Maddison McMahan is nevertheless thoroughly entertaining as the child’s dance-crazy mother.
But once Paula O’Brien’s Miss Trunchbull shows up, Matilda: The Musical hits a new level of professionalism — and an audible one at that. The Irish-born actor proves an ideal fit for the tyrannical “educator,” whose obsession with fitness and power yield plentiful chuckles that go over doubly well thanks to O’Brien’s commitment to the humorless character.
Hopefully the problematic sound gets ironed out during the show’s second week. But even with it, there’s still plenty to appreciate from this smile-inducing production.
Matilda: The Musical runs through Sunday, May 5, at Asheville Community Theatre. For details and tickets, visit ashevilletheatre.org.
(Photos by Eli Cunningham)
