Review Roundup: Did Critics Think MATILDA Brought Her Magic to Zach Theatre?

MATILDA THE MUSICAL opened at Zach Theatre in Austin on April 3 and is running through May 12, 2019.

Take a journey through the world of the Tony Award®-winning hit, Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical! Matilda is an extraordinary little girl who dares to take a stand and change her destiny. When she has finally had enough of her unscrupulous parents and tyrannical headmistress, she enlists the help of her friends-and favorite teacher Miss Honey-and bravely takes matters into her own hands to become the biggest little hero. Matilda is sure to delight and empower audiences of all generations.

Age recommendation: 6 and up; No children under the age of 3 will be admitted into the theater.
Run time: Two hours and 30 minutes including one intermission

For tickets and more information, please visit https://tickets.zachtheatre.org/single/PSDetail.aspx?psn=7978

Let's see what the critics have to say...

Andrew J. Friedenthal, Austin 360: Zach's production falls prey to the danger of these shifts, with several very dark scenes featuring the titular hyper-intelligent Matilda's emotional neglect and abuse at the hands of her parents, as well as physical abuse from school headmistress Miss Trunchbull (played with heightened camp by J. Robert Moore). From an adult's perspective, these scenes are jarring and disturbing enough to sit awkwardly next to silly musical numbers about eating a giant cake or an intense P.E. class (though judging from the raucous response of the audience throughout, other viewers may feel differently).

Brian Paul Scipione, CTX Live Theatre: Michelle Ney's phenomenal set provides the first impression of this production. Dominated by drab colors in gray, black, and faded white it strikes the eye as very minimalist. Chalk boards with clever messages scrawled across them are mounted aside and above the playing area (my favorite was the simple 'help'). Other props are outlined in chalk. Ney's design is a witty cross between an elementary school, an asylum, and a dystopian factory. One of the ensemble pieces during the second act conjured up for me the powerful images of the school scenes in Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Lynn Beaver, BroadwayWorld: I have to say first that I was so utterly charmed by this show, I find myself smiling every time I think of even a small detail of the play. Abe Reybold and Nat Miller's direction is superb, never pausing for breath in the fantastic whirlwind that sweeps us along from beginning to end. Michelle Ney's set design is cartoonish perfection, no detail has been overlooked. She adds surprises with every number and gives us a true feast for the eyes. Costumes by Susan BranchTowne are wonderful, I especially enjoyed the variation in school uniforms for each student.

Dr. Cliff Cunningham, Sun News Austin: But one keeps coming back to Trunchbull, a cardboard cutout character of sadism. Her persona is unfortunately one dimensional as we never see the personal internal conflicts that generate interest in, or even sympathy with, an otherwise loathsome person. The playwright did not heed the dictum of Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938), whose psychological model of acting has had a tremendous influence on theatre and film, when wrote "seek in the villain where he is good." We are repulsed by her, but never really engage with her. In this she is like another haughty sadist, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (by another English writer, of course!). The fault lies with the character, not the actor who faces a mountainous challenge in bringing this dominatrix to life.