Scott Spence Directs his 100th Production at Beck Center with MATILDA THE MUSICAL

Beck Center for the Arts is announcing that Scott Spence is directing his 100th Beck Center production, a feat rarely achieved by artistic directors, with Matilda the Musical.

Highlights of Mr. Spence's directing career with Beck Center for the Arts include: Altar Boyz (which received an encore production at Playhouse Square's Hanna Theatre), two productions of Urinetown the Musical, and Evil Dead the Musical, which extended to a 12 week run in Beck Center's intimate Studio Theater.

This limited engagement of Matilda the Musical runs July 12 to August 11, 2019 in the Mackey Theater, closing the 2018-19 Professional Theater season. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Special Thursday performances will take place at 8 p.m. on August 1 and August 8, 2019. Buy early and save with promo code: MISSHONEY to receive $5 off each adult/senior ticket purchased by July 11, 2019. Preview performance is Thursday, July 11 before press opening night on Friday, July 12.Tickets range from $10 Smart Seats ® to $33 each. Group and student discounts are available. Tickets are on sale now.

Matilda the Musical, based on the novel by the brilliantly batty Roald Dahl, includes a book by Dennis Kelly, and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. Scott Spence chose longtime collaborator and creative partner Larry Goodpaster as musical director, and recent recipient of the Artistic Excellence Award at the 2019 Hispanic Leadership Conference , Martín Céspedes to again choreograph at his side.

Matilda the Musical won seven 2012 Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical and still holds the record for most Olivier awards won by a musical, tying with Hamilton in 2018. At the 2013 Tony Awards, the show won five awards, including the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Scott Spence says: "The comically nightmarish world of Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) makes for such excellent Broadway musical theatre. His world where the children find heroism among the most despicable of adults is so life affirming. Ten of the cast's 26 performers are 13 and under--- and they are powerhouses!"

Ella Stec and Sophia Tsenekos will play Matilda. Timothy Allen, a member of Actors' Equity Association, returns to play the role of Mr. Wormwood along with his cast mates, which include students with Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Program.

Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available. For more information visit beckcenter.org or call Beck Center Customer Service at 216.521.2540 x10.