{"id":2245,"date":"2022-03-02T11:20:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T16:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=2245"},"modified":"2022-03-02T11:20:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T16:20:44","slug":"matilda-the-musical-really-is-a-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/matilda-the-musical-really-is-a-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"Matilda the Musical Really is a Miracle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Claire Fagan and Babiha Kaur, Staff Writers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

River Hill theatre arts students are currently preparing to perform Roald Dahl\u2019s Matilda the Musical<\/em> from March 3rd to 6th.The cast and crew have been working since December to ensure that the show is unforgettable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The musical tells the tale of Matilda, an intelligent five-year-old girl, rebelling against the evil headmistress at her school with the help of Miss Honey, her compassionate teacher. While the main character is a kindergartener, an audience of all ages can follow the musical\u2019s theme: fighting against oppression while believing in oneself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freshman Bhavika Vyas plays the role of Alice, one of Matilda\u2019s classmates. She remarks, \u201cI\u2019m a little kid, so I get to show so much energy onstage. There\u2019s never a dull moment!\u201d This is Bhavika\u2019s first musical and she is greatly enjoying the extensive rehearsals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past two months, students have been memorizing their lines, practicing music, learning choreography and dances, blocking for the show, becoming familiar with their cues, and running the whole show. Additionally, the show is set in Britain, so all cast members with speaking lines are learning the proper accent to portray their characters. There is always something to do during these fun and chaotic rehearsals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The company rehearses six days a week for three hours. Junior Isabel Marcus, who plays Miss Honey, explains, \u201cI\u2019ve been running my lines [and] reading the script like a book before bed. I\u2019ve practiced music on the piano so I can get a feel for the accompaniment. During rehearsals, I take the notes that I get and I try and remember them.\u201d Everyone in the cast takes notes from the directors to constantly learn and improve their performance on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rose Fernandes is a senior who plays Tommy, another classmate of Matilda\u2019s. She explains, \u201cIt\u2019s really nostalgic especially for me and other seniors who are turning 18 this year. [In] the song \u2018When I Grow Up,<\/em>\u2019 you\u2019re thinking, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m about to be a grown-up\u2019. One minute you\u2019re performing on a stage, you\u2019re five years old, the next minute you\u2019re 18 and you\u2019re actually an adult.\u201d Matilda<\/em> is not the show Rose expected to perform for her senior year; it centers around young children, while most musicals portray older characters. However, she still loves looking back on her childhood through this acting role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matilda<\/em> is not the only production River Hill Theatre has performed this year. Much of the cast involved in the musical also took part in the fall play, The Complete History of Theatre (Abridged). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Finn Yu, who plays the Children\u2019s Entertainer and Sergei in the musical, compares his experience in the play to that of Matilda<\/em>. He shares, \u201cThere are a lot more people involved in the musical. In the musical, there are a lot more roles so a lot more people can take part and there\u2019s a lot more even distribution of the roles.\u201d Although Finn prefers acting in the play, he still takes pleasure in being a part of the musical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the pandemic has greatly impacted musical rehearsals. Bhavika elaborates, \u201cIt\u2019s definitely created a struggle for us to have contact. Singing and dancing at the same time, that\u2019s a real problem.\u201d Despite some students struggling to breathe and perform in a mask, continued rehearsals have helped the actors build up stamina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cast has found a way to have fun despite COVID precautions. Like in school, students are allowed to remove masks for the live performances if they feel safe enough to do so. Right now, given the uncertain nature of the pandemic, this option is a double-edged sword and it is up to the opinion of each individual to decide where they stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anticipation is rising for the upcoming musical. Everyone, cast and crew included, is excited to put on a great show full of heart and hope for the River Hill community. Rose comments, \u201cThe pandemic was a good time to take a break and look back at the meaning of theatre. It reminds me of how much [the musical] is worth it because you\u2019re doing it because you love it. It\u2019s definitely worth it in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Claire Fagan and Babiha Kaur, Staff Writers River Hill theatre arts students are currently preparing to perform Roald Dahl\u2019s Matilda the Musical from March 3rd to 6th.The cast and crew have been working since December to ensure that the show is unforgettable. The musical tells the tale of Matilda, an intelligent five-year-old girl, rebelling…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Screenshot-2022-03-02-111954.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2247,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions\/2247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}