By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
The story of a young girl who uses her telekinetic powers against her oafish parents and sadistic schoolmistress is the latest musical production by the students at Warman High School, who will host three public performances later this week.
This year’s production is the Tony Award-winning musical ‘Matilda’, which is inspired by the book of the same name by author Roald Dahl. Notably, Dahl is the same creative mind who came up with ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, as well as the lesser-known (but still equally disturbing) works like ‘The Witches’ and ‘James and the Giant Peach’.
In ‘Matilda’, the exceptionally-clever title character must contend with boorish parents and an exceptionally-cruel principal with a seething hatred for children. Eventually, she begins forming a bond with her teacher, Miss Honey, as well as developing the ability to move objects with her mind.
Jesse Parenteau, one of four teachers overseeing the Warman High production, said this year marks the first time they’ve tackled Matilda.
Noting that they do a lot of performances for elementary and middle-school students, Parenteau said they were aiming for a storyline that can be enjoyed by younger children as well as adults.
Certainly, putting on a high-energy musical like Matilda isn’t easy, as the production is very complex in terms of its choreography and big musical numbers, not to mention figuring out how to display Matilda’s powers in a stage format.
In terms of the latter, he said they’ve figured out how to use technology and optical illusions to mimic Matilda’s powers. The rest just requires a lot of dedication on the part of the 35 to 40 students involved in the musical.
“The commitment level is huge for these kids. They’ve been coming in on weekends to practice and…they’ve made pretty much all their own props and costumes,” said Parenteau.
Nevertheless, “the kids have been having a blast” putting on the musical, he said, adding that they have all been working really hard. ‘Matilda’ will be performed for the public at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, November 28 and 29, with a matinee performance slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 30. Admission is $15 for adults and $5 for students.