Roald Dahl's Matilda, also known simply as Matilda and Matilda the Musical, is a musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly. It is based on the 1988 novel Matilda by Roald Dahl. The musical's narrative centres on Matilda Wormwood, a precocious five-year-old girl with the gift of telekinesis, who loves reading, overcomes obstacles caused by her family and school, and helps her teacher to reclaim her life. After a twelve-week trial run staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at Stratford-upon-Avon from November 2010 to January 2011, it received its West End premiere on 24 November 2011 at the Cambridge Theatre and its Broadway premiere on 11 April 2013 at the Shubert Theatre.
Matilda the Musical has received widespread critical acclaim and box-office popularity, winning seven 2012 Olivier Awards, including Best New Musicalat the time, the highest number of such awards ever won by a single show. Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Sophia Kiely shared a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Ten-year-old Worthington-Cox became the youngest winner of the award in any category. At the 2013 Tony Awards, the show won five awards, including the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dennis Kelly.
A film adaptation was released on 25 November 2022 in the United Kingdom by TriStar Pictures, followed by the United States on 25 December 2022 on Netflix.
Background In 1988, British children's author Roald Dahl wrote the original novel Matilda, illustrated by Quentin Blake, about a young intelligent girl who develops a love of reading despite her abusive parents and headmistress of her school, incorporating rebellion and magical powers. The novel was adapted into a 1996 American film directed by Danny DeVito as well as an audio reading by Kate Winslet and a BBC Radio 4 programme narrated by Lenny Henry.
In December 2009, the Royal Shakespeare Company announced its intention to stage a musical adaptation with direction by Matthew Warchus and adaptation by Dennis Kelly. Musician and comedian Tim Minchin was chosen to write music and lyrics after Warchus saw his 2009 tour Ready for This? and persuaded during the encore song "White Wine in the Sun". It was also revealed comedian and musician Bill Bailey had been asked to write the songs, however turned the project down due to other works. Coincidentally, Minchin revealed that he had originally attempted to gain permission from the Dahl estate to stage a musical adaptation in the early 2000s when writing for a local youth theatre in Perth, Western Australia.
Productions Stratford-upon-Avon (2010–11) In 2009, the Royal Shakespeare Company announced its intent to stage a musical adaptation of the story Matilda, engaging Dennis Kelly as playwright, Tim Minchin as the composer and lyricist, Matthew Warchus as director, Chris Nightingale as orchestrator and music supervision, Rob Howell as set designer and Paul Kieve as illusionist and special effects creator. Originally titled Matilda, A Musical, the show opened at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, England on 9 December 2010, following previews from 9 November. The production was choreographed by Peter Darling. Bertie Carvel played the infamous Miss Trunchbull, with Paul Kaye and Josie Walker as Matilda's parents, Mr and Mrs Wormwood, and Lauren Ward as Matilda's angelic teacher, Miss Honey. Three young actresses, Adrianna Bertola, Josie Griffiths and Kerry Ingram, alternated in the title role. The show ended its premiere engagement on 30 January 2011.
London (2011–present)
In 2011, the musical received its West End debut (under the new title of Matilda the Musical) at London's Cambridge Theatre. The show was originally scheduled to begin previews on 18 October 2011, but because of structural and installation work at the theatre, the start of the performances was delayed until 25 October. The opening night was postponed from 22 to 24 November. The musical opened in London to uniformly positive reviews; Kaye and Carvel received high praise for their performances. Many of the principal adult cast from the Stratford run reprised their roles in London. Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Cleo Demetriou, Sophia Kiely and Kerry Ingramthe only one to reprise her role from Stratford at this timestarred in the title role.
In October 2011, Matilda won Best Musical and Best Actor (Bertie Carvel) in the UK Theatre Awards, and in November 2011 it won the Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical as part of The Evening Standard Theatre Awards. The production was nominated in all 10 categories for which it was eligible at the 2012 Olivier Awards. The four Matildas performed "Naughty" at the awards show. Matilda won 7 Oliviers: Best New Musical, Best Director (Warchus), Best Actor in a Musical (Carvel), Best Actress in a Musical (accepted by four Matildas), Best Theatre Choreographer (Darling), Best Set Design (Howell) and Best Sound Design (Baker). This was a record number for any show in the event's 36-year history.
On 16 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show suspended performances, returning to the Cambridge Theatre from 16 September 2021. On 12 November 2021, a 10th anniversary performance celebrated 10 years since the show opened in the West End which featured a pre-show speech by Kelly and Minchin with many of the creatives and previous cast in attendance, including 42 previous Matildas. The production celebrated its 5,000th performance in April 2025.
Broadway (2013–17) On 29 February 2012, the RSC announced the show would transfer to Broadway in spring 2013; it would still be set in England despite initial pressure for the show to be Americanised. On 19 July 2012, it was announced that the show would open on 11 April 2013 at the Shubert Theatre, with previews commencing on 4 March 2013. Bertie Carvel and Lauren Ward reprised their roles as Miss Trunchbull and Miss Honey. Ted Wilson also continued as Eric. A four-girl cast consisting of Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon, and Milly Shapiro shared the titular role of Matilda.
The transfer cost to produce; it opened as planned on 11 April 2013, with Sophia Gennusa playing the leading role. Small changes were made from the London production; some lyrics were changed to suit American audiences, and more scenes used the orchestra pit/front stalls area of the theatre. The Broadway production also introduced an overture and pre-show curtain, as of June 2013. The Broadway production closed on 1 January 2017 after 1,555 performances.
US national tour (2015–17) On 1 June 2013, Tim Minchin announced during an interview that the show was preparing for a US national tour. Minchin said, "We just got it up in New York, there's a touring version that is meant to be going on in America...". Once again produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers, the tour began technical rehearsals and performances in May 2015 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before its official launch on 7 June at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Announced stops included the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California, the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington, the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas, the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida. The cast was announced on 21 April 2015. Three girls would alternate in the lead role: Mia Sinclair Jenness, Gabby Gutierrez, and Mabel Tyler. Gutierrez and Tyler made their tour debuts; Jenness had appeared in the original Broadway cast and 25th anniversary tour of Les Misérables. Other principal cast members included Jennifer Blood as Miss Honey, Bryce Ryness as Miss Trunchbull, and Quinn Mattfeld and Cassie Silva as Mr and Mrs Wormwood.
The national tour of Matilda had its first official performance on 7 June 2015 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Mia Sinclair Jenness played the title role. The US national tour ended on 25 June 2017 at the Chapman Music Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Australian and New Zealand tour (2015–17) Sydney: In July 2013, Minchin said that an Australian production was planned for 2015. The production, produced by Louise Withers, had preview performances from 28 July before opening at the Sydney Lyric theatre on 20 August 2015. The ticketing release date (October 2014) was announced at Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay, with Minchin, International Executive Producer André Ptaszynski, NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner and Sydney press in attendance. The cast included Marika Aubrey and Daniel Frederiksen as Mr and Mrs Wormwood, Elise McCann as Miss Honey and James Millar as Miss Trunchbull. Sasha Rose (12), Georgia Taplin (11), Molly Barwick (10) and Bella Thomas (13) shared the title role with Thomas playing Matilda on the opening night. The Sydney season ended on Sunday 29 February with Georgia Taplin playing the title role, before transferring to Melbourne.
Melbourne: For the Melbourne season, Dusty Bursill, Alannah Parfett, Tiana Mirra and Ingrid Torelli were announced to rotate playing the title role. On 3 January, Sydney Matilda Bella Thomas was injured and Parfett began her run early in Sydney, covering Thomas until she was better and joining the girls in a rotation until the end of the Sydney run. Mirra and Torelli made their debuts in Sydney's final week on 24 and 27 February respectively. The show opened at Melbourne's Princess Theatre on 13 March and was extended to perform until 11 November 2016. Some of the Sydney child cast members reprised their roles for selected performances in Melbourne; for example, certain performances featured Molly Barwick as Matilda.
Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland: A new season was announced to start in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Auckland. Izellah Connelly, Annabella Cowley, Venice Harris, Eva Murawski rotated the leading role of Matilda. The Matilda tour continued on to Brisbane from 25 November 2016 to 12 February 2017 at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) before moving on to perform at the Crown Theatre in Perth from 28 February until 7 May 2017 and from 21 May to 16 July 2017 at the Adelaide Festival Theatre in South Australia. The show ran in at the Civic Theatre in Auckland until 22 October 2017. Lucy Maunder was initially scheduled to take on the role of Miss Honey from McCann beginning the Brisbane leg. However, due to Maunder's pregnancy, the transition was postponed until 20 March 2017 midway through the Perth leg.
Toronto (2016–17) After the successful launches of Once and the Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots, Mirvish Productions chose to open a Canadian production of Matilda the Musical. The company opened at the Ed Mirvish Theatre beginning in July 2016, closing on 7 January 2017. Hannah Levinson, Jenna Weir, and Jaime MacLean rotated playing the title role. On 8 October 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and family attended a performance.
UK and Ireland tour (2018–19) On 11 April 2017, a tour was announced to begin at Curve, Leicester from 5–24 March 2018 before touring to Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin (4–28 April), Sunderland Empire (8 May - 2 June), Milton Keynes Theatre (5–30 June), Birmingham Hippodrome (3 July – 8 September), Manchester Palace Theatre (18 September – 24 November) and Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (4 December - 12 January 2019), Theatre Royal, Plymouth (15 January - 16 February), the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (19 February – 23 March), Edinburgh Playhouse (2–27 April), the Bristol Hippodrome (7 May - 8 June), Southampton Mayflower (11 June – 6 July) and Norwich Theatre Royal (16 July – 17 August).