MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood School District announced earlier this week that, amid COVID-19 precautions, Columbia High School’s winter musical, “Matilda,” has been postponed. More details will be announced as they become available.
Below is the article that ran in the March 12 News-Record, which went to press before the announcement had been made:
Columbia High School had six performances of its annual winter musical scheduled, reserving the school’s auditorium for the second and third weekends in March for its production of “Matilda.” Tickets went on sale online in February.
They sold out.
Faced with the first time in CHS theater history that demand for tickets exceeded the number of tickets available, the creative team added a seventh show. The cast and crew are now hard at work getting ready for opening night of the musical, which is based on Roald Dahl’s children’s book and the 1996 movie of the same name.
“I love another show,” Jordan Muhammad, a senior ensemble cast member, said about the additional performance in an interview with the News-Record at a March 2 rehearsal. “I could do this for a whole other weekend.”
The show is about Matilda, a young girl with telekinetic powers who overcomes obstacles at home and forms a bond with her teacher, Miss Honey, despite the evil machinations of the school’s headmistress, the Trunchbull. Junior Anna Pettigrew is playing the title role.
“I was obsessed with Mrs. Wormwood,” she told the News-Record about the character of Matilda’s mother, who is being played by Rocky Ancinette in the CHS production. “I never thought I would play her, and definitely not Matilda. But I’m short and I look young, so I think it works.”
Most of the cast was familiar with the story already, having either seen the show during its four-year run on Broadway or read the book and seen the movie. But copyrighted material doesn’t allow independent productions to use the same choreography, so the CHS show doesn’t look the same as the original.
“I think we’re one of the first high schools to do it since it’s been off Broadway,” Pettigrew said. “We can’t do the same things that they did, but that’s been a little bit relieving. We’re doing our own thing.”
Adunni Rae is playing Alice, one of Matilda’s classmates. She agreed with Pettigrew.
“Our version is a little different, but it’s so perfect for the people we have,” Rae told the News-Record. “I was really interested to see how the directors were going to do their own version of the show. I think all of our leads do such a great job.”
Both Muhammad and Rae said the cast and crew has become close throughout rehearsals. “Matilda” has drawn musical theater novices, such as senior Josiah Howell, to the CHS auditorium as well. Playing one of the Big Kids, Matilda’s older classmates, Howell told the News-Record that he never thought of himself as a singer before this.
“I’m a dancer,” Howell said. “I usually do regular theater, like plays. But in this show there’s not a lot of still singing, and I really love the dancing in it. So I decided to audition. I thought putting all the singing and dancing together would be hard, but it went fast.”
Though “Matilda” is a musical based on a children’s book and movie, Howell said there are storylines and jokes in the show for all ages. Even so, some parts of the narrative are dark: Abuse and death are a part of the script.
“There’s some stronger themes, like, you know, murder,” Howell said. “But it’s told from a kid’s perspective, so it’s not too heavy.”
Muhammad pointed out the parallels between the show and what’s happening in the real world.
“There are so many underlying messages in ‘Matilda,’” she said. “The way Miss Trunchbull treats the children is almost like the criminal justice system. Once she decides they’re guilty, they’re guilty. There’s no deciding if they did anything or not. There’s the idea that ‘I don’t care about you, I just want to profit off of you,’ which also happens in our society. There’s so many underlying things that I hope adults see. The younger ones don’t have to, they can just like the songs.”
The parallels aren’t lost on the rest of the cast members, either. But there are also uplifting motifs in the show.
“The message is just be brave, no matter how old you are,” Rae said.
With only eight days until opening night, the cast and production team are finalizing the sets, costumes and choreography. Aside from the teachers and other adults who are directing and producing, the show is made up entirely of students, including the stage crew, the musicians in the pit and the set builders.
“Everyone gets along really well, and everything is done by kids,” Pettigrew said. “It’s a really fun show.”
Pettigrew isn’t the only cast member who’s been having fun performing this year. Muhammad and Rae aren’t looking forward to the final curtain call.
“You almost don’t want it to start, because then it’s basically over,” Muhammad said.
Photos by Amanda Valentovic
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