From March 1-3, the Freedom Drama Club performed their adaptation of Matilda the Musical. The cast worked hard to present a good show and that is exactly what they did. The students had to meet daily for practices, starting in November, leading up to the big performance. Three shows were presented to the public; one on Friday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Earlier in the year, the Drama Club hosted an Alumni Cabaret that allowed students to talk to and learn from Drama Club Alumni. At the conclusion of the cabaret, the Drama Club sponsors announced that this year’s musical would be Matilda the Musical. Matilda is about an extremely intelligent young girl who is unappreciated by her family. She uses her telekinetic powers, and help from her kind-hearted teacher named Miss Honey, in order to get revenge on her abusive principal, Miss Trunchbull.
After seeing this movie’s great popularity, many students in the Drama Club were happy to hear they would be performing Matilda. There was a rigorous selection process made behind the scenes, hoping to not spoil the surprise to the students.
“We chose Matilda because we saw that it was going to be a great fit for the students who came out to audition (and it really was!). We always go into auditions with a few shows in mind, and this one ended up coming up the most because of the ways that it fit the high school cast and gave us the ability to cast the middle school again too,” Ms. Debrah Evans said.
After hosting auditions and call-backs, the club announced the cast list. The lead role of Matilda Wormwood was junior Lainey Tuszynski, Miss Honey was portrayed by senior Morgan Shaffer and Miss Trunchbull was played by senior Lilly Burgess. Some of the other roles were: Mr. Wormwood played by junior Christopher Denkovich, Mrs. Wormwood played by sophomore Abigail Hunter, Miss Phelps played by senior Vera Armenio and many more. Along with the high school students, the Drama Club also included middle school students to play some key roles and participate in the ensemble. The ensemble is simply a large group of performers that sing and dance in unison.
“My favorite part about performing Matilda was getting to perform in front of an audience and tell them the story. Being able to stand under the lights and recite my lines to someone who has never heard the story before is truly special. The audience has no clue what happens next,” Tuszynski said. “Even though we have run the scenes countless times, each performance has to be delivered like this is the first time. The excitement never fades and you get to live in the moment as your character.”
With all of their talented cast members, stage crew and sponsors, this group of people does something special every year. Having each show being nearly sold out is a great way to prove that all of their hard work paid off and was appreciated.