Sydney to Host Premiere of Matilda The Musical

Matilda The Musical will have its Australian Premiere at Sydney Lyric Theatre in August 2015, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell announced today (February 27, 2014).

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical, featuring music and lyrics by Australian comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin, is based on the beloved novel by best-selling author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox). It is the story of an extraordinary girl who dreams of a better life. Armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, Matilda dares to take a stand and change her destiny. 

Matilda The Musical has proven an enormous success in London’s West End and on Broadway, where productions continue to play to packed houses and capture the imagination of young and old alike.

On the confirmation of the Australian Production, Tim Minchin said,"Working on Matilda has been one of the greatest thrills of my life, and I’ve been aching to let her loose on audiences at home. Most of us grew up reading Dahl - the Australian sense of humour gels so well with his dark, iconoclastic tone. The last time a musical I helped write opened in Sydney, the actors almost outnumbered the audience, the theatre leaked, and my drummer was a bass player. If Matilda’s arrival is half as fun as that was, it’ll be a hoot.”

Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director, and Catherine Mallyon, RSC Executive Director, said: “We are thrilled that we are able to waltz the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical to Australia in 2015, following the production’s success when we premiered it in Stratford-upon-Avon, and since then, in London’s West End and on Broadway. We have already had a very warm welcome from our producing partner, Louise Withers and the New South Wales government.

"It will be the first time the Company has been in Australia since our touring production of Rape of Lucrece played at the Sydney Festival and in Melbourne last year  -  and we are very excited to be coming back, especially in the company of Australia’s own musical genius Tim Minchin, and his creative partners, Dennis Kelly, who wrote the book, and Matthew Warchus who directs.  We are thrilled to share Matilda’s journey with Australian audiences and hope it proves as popular here as it has been in London and New York.”

Matilda The Musical was commissioned by the RSC and played to sold-out audiences at the RSC’s The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for twelve weeks from November 2010 to January 2011.It transferred to London’s West End on Tuesday 25 October 2011 where it opened to rave reviews.

The New York production of Matilda The Musical opened on 11 April 2013 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatreto rapturous reviews and has been celebrated on 10 “Top Ten” lists for 2013, including TIME Magazine’s #1 Show of the Year.

Sweeping the board at the 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards, winning a record-breaking seven awards, Matilda The Musical has gone on to take Broadway by storm winning four Tony Awards® and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for each of the four girls sharing the title role. The show has now received a total of 47 awards in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and New York.

Matilda The Musical is directed by Tony Award® winner Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage), who helms this production with a book by Tony Award®-winning playwright Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.

The production has sets and costumesby Tony Award® winnerRob Howell,with choreography byTony Award® winner Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Tony Award®winner Hugh Vanstone, and sound by Simon Baker.

Matilda The Musical will be produced in Australia by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Louise Withers, Michael Coppel & Michael Watt with André Ptaszynski and Denise Wood as Executive Producers.

Casting is expected to begin late 2014 with ticketing information to be announced at a later date.

The Australian premiere of Matilda The Musical is proudly supported by the NSW Government through Destination New South Wales.

Images: (top) The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical. Photo by Helen Maybanks and (lower) Alex Gaumond (Miss Trunchbull) in the RSC's production of Matilda The Musical. Photo by Manuel Harlan.