How Matilda The Musical Became An International Hit

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Since opening in 2010, Matilda The Musical has won over 100 awards across the world, including 24 for best musical. It broke records at the 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards, claiming the most wins of any show up to that date when it went home with a total of seven awards.

The Roald Dahl estate approached the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2003 about creating a musical version of the beloved 1988 children’s book. Though with the benefit of hindsight the show might look like a sure-fire hit, it was far from guaranteed that Dahl’s novel would work on stage. There’s the problem of Matilda’s magic, for a start. How do you make audiences believe that this character is moving objects with her mind? Then there’s the love of literature embodied by Dahl’s bookish heroine, which doesn’t easily translate to dramatic action. The RSC’s approach to these challenges was – like Matilda herself – unorthodox.

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PHOTO BY MANUEL HARLAN

They started with the book, approaching playwright and screenwriter Dennis Kelly to write the script long before a composer had been found. Usually, musicals work the other way around, prioritising the songs. And Kelly was an unusual choice to pen a family musical, with a background in gritty drama and acerbic comedy. The RSC’s eventual choice of composer, comedian Tim Minchin, was no less risky. But what these two outsiders shared was something that makes this show sing: a love of words and of storytelling.

After premiering at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2010, the show quickly earned a string of rave reviews and a West End transfer to the Cambridge Theatre, where it opened in October 2011. Then followed a run on Broadway and tours of the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, before the first non-English language production of the show opened in South Korea. This was followed by an international tour which opened in South Africa in October 2018 before heading to Singapore, China and Manila. The international tour re-opened in Tel Aviv in 2023, followed by a transfer to Dubai before heading back to Asia, transcending borders in the process.

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PHOTO BY MANUEL HARLAN

Having achieved huge success on the stage, in 2022 a film adaptation of the production conquered the screen. Also directed by Matthew Warchus, the twice BAFTA nominated film starred Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull.

More than 13 years on from its West End opening, Matilda The Musical already feels like a British musical classic with just as much appeal for misty-eyed grown-ups as it does for rebellious kids and has found a lasting place in audiences’ hearts.

Sometimes, after all, you have to be a little bit naughty.

Catherine Love is a freelance arts journalist, theatre critic and academic. Discover the latest tour dates at uk.matildathemusical.com

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