iTunes Exclusive Episode Matilda The Musical

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The following is a sooner orgator production.
The following is a sooner orgator production.
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That also means you subscribe on iTunes because it's time for an iTunes exclusive.
The 138th one of these.
Welcome.
My name is Rob.
I'm the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast.
And I've been known to be magical.
But I'm not alone for this particular episode.
Joining me across the desk as he tends to do is a man that'll read a book on you if you let him.
He is Chad.
Welcome, sir.
Good evening, sir.
Also joining us is the official fact checker of this show.
And a man who is a spelling whiz.
You may know him as fun, don, go.
But his mom and even done for it.
I'm going to call him, don, for the welcome, sir.
Are you sure?
I'm not here to judge you.
Well, I spelled dog.
I spelled C-18.
Okay.
In some parts of the world, you made it very?
He said spelling whiz.
Not talking whiz.
Whatever we do one of these, it is to review something.
And this particular edition is no exception.
We are here today to review the performance at the Winsphere Opera House
in Dallas of the touring company of Matilda the musical opening of their new season.
Before we get, we got to think Cindy Evans at the Winsphere Opera House for
Binance to this thing.
He's so nice to us.
Everybody at AT&T Pack org.
Great job.
She is so sweet to us.
She is so good.
AT&T Performing Arts Center is an amazing facility.
The Winsphere Opera House is beautiful.
We said so many times and how the sound and everything.
Yeah, we love going there.
Thank you so much, Cindy.
The storyline here is, of course, about Matilda.
Based on the children's book by Roll Doll.
This is a guy that wrote Charlie in the Chocolate Factory.
Charlie in the Great Glass Elevator.
James in the Giant Peach.
And Chad, as you asked me last time, he did write the Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Good.
Okay.
Matilda is a young girl who is a surprise baby to her parents.
And a nuisance therein.
Who's very, very gifted.
Goes to her first day of school.
She could already write, do her multiplication tables.
And she just, boss of people to let her do what she wants.
Do what she does.
She's a good kid.
She goes to the library rent books.
And she tells these fantastic stories to the library in Mrs. Phelps.
And when she goes to school, the only person that really kind of sees her potential is her teacher, Miss Honey.
And it's kind of them rising up against the headmistress of the school known as Miss Trunchbowl.
And I think that's pretty much as far as I want to go.
And some other stuff happens too, but I really don't want to ruin it for you.
Chad, let's talk about the story itself first.
What did you feel about this story?
It reminded me of Annie.
It's kind of hard to avoid.
It's almost like the the Brit take on Annie.
I mean, I don't know if Role Dal came first or Annie came first.
I'm really nice to have the time.
Probably Annie by all wrongs are shot.
Pretty certain because Annie was like the 30s.
Yeah.
So it kind of seems like he must have read Annie and said, I could do this.
And you're welcome internet.
Wow.
Yeah.
But very, very dark.
Definitely not.
Like rainbow sun shines in, you know.
Oh, no.
I mean, I think that when parents may think about taking their kids to this, they might want to consider the age of that child before they go.
Because it goes to a very dark place.
I would say 9 or 10.
That's what I'm saying.
Yeah.
I would take a five year old.
It gets rough.
Yeah.
No.
No.
There's some.
There's some imagery and some implied imagery that would kind of hit hit really young kids a little sideways.
Agreed.
Don.
This production.
I'll just get into lead on this.
I was very disappointed when it came to the storyline.
How's up?
It dragged.
It dragged.
It dragged.
It's two and a half hours long roughly, not counting the information.
Correct.
It was a very simple plot when you think about it.
It's about a smart girl who has a story that she's thinking in her head.
And she goes to school and rebels and has a little bit of magical powers.
It finds out she's more gifted than anybody really likes.
Yeah.
But that's, you know, in saying she rebels as almost a stretch, she was just trying to fit in.
Yeah.
But her actions do lead to it.
Yeah.
It kind of got forced into it.
And she has about homework.
That's the story.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was what I got out after two and a half hours into this thing.
But you know it.
It's a big contrarian.
But you could say the same exact thing about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
About taking, having it take a while to get to where it was going.
Like, that movie really, if you think about it and that book does kind of drag.
It drags up until you get into the chocolate room if you want to get really talented.
The thing, the story is so simple.
It dragged in, dragged in, dragged in, dragged in, dragged in.
I was so disleaned.
You were like, what is the chase and we can get this going?
Yeah.
I mean, I was into it for the first 15, 20 minutes.
And that was really good.
But then it just nothing really happened that had important to this thing.
I only agree with you halfway.
I think the first act.
As we've seen kind of in the pattern with some of the musicals.
We've seen in the last couple of years.
Act 2 goes a lot faster than act 1 for me.
But act 1 did drag a little bit.
But something I had to keep reminding myself.
As we say at a lot of our reviews, I'm not technically the target demographic for this thing.
This target demographic is a lot a lot a lot younger than me.
So when I was watching this, I kind of had to try to look at it through the lenses of the audience.
They're looking for it.
I agree with what you're saying on that.
And there have been plenty of times where we're not the target demographic.
And we say this was wonderful.
We still enjoy it.
This is the only doll story that I've seen that I haven't loved.
As an adult.
To make a point, there was a child in front of me sleeping.
Hmm.
Who fell in the start of the second act, just like,
And look, she was out.
But see, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it.
I can say I enjoyed it lesser than his other works.
But that's still, you know.
That's still being the ugliest girl with a pretty party.
I put in the review at the clubhousepodcast.com.
That's our website.
I put under this thing could have been done in an hour.
Under an hour.
What would you like to see that?
But for me, I guess it didn't bother me as much.
Like, I can't say that it was the greatest musical I've ever seen.
But it was fun.
You know, the storyline.
I can't say that I didn't wander.
My mind didn't wander a little bit.
But I can't say that I hated it.
Well, and if that were the only problem that I had with it,
then that may be an easily addressable issue.
All right.
Let's talk about the other problems.
Because you and Donna apparently have the same problem.
Yes.
Feel free.
Oh, boy.
Because I'm going to save my opinion to offer you guys give yours because I really hate
to position that this puts us in because this kid really doesn't deserve the
bashing that you know.
Now, understand that if you go see this, there are three different people that
play them until the depending on when you see it.
This was me for our for our particular performance.
It was me as a clear genus.
I hope I got maybe a genus.
Genus, genus, probably genus.
Something a bit different.
This girl.
I'll go to that point in a little bit on your kind of point on that.
This girl, you can tell because I, I, I got exposed to the stage very early
on and in grammar.
You did.
You did.
And we really didn't rely all that much on amplification.
There wasn't a lot of microphones involved.
It was a whole different deal back then.
You were taught to project project project.
And unfortunately, whenever these kids are put in this position.
And I'm going out on the limb here and assuming that this is how this is still taught.
That they are, that they still need to project.
They, they don't need to rely on the microphone and kids.
The microphones ever go out.
You need to be heard in the back of the room without the assistance.
Right.
These kids take it to heart.
And they don't project as much as they just shout and yell.
All of their dialogue.
And when they sing, they shout the song.
Now, you couple that with the fact that she's also doing this in a very forced British accent.
I'm married to a British woman as most of the listeners of this show will know.
You're well, your wife who is a British descend.
She couldn't understand what this girl was saying.
And when your central character is shouting and can't even be understood,
that's a problem for me.
When you have a problem for the performer is it a problem for the sound engineer?
It's a problem for everything because he has a hard time balancing her if she can't control her own volume.
And when you're shouting something, you're still not that clear anyway.
Okay.
So when you couple this with an accent that you're obviously not really that familiar with or comfortable with,
kind of like the same problem that I had with Annie.
This girl would let her Brooklyn accent spill over her song.
And you couldn't understand what she was saying.
And we did talk about it in that particular iTunes.
And this is the same issue here.
But this is you couldn't understand half of what she said in anything of what she's saying.
That was iTunes exclusive number 114 for those who play in the home game.
So you're the star of the show.
You're the name say just like Annie, you're the namesake of the show.
And you can't be understood.
That's a problem.
And she's saying and talked too fast.
Too fast.
It's a good friend Jason who I brought as my guest that last night.
He said the same thing.
I can't understand what she's saying.
And there's one point where we made a where she speaks Russian.
And I'm going, what did she say?
I thought she was, she's been speaking Russian all night.
I mean, I think that's it.
That's sad.
But true.
I felt the same way.
Did she just say something else with a British accent.
I couldn't understand or she talked into this guy in Russian.
And how this girl got she was.
I was so unimpressed.
She was, I hate to say it.
Of all the leading roles of every production we've ever saw.
She was the worst.
Yeah.
It was a sad.
God bless her heart.
Don't be going on this.
I don't know if it's just how she was brought up to be how she was trained.
But they didn't really do this kid.
They've done her a disservice.
Because she can rely more on the technology.
She has available to her.
She doesn't have to scream everything she says.
And she needed more work on her accent.
Because she was unintelligible.
And I got to say I saw another girl who's playing one of the leads in this thing.
I saw her on the video of a local showed singing one of the songs that you're in the production.
And she sounded perfect.
It's like, how come we can get that other girl that night?
Because the other girl sounded so perfect.
Maybe she was in a studio setting.
And she didn't feel the need to project in a large room.
Yeah.
That makes two of those a whole different.
Yeah.
But still I could understand what she was saying.
Everything else this because she's in a different room.
Yeah.
Kids films.
And you understand what they're saying.
But she just forced the accent for too much.
I can understand half the stuff I got what she's saying.
There's one scene where she's doing the thing about the story of her mind.
And all that go.
What does she say?
Yeah.
Every time she was telling the story to the librarian, I couldn't understand any of it.
I really couldn't.
The only thing that made any sense to me was when we started getting visual cues.
When actors were coming out playing the roles of the characters that she's telling the story about.
I'm like, oh, that's what she's been talking about this whole time.
Yeah.
She was the horrible choice for the lead role I hate to say.
I only agreed you guys up to a point.
For me, it was more her singing than it was the acting.
You understood everything she said.
I can't say everything.
But I understood enough to keep the thing moving.
It was the singing where things got kind of jumbly for me.
Because like Don said, she was moving quickly.
There might have been some nerves.
I don't know.
Maybe so.
I just I can't.
I think this kid's got a bright future ahead of me.
I truly, truly do because she's she's got that presence.
Like it takes.
She gets out there on the stage and she does her thing.
And she's there's no shame in her about it.
She's right.
She's a brave kid.
I just think that there needs to be some coaching.
Yes.
That we're going to help her with the accident.
If you're going to stick with the British accent, stick with the British accent.
But but I, but to me that wasn't just her.
No.
She wasn't going to run my thing.
She wasn't going to leave out of the problems.
Kids had that problem with the accent.
True.
But she's your central character.
She's her name is in the title.
Right.
She is the title character.
And we had to hear her all night long from beginning to end.
And it became an exercise in frustration for me.
Fair enough.
I wish I want to enjoy this because believe me, there are things about this to be enjoyed.
We will talk about.
I'm sure we all will.
Just a moment.
Yeah.
I'm sure we'll all agree on one particular character that just blew the line.
But just having her be the focal point of this and have a character that you need captioning
turned on just to understand what she's saying and singing doesn't help.
It just hurts the production.
Fair enough.
But I'm not telling her.
Don't quit your day job because I agree.
She has a bright future.
She just needs a little more seasoning.
Little bit work.
But let's just get into it.
Everybody.
The guy who played missed church.
Truchable.
Now.
And he didn't miss speak.
It is a guy.
Yes.
It is a guy.
It's a guy.
Yeah.
Who was played by Bryce.
Bryce right now.
He's how it's pronounced.
Out of the park.
Wow.
How?
He was amazing.
Out of the park.
It's a guy that you.
It's a character that you can't stand.
But you can't get enough of watching.
And if you go to my written review at the clubhouse podcast.com.
That's our website.
I put on his mannerism and looking everything.
Remindiest symbols.
Old characters from the Looney Tunes.
Which Hazel.
I put that in mind.
Exactly.
I just had to walk the talk everything.
Alice the Goon is what popped into my head.
What the hair do.
I actually leave over to chat at one point and said.
This makes me want to see Jim carry in this role.
What was that character he played on in living color?
Oh.
Oh.
Venus the Milo.
Something like that.
Something along those lines.
That's another thing.
I'll like it.
Although you.
When you.
When you when you've mentioned a certain character.
A certain friend of ours in drag.
There's a lot of much.
Yes.
And you couldn't debate me.
No.
I could not.
I mean.
Specifically for me.
The standout number.
Is the smell of rebellion.
That was a huge standout for me.
But I got to say that Quinn Matt fell.
As Mr. Warmwood.
He's my second one too.
With that.
I mean, it's almost like they started the second act early in there.
Because not everybody had filed back into their seat yet.
And the house lights were still up.
That for me was like outside of that.
I thought he was good.
That moment was great.
That was his standout moment.
That's where he got.
That was absolutely brilliant.
It was kind of breaking.
I wasn't kind of.
It was breaking the fourth wall.
Bringing somebody from the audience into the song pretty much.
And I don't know if you read through or not.
But Cassie Silva who played Mrs. Wormwood.
Is one of two people in this cast that were in the broad by production.
And took to the roads that are staying on.
Because it's all on Broadway for my knowledge.
Keeping the same role.
That I don't know.
Didn't say in the in the play bill.
And the program.
What exactly.
She played.
During that song.
Tell it.
He owned that stage.
Absolutely.
And granted he had a lot of competition at the time when he was doing it.
But he owned that stage.
He was brilliant in that song.
I've let he got a showpiece.
Yeah.
Because he he was just kind of like a comic foil for the most part.
But you really saw what this guy was capable of.
What this actor is capable of.
I was a big fan of Jennifer Blood is Miss Honey.
Yeah.
Great job.
She did.
She was just the anchor.
The voice of reason.
You know.
She was.
You always need to have a character like that in something like this.
Something that stands outside of the insanity that's going on.
And you've also got.
One other aspect that we haven't talked about yet, which could be the strength of this
production.
Is the audio visual component.
Unbelievable.
Technical standpoint there.
You really couldn't complain.
Although although I do have to mention that there were a couple of times where
it sounds like mics were completely muted almost like when Matilda would turn her head.
Yeah.
Like whenever she was breaking from when she was again telling a story to the library and
and she turned her back to the audience and the librarian asked her a question.
And she responded to her answer and I never heard the answer.
Yeah.
But the the sets on this.
The lighting was beautiful.
So many.
So we're.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The backdrops everything.
The prop usage was was I thought spot on.
The lighting on some of those shots were just incredible.
School song.
Yeah.
With the alphabet.
Was awesome for me.
Yeah.
When you realize those boxes weren't lit up, they were lit by the spots.
Mm-hmm.
And everything was dead on.
And it's like they were building a Tetris board or something almost.
When Matilda would go in and out of a room.
Mm-hmm.
Very cool.
How have the library fit together like a jigsaw puzzle when everyone would come together.
And when you really watch and you look at the stage, there's different words
being spell that have to do with the production and all the blocks.
You know, there's Easter eggs out the water.
I was trying to find as many of them as I could.
Yeah.
When she's saying my house.
Oh, yeah.
Great performance there.
Oh, oh.
Miss Honey.
Yes.
Oh, God.
We knew something.
We was like, who was it then mentioned it?
That they could feel that there was a tear jerk or moment coming in active.
Was that you done?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Oh, that was probably Jason.
He said something's going to happen.
The other shoe is going to drop.
And it's something's going to rip our throats out.
And sure enough, he was right.
Yeah, Jennifer Blutz.
It was right after that.
Yeah, she did a couple songs in this thing.
Anything else you want to talk about?
Probably because it's violent.
Even though he didn't do much.
What he did do killed me was Rudolfo.
Oh, and I cast Andre Sims.
He was.
He was pretty.
He could make him be think of the.
An insight out when they were remembering that guy.
That's a doctor plan.
So maybe give.
Thank you.
Oh, God.
Although I didn't know what Chad and say.
And 1986.
Billy Williams just got some moose.
I almost elbowed you with the chip.
It's like, man, shut up.
Let me.
I've tried to focus on this.
You know, both both are parents were pretty good.
They were really good.
Cassie Silva and Quinn Matt felt were really good in their roles.
I just wish that Michael would have had a little bit more to do than just say one word
answers all the time.
Hey, you know what?
Best job in the production.
Easiest job in production.
The way we do the final analysis on this show is we don't give you thumbs up thumbs down.
We don't give you letter grades.
You don't give you stars one through ten none of that.
Since this is a stage production, it's a little bit different.
But the first question is always the same as would you see this again.
If the answer's no more done here.
If the answer's yes in the stage production, we want to know where you want to sit.
Because that dictates how much you're willing to spend.
Chad.
Would you see this again?
I don't know.
I'm really torn on this because I'm sorry it would have to depend on who's playing Matilda.
Fair enough.
In a perfect situation.
In a perfect situation, I would I would want to see this again just to see the differences.
And I wanted to be sitting a little bit closer if for another reason just so I could see the
channel here going.
I'm kind of a sucker for that.
But you know, when you're in that building, it's really hard to complain of any vantage
point that you've got.
That's true.
The wind's here is an amazing facility.
It's a beautiful building, you know, inside and out.
And it puts on one heck of a production.
So it's it's really hard to complain or really nitpick as to where I would want to sit.
Other than the fact that I would just want to watch the Chandlerosend because it's really a cold moment.
Tom, you just film again.
Or this production again, I apologize.
Yeah, as much as I love dryness and I love the lighting in the props.
Now, this thing just dragged and dragged and dragged and that performance of me for the
first time on production, I'm going to give the big no.
All right.
I would see this again.
But I'd want to bring a couple of of youngins with me.
Just to kind of gauge it through them because we did have a younger person with us.
A friend of the show, John Cothron, his younger daughter was with us.
Hey, Maddie, what's up.
I, but I want to go a little bit younger, younger kids.
I agree.
To kind of see it through their eyes and see how they react to it.
I think I especially, they're interested in it.
I kind of wanted to, because we sat right behind the right behind the aisle that separates the lower bowl
from the back of the lower bowl.
Maybe center myself a little bit more.
Yeah, I think that because about where we were sitting was about right for me.
Before we head out, we got to think Cindy Evans again at the Winspirropper house.
Oh, great to us.
I've been a team tea pack org for they've been so good to us over the last year, year and a half.
I mean, we cannot thank her enough.
Thank you so much Cindy.
I am so grateful for the relationship we have.
Oh yeah.
There's such that they're so amazing to us and they give us the chance to see wonderful productions
and give us the chance to give our opinions and they appreciate our opinions just the best part of it.
All right, gentlemen, through the plugs.
Yes, sir.
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Yeah, I've pretty palm-rained the audience dressed up for the theater.
I'm just saying.
The pre-seeding was a sooner or later production.
Gotta go get a go!
Why?
Because I have to.
See ya!
See ya!
The pre-seeding was a sooner or later production.
Gotta go get a go!
Why?
Because I have to.
See ya!