‘Matilda’: School musical debuts in less than a month

At the first full-cast rehearsal of “Matilda” after the mid-winter recess, director John Kaasik was giving his high school actors some notes on creating the necessary intensity in their performances. “Time is compressed…everything is amplified.”

The cast, most of whom had not rehearsed for a week, got words of directorial wisdom to help them inhabit their roles as five-year-olds in the 31 days before showtime. “I want to work on that feeling that we are children. Take short steps, skip, and take skip-steps,” he said.

As they rehearsed a birthday-party scene, John reminded those playing parents to follow their children around adoringly, inspiring one actor to yell, “I love you!” at the actor playing her child.  

After the first run-through, John delivered another important piece of motivating information: “I’m going to give you actual cake.” Nick Labrozzi, whose character does not appear in the birthday-party scene, yelled from the back of the dark theatre, “Can I switch my role?”

The information gave one actor an idea for creating the necessary intensity in her performance, “Can I actually throw cake?” Stage Manager, Anu Kaasik, gave John an unmistakable, if non-verbal signal. “Anu says no, but if she weren’t here I would definitely say yes….”  forcing Anu to clarify. “No. It will land on somebody, and there will be cake on the stage.”

It may not be thrown, but there will be cake.