Stage Right: Sometimes You Have To Be A Little Bit Naughty...

Hi, hope you all enjoyed my last blog, am now going to commence with part two...

After a brilliant morning wandering round Covent Garden buying stuff that we didn't really need but had to have (including a happy birthday banner for me to wear as we couldn't find a birthday badge) and having a spot of lunch we set off to the theatre...that is my mum, Alys and myself!

I have to confess that I have seen Matilda already on 3rd February so you can probably guess that I'm going to say that I love it. My only concern was that when I'd seen Matilda before I went to an evening performance to avoid there being too many children in the audience whereas this time we were going to a matinee. Don't get me wrong, I love children but had a bad experience when I saw Shrek when a 2 year old cried the whole way through and kicked me in the back of the head. That's enough moaning for now though and I have to say I was incredibly impressed for despite 50% of the audience being children, the whole theatre was silent thoughout the whole production...well except for when they were having hysterics!

The show was just as brilliant as I'd remembered...probably even more! What I find amazing is the stage presence of the children. It is almost impossible to look at the adults as the children captivate your whole attention. For our performance we had Isobelle Molloy as Matilda who was absolutely brilliant and simply couldn't be faulted. Sadly I do not know which children played the other parts but they were absolutely fabulous especially the boy playing Bruce! However, the talent did not finish with the children and the adult members of the cast were fantastic as well. For our performance we had quite a lot of understudies who were absolutely fabulous...there was Alastair Parker who was brilliant as Miss Trunchbull, Lucy Thatcher as Mrs Wormwood, Matther Malthouse as Rudolpho, Marc Antolin as the Escapologist and Tim Walton as Sergei, we, also had Steve Furst as Mr Wornwood, Peter Howe as Michael Wormwood, Haley Flaherty as Miss Honey and Emily Shaw as the Acrobat. Everyone was exceptionally brilliant, however, the biggest round of applause has to go to Alastair Parker, Steve Furst and Peter Howe who were absolutely hilarious thoughout the whole show. Overall, I don't think I've ever seen a more talented cast!

Moving on from the fantastic cast, I have to say that the costumes and set design are fantastic. The set is very minimal, yet expectionally clever. Also, some of the tricks they did were exceptionally well executed and I still cannot work out how they are done even after seeing it twice!!!

Futhermore, the seats we had were great as we were sitting in B5, 6 and 7 (I certainly recommend lastminute.com's 48 hour sales!). We had a great view and loads of leg room.

My only criticism of this amazing show is that you will not be able to stop singing the songs for the rest of your life. They are truly fantastic and the most catchy tunes you have ever heard!!!

After being wowed by the amazingness that is Matilda, we set off back home to have some of my brilliant Priscilla cake (made by Alys and her mum) and to be presented with the best birthday present ever courtesy of Alys!!!

Here are some pics of my day...