New cast members to join West End’s Matilda The Musical

L-R Maisie Mardle, Heidi Williams, Laurel Sumberg and Victoria Alsina will share the title role in the RSC’s Matilda The Musical. Picture: Ellie Kurttz

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s West End production of Matilda The Musical will welcome three new Matildas in September alongside a new Miss Honey and Mr and Mrs Wormwood.

From 13 September Victoria Alsina, Laurel Sumberg and Heidi Williams will join Maisie Mardle to share the title role with Lauren Byrne stepping into the role of Miss Honey and Rakesh Boury and Amy Ellen Richardson joining the company to play Mr and Mrs Wormwood. Current cast members Elliot Harper and Landi Oshinowo will continue in their roles of Miss Trunchbull (Harper) and Mrs Phelps (Oshinowo).

Felipe Bejarano, Angeline Bell, Oliver Bingham, Thea Bunting, Michael Gardiner, Aaron Jenkins, Sam Lathwood, Dianté Lodge, Kira McPherson, Alistair So and James Wolstenholme will join the existing adult cast which includes Liberty Buckland, Kate Kenrick, Connor Lewis and Gemma Scholes.

The other young performers due to join the London company in the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda and the rest of the pupils at Crunchem Hall are: Mia Atkinson, Leo Babet, Florence Burt, Poppy Caton, Zuri-Michel Charalambou, Brodie Edwards, Jude Farrant, Riotafari Gardner, Finley Hartlett, Lily Hanna, Tia Isaac, Miley Kayongo, Shayla McCormack, Isabelle Mullallay, Jasmine Nyenya, Raphaella Philbert, Jack Philpott, Riley Plummer, Jasmine Pottinger-Scott, Ashton Robertson, Leon Saunders, Andrei Shen-U Shen, Noah Swer-Fox and Lucia Wratten. Kylan Denis will continue as one of the actors sharing the role of Bruce.

Now in its tenth year in the West End and continuing to play to packed houses at the Cambridge Theatre, booking was recently extended through to 28 May 2023.

Written by playwright Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin, Matilda The Musical is directed and developed by Matthew Warchus. The crowd-pleasing production which celebrated 10 years in London in 2021 boasts design by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

The musical version of Roald Dahl’s much-loved creation is produced in the West End by executive producers Denise Wood and Griselda Yorke for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production was developed with the support of Jeanie O’Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

Matilda The Musical was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2010, before transferring to London’s West End in October 2011, where it opened to rave reviews.

Winner of 99 major international awards, including a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards and a total of 24 for Best Musical, Matilda The Musical has enchanted audiences in cities across the world.

Productions have toured the UK and Ireland, South Africa, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and China. The musical’s first non-English language production played Seoul in South Korea in 2018/2019.

A film version with the same core creative team is set for release exclusively in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 2 December followed by a worldwide release by Netflix on 25 December.

 Angela Thomas