While the world waits in anticipation for the Netflix film adaptation of Matilda the Musical, St. Louisans can experience this beloved children’s tale live starting tomorrow at the Catherine B. Berges Theatre.
Presented by the Center of Creative Arts (COCA), Matilda the Musical is a critically acclaimed story and performance that audiences should not miss. Based on the 1988 children’s novel Matilda, the five-time Tony Award-winning musical follows the life of Matilda Wormwood, an extraordinary girl who uses the power of reading and storytelling to escape her abusive parents and struggle against her school’s cruel headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.
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Riley Carter Adams will star as Matilda in COCA’s production. Adams is a familiar face in the St. Louis theater scene, having performed in the youth chorus with the Muny Kids Touring Troupe since 2019 and been featured in musicals such as Camelot, Kinky Boots, Cinderella, and the upcoming The Color Purple.
Beyond Adams, audiences will experience a wealth of young talent as part of the 35-member cast. While the young people featured in Matilda had varied experience with theater before the show, COCA’s six-week professional theater workshop model helped get the whole cast up to speed and ready for the stage. Pre-production began as early as July 2021, with auditions running from October to December 2021. The cast, crew, and production team have been working together since early June. Together the young actors, apprentices, and teaching artists have been working for weeks to elevate the artistry of theater production and prepare Matilda for the public.
“Matilda really is a great production for this model because there are so many roles for young people,” says Jennifer Wintzer, director of Matilda the Musical and artistic director of theater at COCA. “It’s part of my vision as the artistic director of theater at COCA to make sure we’re centering young people in the productions we do.”
According to Wintzer, the cast was “incredibly focused, incredibly imaginative, and really ready and up for the tasks that Matilda puts forward.” Audiences can look forward to a beautifully crafted performance centering on young people and what it means to fight for what you believe in.
Matilda the Musical runs July 22-24 at COCA’s Catherine B. Berges Theatre. Tickets start at $15.
