This past week, the Tony Award-winning musical Matilda: the Musical played the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, NC and the cast and crew filled the room with rebellion and magic. With a book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by comedian Tim Minchin, Matilda the Musical tells the story of Matilda Wormwood (Jaime Maclean, at my performance), a young, smart, book-obsessed girl raised by abusive parents who is sent to a school, run by the evil Ms. Trunchball (Dan Chameroy), and discovers she possesses magical powers. Based on the classic novel by Roald Dahl, Matilda: the Musical aims to remind us all that sometimes we have to be a little bit naughty in life, and that’s okay! (Note: pictures may not be from the current tour; I had to make do with what I could find. Continue reading
Category Archives: theatre
REVIEW: Newsies – The Broadway Musical (film)
Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical is a recording of the hit Broadway musical Newsies filmed live at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA during the last leg of the musical’s national tour. This filmed version features the return of many of the original Broadway cast – including Jeremy Jordan, Kara Lindsay, Ben Fankhauser, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Kevin Carolan, Mark Aldrich, Tommy Bracco, and John E. Brady – as well as the final national tour cast – including Steve Blanchard, Aisha de Haas, Ethan Steiner, Iain Young, Michael Gorman, Michael Rios, Devin Lewis, and Anthony Norman, among others – combined into one large cast to permanently capture this award-winning musical. As per Fathom Events: Newsies Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy, and leader of a ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike and take a stand for what’s right. Continue reading
Review: All Hail (Welcome to Night Vale – Live)

All Hail tour poster
Welcome to Night Vale‘s latest live show is All Hail, a tale about the one and only Mighty Glow Cloud (all hail). All Hail played the Carolina Theatre in Durham on April 14, 2017, and I had the chance to attend the show. It was my first ever Night Vale live show, and it couldn’t have been a better first experience. The atmosphere of the event was one of a large community; everyone had gathered there to see and participate in this theatrical event. There were people of all genders, races, and sexualities there and everyone was immediately accepted. People dressed up in costumes: there were Ericas (angels), Hooded Figures, Cecil’s and Carlos’s, and – my personal favorite – one person dressed up as Fey, the computer that read the numbers for the numbers station in episode 42 of the podcast. This is what greeted me as I arrived at the theatre; I hadn’t even entered it yet! Everyone was gathered outside in a waiting area and you could see all the costumes on display and everyone socializing and meeting new people. It was a beautiful moment. And then the doors opened.