Many people who may have grown up watching the charming 1996 movie starring Mara Wilson and its adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic Matilda may be familiar with it. The musical adaption, which debuted in 2010 before making its West End debut in 2011, seems to have eclipsed the release of that movie. Matilda the Musical, the first movie released as part of Netflix's overall agreement with the Roald Dahl Story Company, is a promising start to what may turn out to be a profitable partnership. Although not flawless (what stage-to-screen adaptation is? ), Matilda the Musical has a strong cast, well staged musical passages, and just a hint of the enchantment that the very best musicals possess.

The titular heroine of the musical Matilda is a bright young girl with the worst parents in the world (played by stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough). Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood aren't troubled by Matilda Wormwood's preference to bury herself in literature. When Matilda is made to go to school against her parents' wishes, she meets the intimidating Miss Trunchbull and teacher Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch) (Emma Thompson). When Matilda finds her school to be less than ideal, she must use her enthusiasm, creativity, and newly made friends and mentors to get through all the challenges in her life.

The stage adaptation of Matilda the Musical has enjoyed nothing less than universal critical acclaim throughout its many performances, including a prominent run on Broadway. Netflix's Matilda the Musical succeeds in maintaining the beauty and delight of its stage play while only broadening its focus to the extent that a feature film could. This is true of the best musical adaptations. The original Dahl novel has undergone several transformations, including the initial cinema adaptation, which mostly lost the peculiar Britishness of the original plot. With some of the alterations it made to the novel (such deleting characters like Matilda's brother), Matilda the Musical strikes a balance between the two and mostly succeeds because of a few crucial elements.

Thanks to director Matthew Warchus and screenwriter Dennis Kelly, Matilda the Musical skillfully walks the line between this darkness and its appeal and whimsy. The camerawork by Warchus during some of the more energetic numbers feels like the ideal illustration of how a movie musical can accomplish what a stage musical cannot. The live-action Dahl adaption Matilda the Musical feels like a worthwhile addition to the collection and is a promising beginning for the partnership between Netflix and the author's Story Company.
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G GOWTHAM

18/12/2022 12:47 PM