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Rice High School Theatre students are preparing to bring Matilda to the stage, with 38 students involved in the cast and crew.
Based on the book by Roald Dahl, Matilda tells the story of a young girl who loves books and uses her strength and determination to stand up for herself and others.
The story follows Matilda as she deals with neglectful parents and later encounters the intimidating school principal, Miss Trunchbull. Matilda eventually inspires her classmates to stand up for themselves.
RHS Theatre teacher Michelle Schendel said the musical is a comedy but also carries serious messages.
“It’s an inspiring show about getting into ‘good trouble,’ standing up to adversaries, and doing what is right and good, especially in the face of oppression,” Schendel said.
STUDENTS HELPED CHOOSE THE SHOW Schendel said her students played a major role in convincing her to select Matilda for this year’s musical.
“Student pressure!” Schendel said. “I’d never listened to the musical, and when I did, I fell in love with it and the story.”
She also felt the production was a good fit for the students she had available, including Evellynn Ellis, who has performed as the lead in RHS musicals since her freshman year.
“I felt she’s earned this opportunity to shine,” Schendel said.
Preparing the musical will involve eight weeks of work before opening night. Students typically rehearse Monday through Thursday after school until 6 p.m., with longer rehearsals on Fridays when school is not in session.
Schendel said scheduling can be challenging because many theatre students are involved in other activities.
“Because I make sure students put UIL activities first, we are working around several schedules,” she said. “That creates a big challenge, but we manage to make it happen.”
MORE THAN PUTTING ON A SHOW
Because Matilda is a musical, every cast member will sing during the production, although not everyone has a solo.
“There is a lot of choral singing,” Schendel said. “I look at it as a truly uplifting thing. Singing as a group is joyful. It’s fun.”
For Schendel, however, producing a musical is about more than singing, acting and entertaining an audience. She believes theatre gives students an opportunity to build confidence, develop empathy and express themselves.
“Through theatre, students have the opportunity to live out loud,” Schendel said. “They get to put on someone else’s shoes, their characters’, and gain a deeper understanding of lives that are different, and maybe even similar, to their own.”
Schendel said she has watched students become more confident after participating in just one production.
“It takes a lot of courage to get up there in front of people and LIVE,” she said. “Students do it and realize, ‘Hey! I’m good. My spine feels taller and stronger. I can walk without putting my head down. I am making eye contact with people. I am speaking up in class. Why have I been hiding all this time?’” That experience is also personal for Schendel.
“That’s what theatre did for me as a teenager, and that’s why I do this,” she said. “To give it back, so that it lives on in others.”
Tickets for Matilda go on sale Oct. 14 and will be available through Hometown Ticketing. Admission is $5 for students and $10 for adults.
