Matilda is a movie about a gifted little girl who is trying to escape from her parents and her vicious principal. The students of Valparaiso took an interesting approach to this old classic, giving it a more positive feel and a great musical score to go with it. The actors and actresses worked hard for months leading up to this day, each of them filled with excitement and nerves as their friends and family watched them pour their hearts out on stage.
“We are excited for the day is finally here, we have such a good program,” Colleen Peluso, co-director of Matilda. “The kids have been working hard, and we have such a supportive community. They are ready to reap the benefits of all the effort they put in.”
It is a lot of work to put a production together, thankfully the cast had two directors helping run the show to balance the workload. One handled the choreography, while the other was in charge of the music and theatre aspects.
“It was a lot of work, it has been very challenging,” said Molly Vass, co-director. “It will be really nice to see everything come together and really give that wow factor. I really hope everyone comes out and enjoys the great show that we have.”
However, no show is complete without its cast. The star in this case is Matilda, center stage, but that should never undermine all of the work every single member puts in to the big night. They all are ready to come together as one and give it everything they got on the big stage.
“I have been so excited to do this, it's like a happy, anxious feeling,” said Jovanina Wilson, sophomore at VHS playing the role of Matilda. “These are some of my life long friends, and it's been amazing to do this with them.I can't imagine doing this production any other way with all these amazing people.”
If you have not had a chance to catch this great show, you are in luck as there are still two more showings this weekend. The first is tomorrow, Saturday at 7 p.m., and the second on Sunday at 2 p.m., both held in the auditorium at Valparaiso High School.