From the Director:
Nearly two years ago the world shut down and we all experienced the last concerts and plays for quite some time.
"Matilda, Jr." marks our first big stage production since the beginning of the pandemic at MICS. It feels good to be onstage again. We are excited to return to the world of singing and dancing and sharing stories with you again, and truthfully, we are all a bit more nervous than usual.
Never before have we had to rehearse under such conditions dealing with rotating quarantines and illnesses. In addition, we all have learned how to enunciate our best British accents even while wearing masks.
This also marks the very first time that we have performed a double cast show. With the exception of three roles, every part onstage is played by another person on the other night. The hard work and commitment to learning pages of lines and challenging Roald Dahl vocabulary and genius musical rhythms of Tim Minchin really shows on their faces. I am very proud of the students on stage tonight. For many this is their first theatrical performance!
I want to acknowledge our two seniors in our musical, Pryor Rhinehardt and Emily Presson, who both have been incredibly dedicated to their roles despite all of the other senior obligations, schoolwork, and athletic or other competitions they are a part of.
I am going to miss working with them and wish them the best in their future endeavors and hope they will come back and visit their new younger friends in the future to encourage them!
I want to send out special thanks to Dave Ward, Brett Rhinehardt, Kelly Robbins and Vanesa Garces-Welsh for bringing an extra level of skills this week. Also to my husband and family who put up with me spending hours on the computer making videos on FinalCut and learning how to edit videos.
Lastly, I want to send up a special thank you to a dear friend who supported me all of these years and loved to come and chat with me about musicals. She was particularly fond of this one. I dedicate this show to my late colleague and friend, our "school doctor," Christine Hancock.
Matilda is an inspiring character to us all. Her wit, love of all things true, and fearlessness to stand up to bullies is pretty remarkable. I want to be her when I grow up, don't you?
Here's to more magical musicals at MICS,
Jessi Clarkson
