First look: Grab a sneak peek of Matilda the Musical here!

Matilda the Musical is settling into its first Australian home, the Lyric in Sydney, and is gearing up for its opening night in just two days. The beloved Roald Dahl story about an extraordinary little girl has been a smash in London and in New York, and it’s ready – so ready – to win Australian audiences over, too.

With music and lyrics by Australian writer and performer Tim Minchin and a book by writer Dennis Kelly, the show captures the delightfully subversive (read: “naughty”) spirit of Dahl and its leading little girl through bright, clever songs and staging.

Here in Sydney, Matilda is played by four different girls who share the part (it’s a lot, even for these little legends!): Molly Barwick, Sasha Rose, Georgia Taplin, and Bella Thomas. All four girls were on hand at a media call in Sydney today to give us a taste of their magic.

We were given a few more sneak peeks from the show, like this from the beautiful “When I Grow Up,” the show’s second act opener that brings us right back to childhood – with swings and everything! It’s these touches that bring the magic to the show, the swings and scooters and little details of childhood, its innocence and recklessness and its promise.

And then there’s this: “Revolting Children”, the “Red and Black/Do You Hear the People Sing” of the show, if you will – where the children, raucously, wonderfully, take over.

Matilda the Musical stars the following adults: Stephen Anderson, Marika Aubrey, Reece Budin, Rachel Cole, Eli Cooper, Andrew Cook, Danielle Cook, Christina D’Agostino, Daniel Frederiksen, Glenn Hill, Travis Khan, Nadia Komazec, Zoe Komazec, Leah Lim, Mitchell Mahony, Elise McCann, James Millar, Cle Morgan, Daniel Raso, and Clay Roberts.

The starring children are: Anthony Abrakmanov, Abigail Adriano, Maya Arya, Kyle Banfield, Molly Barwick, Eliza Carolan, Ayanda Dladla, Cody Ettingshausen, Joey Gandin, Alyssa Goodall, Ewan Herdman, Leyton Holmes, Zoe Ingram, Ruby Lahoud, Shanice Lim, Jacob Licastro, Amber May, Paris Naumovski, Erika Palma, Joshua Park, Ethan Puse, Zyon Rangi, Jack Reason, Callum Rogers, Sasha Rose, Georgia Taplin, Bella Thomas, Regan Walker, and Mei Yamada.

This production is directed, as in London and New York, by Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage). The production has sets and costumes by Tony Award winner Rob Howell, with choreography by Tony Award winner Peter Darling (Billy Elliot), orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Tony Award winner Hugh Vanstone, and sound by Simon Baker.

Matilda The Musical was commissioned by the RSC and played to sold-out audiences at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for twelve weeks from November 2010 to January 2011. It transferred to London’s West End on Tuesday 25 October 2011 where it opened to rave reviews.

The New York production followed, and opened on 11 April 2013 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre to rapturous reviews..

Matilda the Musical officially opens on Thursday 20 August. For tickets and more information, head to http://au.matildathemusical.com.