Review: The Chalk Cast of 'Matilda' by NewArts

Dedicated to the memory of Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn (Lafferty) Hoscksprung

NewArts - Acts of Courage. Shows of Strength (NewArts is a wing of the 12.14 Foundation Program)

Monroe, CT - The Chalk Cast of NewArts’ MATILDA gave their opening performance at the matinee on Saturday afternoon on the stage at Masuk High School. I returned to the high school so that I could experience the musical once more with the cast members that share their roles with the Newt Cast that got to perform on the Friday evening opening night. Only the fabulous Joseph DeVellis in the role of The Trunchbull appears in all of the six performance that involve 100 youths in the cast, crew and orchestra.

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At the first matinee, Marina Kolitsas, who gives a wonderful performance as Miss Honey with the Newt Cast, gave the curtain speech. Marina has appeared in all of the 13 NewArts productions (all of which I have seen) and currently serves on the ARC Team, the character building program of the 12.14 Foundation. Therefore, she did a wonderful job of describing the work of the foundation as she welcomed the crowd to the first performance of the Chalk Cast. She described herself as a member of the first generation of 12.14 to give back to the foundation and also nicely described the reason that MATILDA had been chosen for this year’s show.

On a second viewing, I noticed some of the interesting touches added by director Michael Unger has added that bring his vision of the piece to vivid life. There were alphabet letters on cards during “School Song,” and the intricate shadow puppets designed by NewArts Director of Education Danny Dyer added so much to the storytelling of Matilda. While I normally do not like to see actors moving to the orchestra level in front of the stage because most patrons cannot see them, it worked well her because of the good lighting. Overall, I was very impressed with the wide variety of effects that were accomplished.

In the Chalk Cast, Avery Siburn opens the show in the role of the party entertainer for “Miracle.” Kirtana Kunzweiler sang wonderfully as the doctor at Matilda’s birth with Reese Wheat as the nurse.

Scarlet Tanzer was the quintessential Matilda, giving a polished performance while still retaining an age-appropriate stage presence. She even covered for some line mishaps with a charming improvisation. She gave a magical rendition of the little girl who sometimes must be a “little bit naughty” in a delightful way and save many of those around her.

“A girl should think about making herself look attractive so she can get a good husband later on. Looks is more important than books, Miss Hunky..."
"The name is Honey," Miss Honey said.
"Now look at me," Mrs Wormwood said. "Then look at you. You chose books. I chose looks.” ― Roald Dahl in Matilda

Nicole Kolitsas fully embraced the role of Mrs. Wormwood and made me smile every time she entered the stage. It was such a pleasure to see this young actress play the self-centered mother of Matilda; even though the character is difficult to like, I appreciated the strong sense of comic timing that Nicole brought to the role. The other half of this dynamic duo was Michael Spanedda as the dim-witted Mr. Wormwood. This young actor had the audience smiling throughout his performance, especially his duet with his son Michael (played by Tain Gregory in the Chalk Cast) about his beloved “Telly.”

Sophia Soriano did very well as the devoted librarian; both actresses in this role were dressed as a more classic take on a librarian than the quirky, more bohemian costume that I have seen, but it worked.

Susan Socci gave a heartfelt performance in the role of Matilda’s first teacher, Miss Honey. She did very well bringing to life the devoted teacher whose life has been as challenging as Matilda’s.

Grayce Amos performed well as the acrobat in Matilda’s story and Jake Nicolari took on the role of the escapologist. Smith Gureaski-Moore appeared as Nigel and Finnean Swedrock played the student Tommy. Teigan DeCunha played the student Eric. Hayden Hughes made a mark in the role of Matilda’s best friend Lavender, Ellie Raedy was Alice and Kate Sullivan was the student Amanda in pigtails.

God bless Sadie Gureasko-Moore for taking on the role of the student Bruce who angers Miss Trunchbull in one great scene involving chocolate cake. Grace Cooney appeared as the student Hortensia. Max Markowsky played the cook who delivers that large cake.

Jimmy Hunter took on the role of Mrs. W’s lithe dancing partner Rudolpho and Charlie Hartel had to master the Russian lines for his role as Russian mafia boss Sergei.

Mr. DeVellis’ second performance might have been just a little bit better than his first, or maybe I just appreciate the nuances a bit more. This very talented Newtown resident made this horribly evil headmistress so very interesting and funny.

The darling younger ensemble included Annabelle Foley, Charlotte Foley, Eliza Foley, Sienna Guaragno, Kaylee Haggerty, Corynn Hettenbach, Jules Kessler, Natalie McLean, Celia Plaue, Audrey Srebotnik, Phoebe Swedrock, and Siobhan Reilly.

“We'll be revolting children til our revoltings done,
and we'll have the Trunchbull bolting, we're REVOLTING!” - “Revolting Children”

The older ensemble of the Chalk Cast was made up of Grayce Amos, Katie Bisset, Tain Gregory, Charlie Hartel, Jimmy Hunter, Kirtana Kunzweiler, Max Markowsky, Lauren Murphy, Jake Nicolari, Jordi Padros, Laura Sarrazin, Sopha Soriano, Avery Siburn and Reese Wheat.

The marvelous orchestra under the direction of music director Drew Nichols sounded great throughout. Mr. Nichols, who got a shout out from Trunchbull at one point, covered keyboard 1. Morgan Morse was on keyboard 2, Jacob Clements on guitar, Thomas Hasselberger was on bass, Heidi Ohngemach played violin. Francesca Gennusa played her cello, Kimberly Hokanson and Madeline Winters both played reed 1, with Robin Rockwell on reed 2. Tigger-Jay Kluessendorf played trumpet, Elijah Uttley-Rosado was on trombone, Larry Davis covered percussion when Michael Spanedda was on the stage and Izzy Russo did all of the auxiliary percussion. Maryrose Kristopik, a music educator for 35 years that has worked with NewArts since its inception, was the associate music director. She is grateful to all involved with 12.14 for giving the community of Newtown the chance to grieve through the arts.

Shout out to the eight stealth members of the deck crew that were charged with helping to move about the huge set pieces. Thanks also to Denise Kolitsas, the mother of the talented young actresses, for serving as child supervision coordinator and author Sophfronia Scott, the proud mother of Tain Gregory, for coordinating housing and transportation. Thanks also to Eli Cohen, a rising senior at Northwestern University working with NewArts for the first time, for his fine work as company manager and with digital marketing.

Previous NewArts productions include SEUSSICAL, A ROCKIN’ MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, 101 DALMATIANS, THE LION KING, Jr., LIBERTY SMITH, SCHOOL OF ROCK, THE WIZARD OF OZ, ROALD DAHL’S WILLY WONKA, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, A CHRISTMAS CAROL (twice) and NEWSIES from 2013 through 2108. I can proudly say that I have seen them all, many of them twice, and I look forward to seeing many more.

Nancy Sasso Janis, writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, posts well over 100 reviews each year. In 2016, her membership in the Connecticut Critics Circle began and her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted not only in the Naugatuck Patch but also on the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theatre Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.

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