From Dec. 9 to Dec. 11, Old Quarry Middle School had four productions (two black casts and two red casts) of Matilda Jr. The directors, Micah Brandhandler and Jenna Treanor, worked to make the production as astonishing as possible. The show included all kinds of fun from tearaway pants, colored lights, a sequin suit and more.

While I previously knew the story of the original 1996 movie classic “Matilda” and “Matilda: the Musical”, the production kept me engaged. I was always excited to see what’s next and how they would do certain scenes considering the limitations of a budget, middle school stage and masks.

“This has definitely been our most intensive show, most dances, hardest songs, biggest costumes, the longest show…but we thought these kids could handle it and they proved us right,” said Brandhandler.

The actors even did an amazing job of making the audience feel a variety of emotions. From the hopeful, upbeat scenes where the kids stand up against the horrendous Miss Trunchbull, to the more touching, sorrowful scenes of Matilda and Miss Honey together, it was all felt because of the hard work of the set, lights and the actors themselves.

Maggie Davey, who played Matilda for the red cast said, “It’s really stressful…but once you get through the hard part it’s really fun. It’s a great way to make friends and when I’m finished with shows or regular run throughs and dress rehearsals it’s a great feeling.”

Not to mention the moral of Matilda’s story of not accepting what’s not fair is shown easily through the lyrics.

Lyrics such as, “Just because you find that life’s not fair it. Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it” were sung repeatedly throughout the show. The actors told this message loud and clear to the audience.

While this is only the second time I actually saw an OQMS musical production, I will certainly be going back to see more rebelling children!