Music

Event Information:

• Fri

  12

  Aug

  2022

  Platform 3 Summer School presents MATILDA JR

  4 pm and 7 pmBuxton Opera House, Buxton, Derbyshire

  

  A Touch of West End magic is coming to Buxton

  Platform 3 in association with Buxton Opera House and Buxton International Festival is delighted to announce that their first-ever Summer School will take place this August. The first production will be MATILDA JR.

  Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, MATILDA JR is adapted from the full-length musical and features a book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. The show first opened in London’s West End in 2011 and made its Broadway premiere in 2013.

  MATILDA JR tells the story of a young girl who has hidden talents which she uses to help her school friends. Wickedly funny, this story celebrates children as individuals, encourages children to support one another and acknowledges that children have the right to be “a little bit naughty”.

  Platform 3 has been granted the rights to the 60-minute Broadway version of this hugely popular musical. The Summer School involves a fortnight rehearsing the show, culminating in two public performances at The Pavilion Arts Centre.

  MATILDA JR will be directed by Allie Spencer, Platform 3’s Learning and Engagement Manager together with the Platform 3 creative team, Musical Director Tom Newall and Movement Director Kerry Allsop.  Allie’s directing credits include The Wind in the Willows, Bugsy Malone, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grease, Animal Farm and The Princess and the Frog.

  Kerry is Platform 3’s Resident Choreographer. With an MA in Dance Making and Performance, Kerry runs the Platform 3 Contemporary Youth Dance Company and is starting a new piece this week for Buxton Opera House’s Making Space. She most recently choreographed all the dance content for the Platform 3 Launch on the Buxton Opera House stage.

  Tom is an orchestral and choral conductor as well as Musical Director. Having worked regularly with RNCM, Leeds Conservatoire and Opera North, he made his debut at Buxton International Festival conducting The Orphans of Koombu. Tom is currently running Burbage after-school singing club and is conducting the oratorio “Our Future in your Hands” for this year’s Buxton International Festival.

  They will be joined by the theatre’s technical and backstage team, who will be sharing their wealth of expertise.

  The Summer School provides a valuable opportunity to learn all about how a musical is put together from script to stage – and have lots of fun along the way.

  Allie Spencer explains:
  “I’m really excited about MATILDA JR being Platform 3’s first Summer School.  It’s a fabulous story with wonderful songs that teach children and young people valuable messages about standing up for themselves and one another, and how they are not too young to make a difference in the world. The Summer School will be a lot of fun – a chance for the participants to learn new skills, improve their existing ones, make new friends – and have the opportunity to perform MATILDA JR at the end of the fortnight.”

  “MATILDA JR is a shortened version of the West End production, featuring all the well-known songs and characters but edited down for young people to perform. It’s going to be a very exciting fortnight and I can’t wait to work with Tom, Kerry and the young people who apply to take part. “

  The Summer School is open to young people aged between 9 – 16 and costs £220 per child.  Some bursaries are available.

  The Summer School is presented by Platform 3, the Learning and Engagement initiative shared by Buxton Opera House and Buxton International Festival. Platform 3 offers a wide range of activities for all ages, with weekly group activities, school events, holiday fun and more.

  Platform 3's Production of Matilda JR:
  Book by Dennis Kelly
  Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin

  This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI Europe www.mtishows.co.uk

  Orchestrations and Additional Music by Chris Nightingale