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Six years ago, my family and I settled into our seats at The Fox Theatre and waited for the show to begin. We were seeing “Matilda the Musical”, and while I had some familiarity with the book by Roald Dahl and the movie, I was not yet familiar with the stage adaptation. Going into a show with little to no expectation is a beautiful thing; I’ve seldom been disappointed and often found new favorites. This was no exception. We fell in love with the story, the music, the set…and “Matilda” was suddenly at the top of our lists of favorite shows. Fast forward to 2020, when “Matilda The Musical Jr.” became available for licensing. At Brighten we have always done Jr. versions of shows, both because of rehearsal time restrictions and the fact that they are modified for middle school voices (rather than the full-length Broadway versions that are written for adults). I ordered the script preview and immediately decided that we would not be producing the show on the Brighten stage. The adaptation lost the personality and richness of some of the main characters and I would rather not tell the story than tell it in a way that I felt was less than it deserved. And then the stars aligned. Through completely unexpected events, we suddenly had the production team and cast that would allow us to produce the Broadway version of Matilda on the Brighten stage – our first full length show ever. The cast and crew have worked incredibly hard over the last five months to bring this story and these characters to life and I could not be more proud of these people and this show. Our cast is comprised of 5th-8th graders who have taken on the roles and responsibilities of adult performers and they have exceeded our expectations, finding the heart of the characters and making us fall in love with them over and over again. We hope you love it as much as we do. This is a story that needs to be told. It is at times funny, at times dark, at time heartbreaking, and always breathtakingly powerful. It has a message of strength, perseverance, the power of love, and the responsibility that we all have to change our own destinies – no matter your age. I couldn’t say it better than Matilda herself: “Just because you find that life’s not fair it Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it. If you take it on the chin and wear it You might as well be saying you think that it’s okay

And that’s not right. And if it’s not right You have to put it right.

But nobody else is gonna put it right for me. Nobody but me is gonna change my story. Sometimes you have to be a little naughty. “ May we all find the courage to be a little bit naughty and put our story right.

Toni Aybar Director