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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#333333>Touring ‘Matilda’ true to Dahl’s dark,
delightful children’s book </FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#333333 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><SPAN
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face=Georgia>Member, International Association of Theatre
Critics</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN>One of the four Tony Awards won by "Matilda The Musical" in
2013 was Best Book of a Musical</SPAN><SPAN class=apple-converted-space><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">
for playwright </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">Dennis
Kelly’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s</SPAN><SPAN><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"> </SPAN>children’s
story.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"></SPAN></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN><FONT
face=Georgia>The award was well deserved, for it is remarkable how well Kelly’s
script captures the darkly satirical, warped and wonderful world created by Dahl
– a world vividly imagined during bedtimes in millions of homes where children
begged their parents for “just a few more minutes” to finish reading a most
remarkable chapter. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN>The
story revolves around an ignored 5-year-old girl who uses the power of her mind
and her love of books as weapons against ignorant, demoralizing, and vicious
adults.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">Ignoring the advice from her
self-absorbed mother that </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica"><FONT
color=#281b21>“looks is more important than books,” Matilda’s first impulse –
like that of Lemony Snicket’s Violet Baudelaire and J.K. Rowling’s Hermione
Granger from more recent novels – is to solve problems with her intelligence,
deal with conflict with her imagination, and write her own narrative.
</FONT></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"></SPAN></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">“Matilda”
is</SPAN><FONT color=#281b21><SPAN class=apple-converted-space><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">Dahl’s only
female-centric work and is </SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">told from a child’s
perspective.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As a result, the world
in this musical version of the book – now on national tour and on stage at
Playhouse Square – is abundantly playful.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT face=Georgia>And it is
comprised of comically exaggerated characters like Matilda’s outrageous parents
(the hilarious Quinn Mattfeld and Cassie Silva), the bullying <SPAN
style="COLOR: ">Olympic hammerthrower-turned-psychotic
headmistress</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
face=Arial><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"> </FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT face=Georgia>Miss
Trunchbull (a brilliant David Abeles in drag), and the angelic teacher Miss
Honey (a silver-throated and absolutely charming Jennifer
Blood).</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT face=Georgia>Despite
Kelly’s best efforts, the writing in the musical also inherits Dahl’s unpolished
prose. This makes for some awkward, inconsistent and improbable storytelling
which plays better on the page than it does on stage.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this review, go to </SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
color=#0563c1>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/</FONT></SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>.
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