Matilda/Mad Factory Review By: Joey Gabriel Summer is almost over and soon the kids will be heading back to school. What better way to celebrate the new school year than with the delightful production of Matilda, produced by Oberlin’s The Mad Factory, with upcoming performances August 2-4, at the Elyria Performance Arts Center. Director Jailyn Harris’ hits the mark in merging a talented adult cast with an incredible youth group. The show is fun, high energy, and poignant. You will find yourself both laughing and touched. The youth song and dance sequences are fantastic. Highlights include Miracle, The Hammer, Revolting, and the absolutely beautiful When I Grow Up. Music Director Nina Fisher had a lot of incredible voices to work with, especially with adults Amber Michalak (Mrs. Wormwood), Bethany Pearce (Miss Trunchbull), Blessing Gee (Doctor) and Kymaia Gadsden (Miss Honey). These are not amateurs. You can tell they have had professional training and their vocal range and power is off the charts. Pearce can make you freeze in your tracks as Trunchbull and Gadsden’s voice is so soft and beautiful, she was made to play Miss. Honey. Audra Shea both looked and sounded the part of Matilda. She delivered every line without error and even mastered an appropriate accent. Supporting Shea was a core group of three scene stealers; Gianna Fiscella (Lavender), Jovie Radwan (Nigel) and Reagan Bentkowski (Amanda), who was absolutely adorable and perfectly costumed, with her Amanda pigtails. The program lists Bentkowski and Sutton Garver (Matilda in week two) as being A Christmas Carol alums of the Great Lakes Theater. Much like the above adults, it is clear some of these kids are quasi-professional, with incredible facial expressions and strong voices. Although the female cast dominates, the small collection of males add greatly to the show. Joshua Katz (Mr. Wormwood) embraces his inner con artist, Clark Varner (Michael Wormwood) is hilarious on his video game, Donovan Lankey (Escapologist) demonstrates a beautiful voice, and David Bentkowski (Rudolpho) whips the crowd into a frenzy with his over-the-top dance number for Loud. Over the summer, many local kids participate in smaller, shorter theater camp productions. This is not Matilda … this is the real deal. A long, complex, highly executed production that is worth every penny of your ticket purchase. At two-and-a-half hours, it is a tad long, but in retrospect, there is not much I would want to cut. Go see Matilda … and enjoy yourself … or go to chokey.