An enlivening yet moving story about a little girl standing up for what is right, we worked with industry professionals to incorporate technical elements to bring this world to life.

MATILDA

Construction Crew

Desk, Blocks, Prop Construction

Bringing a childlike feel to our design, we drafted the plans, built from scratch, and decorated letter blocks used throughout the show, especially in the number "School Song". Utilizing a wooden frame for each block, we attached foam to the inside of each block, carved out alphabet letters with a hot knife, and painted each letter side a different color.

Our directors envisioned students standing and dancing on top of the school desks, so we designed and constructed 11 desks while attaching carpet to the legs for maximum mobility without the danger of scratching the stage. I later went through and painted each desk with a base coat and shades of brown textured wood grain.

Rental Set

For this production of Matilda, we rented a professional set from New York and had the opportunity to piece together and construct the entirety of the set elements from their original design plans. While allowing the technical team to learn from and work with professional blueprints, this rental set also taught us how to tactfully load and unload a set from a truck, ensuring all pieces are secure and protected.

In these pictures, you get a glimpse of our truck unload, the 16-foot library walls that we used as legs, the taping out of the rental set on our stage, and individual locale pieces such as the Wormwood's house.

Flying and Rigging Training

With the help of Wesley Miller and ZFX Flying Effects, the cast and crew of Matilda had the invaluable opportunity to assemble professional rigging equipment and fly people throughout the show. Under Wesley's instruction, we learned how to connect and fasten fly tracks as shown above. We also attached truss to fly batons in order to provide the stability for our swings (shown below).

Each company member within the production underwent extensive flight training, whether flying in a harness, operating a swing, or overseeing pre-show safety checks. While I also flew on a swing during the run of show, I hooked up the actors within the harness process at every pre-show flight call and ensured that our actors and crew members felt safe with our flight operations. You can see from these pictures our swing rehearsals for "When I Grow Up" (shown to the right), Acrobat flight (below), and the iconic Trunchbull's throw of a student (below).