Matilda will be held at the auditorium on Jan. 30, 31, and Feb. 1 at 7 pm on all days, as well as a 2 pm matinee on Saturday.

Matilda is approached as a show about children who are different like the namesake, and others who were mistreated during the eighties. It promotes the importance of encouraging children to learn and support their whims, rather than shutting them down for the sake of discipline. 

  “Matilda is portrayed as a neurodivergent character,” sophomore actor Saesha Chawla said. “There are a lot of things that parents during that time didn’t address, they didn’t get the right care for their children.”

The actors show this through their unique set and unconventional projections, bringing the story to life. The show being pushed back due to the unscheduled snow storm was a big shock to the cast and crew of the show, but allowed them to have more time to fine tune. 

“Matilda is going to be a great show,” stage manager Jessica Lee said. “It was really hard to figure it out with the snow and all of the days we lost, though, because everyone had planned their conflicts around the show dates.”

Ultimately, they were able to work more on the set and perfect every little detail. As long as the current directors have been at Clements, they have never pushed back a show, and had to brace themselves for this. The whole fine arts department being involved is unique to the annual musical, and the students had to continuously adapt and grow with their peers.  

“I thrive in the singing rehearsals,” Chawla said. “I’m able to take more of a leadership role, compared to the dance rehearsals, which I have to learn in.”

Students have lengthy rehearsals to perfect each scene, and all learned a lot from this process. The show is very relevant to the students’ current lives in school, as well as their parents or a more mature audience that will feel nostalgic when seeing the costumes and makeup. 

“I didn’t expect it, but the show really made me cry,” junior makeup chief Marcella Hernandez said. “I think this is definitely one of the best musicals we’ve done.”