MATILDA Launches UK and Ireland Tour

The Royal Shakespeare Company's Matilda The Musical will return to the West Midlands in Summer 2018 at Birmingham Hippodrome (3 July - 8 September) as part of its major 2018/19 UK and Ireland Tour and accompanied by a specially devised education programme, Change My Story, for schools.

The multi-award winning show had its world premiere at the RSC's home in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2010, before transferring to London's West End in October 2011 where it continues to play today.

To mark the show's official launch at Birmingham Hippodrome, Craige Els - who will reprise his role as Miss Trunchbull - was joined on stage by Annalise Bradburywho will share the role of Matilda on UK and Ireland Tour - for a costumed photo call on stage at Birmingham Hippodrome between on Wed 21 Feb.

Winner of over 85 international awards, including 16 for Best Musical, the Matilda The Musical UK and Ireland Tour will open at Leicester Curve (5 - 24 March) and will also visit Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (4 - 28 April), Sunderland Empire (8 May - 2 June), Milton Keynes Theatre (5 June - 30 June), Manchester Palace (18 September - 24 November) and Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre (4 December - 12 January 2019). Further dates and venues are to be announced in due course. The West End production will continue to play at the Cambridge Theatre, where it is now in its seventh year and is booking until 10 February 2019. The adult cast for the UK and Ireland Tour will see Craige Els reprise the role of Miss Trunchbull, having played her in the West End for three years between 2014 and 2017. He will be joined byCarly Thoms as Miss Honey, and Sebastien Torkia and Rebecca Thornhill as Mr and Mrs Wormwood.

The title role of Matilda will be shared by Annalise Bradbury, Lara Cohen, Poppy Jones and Nicola Turner.

The full adult cast includes Joe Atkinson, Nina Bell, Peter Bindloss, Oliver Bingham, Emily Bull, Matthew Caputo, Samara Casteallo, Craige Els, Matt Gillett,Michelle Chantelle Hopewell, Sam Lathwood, Steffan Lloyd-Evans, Charlie Martin, Anu Ogunmefun, Carly Thoms, Rebecca Thornhill, Sebastien Torkia, Taylor Walker, Adam Vaughan, and Dawn Williams.

Matilda The Musical is written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, and direction by Matthew Warchus. The production is designed by Rob Howell,with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound bySimon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

In the UK and Ireland, the production will be accompanied by Change My Story, a new RSC education programme inspired by Matilda The Musical and devised in collaboration with each touring theatre partner to help build long term partnerships between school communities and theatres.

The programme includes:

Up to 50 Matilda The Musical Champion Schools - a two year initiative with local state schools and partner theatres in the tour locations. Selected schools will work with RSC artists in residence to stage and perform a special 45 minute edit of Matilda The Musical as their school play. In the second year they will collaborate with 5 other local schools and lead on new creative projects

Professional Development courses for teachers to use Matilda The Musical as a springboard for creative writing

Mrs Phelps' Library Workshops for primary schools, led by RSC and local theatre artists, exploring different storytelling techniques

Further details can be found at http://uk.matildathemusical.com/tour/schools/matilda-school-resources/.

Inspired by the incomparable Roald Dahl's beloved book, Matilda The Musical has now been seen by more than 7.7 million people worldwide, played in over 60 cities and has had more than 5500 performances across the globe.

Having opened to rave reviews in the West End in 2011, the show swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, with a record-breaking seven awards. The New York production of Matilda The Musical opened in April 2013 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre and won four Tony Awards as well as a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for the four girls sharing the title role.

The Australian and New Zealand production, won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical in 2015, and went on to play sold-out seasons in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland. In July 2016, Matilda The Musical broke further records by winning all 13 Helpmann Awards for which it was nominated. The show will have its first non-English language production at the LG Arts Centre in Seoul, South Korea from September 2018 until February 2019.

Matilda The Musical is produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company with André Ptaszynski and Denise Wood as Executive Producers. The production was developed with the support of Jeanie O'Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

Photo: Matilda (Annalise Bradbury) and Miss Trunchbull (Craige Els) launch Matilda The Musical's UK & Ireland Tour at Birmingham Hippodrome

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