By Alesha Capone
Students at a Tarneit school will act, sing and dance their way through Matilda the Musical later this month, after the pandemic prevented them from performing last year.
About 40 students from Thomas Carr College will stage the show from Thursday and Saturday next week.
The musical, inspired by the book Roald Dahl, was composed and written Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly.
Tickets to the musical, which is being directed by the college’s head of music, Matt Morse and produced by Mayra Stark, sold out in under two weeks.
Mr Morse said students began working on the show last year but were forced to stop due to COVID-19.
They launched into rehearsals again at the beginning of the year, although some roles by former year 12 students had to be re-cast.
Year 8 Mary Gattellaro will play the main role.
Mr Morse said it was important for young people to be exposed to the performing arts.
“It’s a little bit life-changing for them and we hope to instil a life-long love of theatre and the arts in them,” he said.
“I think we owe it to them to introduce them to theatre and allow them to try things they never thought they would do – for some of the students, it will be their first time on stage.
“They’re certainly enjoying the dance choreography, which is being done by two ex-students.”
Mr Morse said he enjoyed helping students develop their artistic talents, through kindness and guidance.
“As a teacher, I love it when you hear a voice and know there’s a great voice waiting to come out,” he said.
