Abilene ISD high school theater presses on to bring winter musicals to stage

You could build a nice house with the lumber used to create the set for Abilene High's production of "Matilda."

But sets can greatly enhance a stage performance, and director/teacher director Kyle Martin doesn't regret being ambitious.

Battling through the COVID-19 Omicron variant's disruption of school to start the spring, both AHS and Cooper will present three performances this weekend of their respective winter musicals.

Cooper is bringing "Something Rotten," which is not based on the pandemic, in case you were wondering. It references Shakespeare. "Hamlet," to be exact.

it's set at a time when Shakespeare rules, a rock star to an adoring public.

The plays open Thursday and are staged at 7 p.m. through Saturday at the auditoriums on the respective campuses.

Not just waltzing to 'Matilda'

"Matilda" is based on the 1988 children's book by Roald Dahl ("James and the Giant Peach," "Charlies and the Chocolate Factory"). It was adapted to the theater stage in 2011. It closed on Broadway in 2017 after more than 1,500 performances.

Martin said he saw it performed in 2019 and had wanted to do it. When COVID-19 shut down touring theater, "Matilda" could be performed. But it cannot be streamed.

"It is very, very quirky," he said. Dahl is famous for his dark humor and, Martin, said, "not talking down to children."

Matilda is 5 and has the gift of telekinesis. She uses her superpower to overcome the challenges of home and school life for herself, and to aid Miss Honey, her favorite teacher.

That means there will be "magic tricks" during the performance. Not as much as other shows based on Dahl works but there will be some fantasy to "Matilda."

Dahl's messages include kids understand things and they can work out "the tough stuff," Martin said.

As for the set, Martin said he usually uses what lumber there is. But for this show, he needed the actors to walk under his structures and to support them, "so it needed to be strong enough." He used 2 by 6s to make it work.

'Something Rotten!' at CHS, and that's OK

Director Justin Radcliffe also has put effort into a show that involves 50-plus students at the high school.

There were a lot of time-period costumes needed. Some were made by Taylor Hart, who's on the Cooper High faculty, and others rented from Coat City Costumes in Illinois.

Radcliffe uses projection for the first time. He said it enhances the setting for the show, though it has presented technical challenges.

Like the AHS musical, there is an orchestra. Josh Westman is leading a talented group of musicians that include first-year Cooper High band director John Landin and Radcliff's wife, Darcy, who heads the Abilene ISD group Revolution Strings.

Jonathan Kraemer, the Abilene High band director, is directing the "Matilda" orchestra that includes AISD fine arts directory Jay Lester.

The story revolves around the effort to do a musical, unheard of in the days of The Bard.

At the end, Shakespeare still rules and musicals are bound for the colonies.

An explosion of red, white and blue confetti signifies the arrival of this art form, that twice is celebrated this weekend in Abilene.

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Roald Dahl meets Shakespeare: Abilene ISD musicals bring drama, laughs