ORLEAN — A cast and crew of more than 50 people have been transforming a South Barry Street theater into the infamous Crunchem Hall for the past two months, performing a song-and-dance play about a young girl with special powers who takes on a tyrannical headmaster.
Olean Community Theatre’s production of “Matilda the Musical” will run for six performances starting tonight through Sunday.
With a cast of 35 people, including about 20 children and about a dozen people working behind the scenes, the show is the largest to date at the theater at 127 S. Barry St., director Kelly Vaccaro told the Times-Herald on Monday. She wanted to create a production that was specifically geared toward the area’s youth, and so far, everyone is enjoying it, she said.
“This show is kind of crazy because there are so many kids on it,” she joked. “They’ve all been amazing.”
Vaccaro said some of the cast members are returning from last year’s “Sound of Music” and some are participants in the Olean Theatre Workshop program, but for some this will be their first time on an OCT stage and for others, their first time stepping foot in a theater.
“Kids get a platform to shine and get guidance from adults at the same time,” she explained. “The show has been really popular lately. The movie came out not that long ago, but nobody around here is doing it yet.”
What’s unique about this production of “Matilda” is that it features multiple young actresses in the lead role: Lou Brown-Ragno and Eliana Rayman-Woolston will each reprise the role for three performances in this edition of the show, Vaccaro said.
“Both of our matridas have been absolutely amazing. One of them, Lou, this is her first stage appearance,” she said. “She does gymnastics but this is her first play or musical.”
The production’s biggest challenge has been scheduling: Auditions were held Memorial Day week and rehearsals began in early June, but working around the end of the school year and summer activities throughout July meant rehearsal dates conflicted with the schedules of some cast and crew members, Vaccaro said.
“Today may be the first time we’ve had the whole cast together,” she said with a laugh. “We may have had another week, but the cast continues to amaze me every day and it just keeps getting better.”
Behind the scenes, Vaccaro praised the team OCT assembled to help pull all the elements together, even though it wasn’t their primary duties, like assistant directors and vocal directors helping paint the sets.
“This show wouldn’t have happened without them. They could pretty much do it without me, but I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.
Vaccaro said everyone will want to see a great display of talent. From small roles to big roles, everyone is giving it their all on and off the stage, she said.
“You can see how much fun they’re having onstage,” she said, “and I think their joy is contagious to everyone who comes to see this show.”
Performances of “Matilda the Musical” at Olean Community Theatre, 127 S. Barry St., are today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased the day of or reserved in advance online. Seating is limited, so OCT officials encourage people to purchase tickets in advance at oleancommunitytheatre.com.