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The stage is set for the Grand Theatre’s 26th High School Project production this fall, Matilda the Musical.
Announced Thursday, the production based on the 1988 novel by Roald Dahl will feature a cast of 35 student performers, 19 students working behind the scenes, and four student musicians from grades nine through 13 from across the region.
The ensemble of 20 returning students and 38 new students making their Grand Theatre debut are picked not only from the Thames Valley District and London District Catholic school boards, but also the Waterloo Region and Lambton Kent school boards.
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Directing this fall’s production is London’s Megan Waston, the Grand’s former artistic associate and the director of several past productions including A Christmas Carol and Mary Poppins. Watson also has produced previous High School Project shows including Shakespeare: The Mixtape and Julius Caesar. Other local students who landed key roles include Marissa Allen, Charlie Burnett and Ethan Pickett.
H.B. Beal secondary school student Neela Noble, who made her Grand Theatre debut as Charlie Bucket in the recent holiday production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, will star as Matilda, her first production under the High School Project banner.
Matilda the Musical will run from Sept. 17 to 28, and tickets will be available to the general public beginning June 17. Tickets are currently available to 2024-25 Grand Theatre season subscribers.
The High School Project involves as many as 100 high school students from across the region. Students are able to take part with no cost and take on roles both on and behind the stage, mentored by professionals. It’s become a rite of local theatre since debuting in 1998 and has staged such productions as West Side Story, Footloose, Evita and last year’s Phantom of the Opera.
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