{"id":13304,"date":"2026-02-24T18:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cast-of-matilda-the-musical-sweeps-audiences-into-a-story-about-a-miracle-girl\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:36:23","slug":"cast-of-matilda-the-musical-sweeps-audiences-into-a-story-about-a-miracle-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cast-of-matilda-the-musical-sweeps-audiences-into-a-story-about-a-miracle-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Cast of \u2018Matilda: The Musical\u2019 sweeps audiences into a story about a \u2018miracle\u2019 girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Miss
Miss Trunchbull (Marla Sitton) talks to Matilda (Maren Palmer) during a scene in \u201cMatilda: The Musical\u201d on Saturday. (Bailey Duran\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Audiences of Lamp Post\u2019s \u201cMatilda: The Musical\u201d are instantly swept into the tale of a young genius with telekinetic powers who wishes to be loved.<\/p>\n

Maren Palmer shines as Matilda Wormwood, a child born to self-absorbed and neglectful parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, played by Jolian Brickey and Amanda Dreier.<\/p>\n

After proving her brilliance in the school run by the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull (Marla Sitton), Matilda finds the care and affection she longs for from her teacher, Miss Honey (Tianne Nielson). Miss Honey also overcomes heartbreak and escapes her evil aunt\u2019s control with Matilda\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

\"Matilda\u2019s
Matilda\u2019s classmates stand stoically as not to attract the attention of the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull. (Photo courtesy of Lamp Post)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Other standout roles include Matilda\u2019s classmates Lavender (Julia Morris), Amanda (Emberlynn Molina), Nigel (Alexis Shry) and Bruce (Ellia Brickey).<\/p>\n

The show features witty dialogue, touching scenes and a wide range of moments that highlight the cast\u2019s talents. A plot twist involving the Escapologist (Jonathan Sandner) and the Acrobat (Amita Crowley) prompted audible gasps from the audience.<\/p>\n

The vocal performances of Palmer, Nielson and many other cast members, along with the story of the Escapologist and Acrobat, are among the production\u2019s most memorable elements.<\/p>\n

\"Miss
Miss Honey (Tianne Nielson, middle) stood up to Miss Trunchbull, asking to give more advanced work to Matilda. (Photo courtesy of Brinley Duran)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Brickey and Dreier\u2019s comedic performances as the Wormwoods also stand out. Brickey\u2019s short comedic bit at the end of the 15\u2011minute intermission had the audience laughing and energized for the second half of the play.<\/p>\n

The show was accompanied by an orchestra led by Lamp Post co-founder Corinne Sandner. The ensemble featured musicians on keyboard, flutes, clarinets, alto sax, bassoon, trumpets, trombones, guitar, bass and percussion.<\/p>\n

\"Matilda
Matilda (right) tells Mr. Wormwood (Jolian Brickey), Mrs. Wormwood (Amanda Dreier) and brother, Michael (Troy Yoder), that she wants to live with Miss Honey. (Photo courtesy of Lamp Post)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lamp Post co-founder Nicholaus Sandner directed the play, while his daughter Lily Sandner served as stage manager and choreographer. Auditions for the nearly 90-person cast began in November. Rehearsals have taken place steadily since then, often up to four times per week, with late nights leading up to opening weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatilda: The Musical\u201d has held six shows so far, with three sold-out performances remaining. The final shows will be staged Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Lamp Post\u2019s website notes that the wait list for canceled tickets is also full.<\/p>\n

The show program also announced Lamp Post\u2019s second annual Kid\u2019s Summer Theatre Camp. The two-week camp will feature two one-act musicals performed at its conclusion. The camp runs July 6 through July 18, with end-of-camp shows scheduled for Friday, July 17 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"The
The story of the Escapologist (Jonathan Sandner) and Acrobat (Amita Crowley) was one of the pivotal points of the story. (Photo Courtesy of Lamp Post)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

sold-out shows remain in the show\u2019s run<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[363,1060,21,28,60,29,910],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13304"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18910,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13304\/revisions\/18910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13304"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}