SUGAR LAND, Texas (Jan. 20, 2020) – Inspiration Stage introduced Matilda JR for the first time to the attendees of the annual Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta Saturday, Jan. 18. iStage was honored to be selected to perform three Matilda JR numbers on the festival’s main stage in the New Works Showcase Saturday night for the festival’s almost 7,000 attendees.
“When Inspiration Stage was asked to pilot the brand-new junior version of Matilda at the Sugar Land Auditorium in October 2018, we were thrilled,” says Mandy Seymore-Sensat, Inspiration Stage’s artistic director. “Performing some of our favorite numbers on the main stage for the entire festival Saturday night was a huge honor. We are humbled by the confidence the iTheatrics and JTF leadership has in our theatre to perform such an exhilarating introduction of this exciting new junior adaptation.”
iTheatrics adapts main stage Broadway musicals so they can be performed by kids in school and after-school settings. They create these adaptations for a distinguished list of clients, including MTI, one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies.
After Saturday’s introduction of Matilda JR. at JTF, the new Matilda JR. adaptation will become available for all theatres to license in the future.
The iStage troupe performed three numbers from the musical in the closing performance of the New Works Showcase. The opening, “School Song,” thrilled the audience with its fast-paced choreography and creative staging, followed by “When I Grown Up,” which brought the audience to tears with its touching presentation. The finale, “Revolting Children” brought the entire 7,000-member audience to its feet, dancing and clapping along with the performance.
“Ending with such a powerful and thrilling song got the audience on their feet and dancing,” said Seymore-Sensat. “It was an amazing way to end the always-exciting New Works Showcase.”
Inspiration Stage was one of only six companies selected to present in the New Works showcase, out of a total 127 attending companies.
The festival also hosts adjudications for all attending theatre companies from around the world.Inspiration Stage’s pod of performers included seven other theatre companies, each performing its own 15-minute cut of a different musical for industry professionals. This year, Inspiration Stage took a cut of Mary Poppins, JR., winning an Excellence in Music award for their cut.
“Our company had to balance the demands of performing from two stylistically contrasting musical scores,” says music director Sarah Patterson. “Our adjudication piece, Mary Poppins JR (for which we were awarded Excellence in Music), with its Sherman Brothers score and Golden Age sounds, is vastly different from Tim Minchin’s quirky and pop-rocky Matilda JR. Our talented young performers embraced the challenge and delivered beautiful harmonies, powerful dynamics, and soaring vocals—all with British accents! Being recognized for our musicality was a wonderful reward for the difficulty of tackling two fantastically complex pieces.”
Senior Evan Blackwell (George Banks) was honored with an exclusive award — one that was bestowed on just three recipients at this year’s festival. The adjudicators recognized Blackwell with the Freddie G Inspiration Award, an award given to performers who touched the hearts of the adjudicators in a very special way.
Blackwell, a 17-year-old Ridge Point senior in Sienna Plantation was thrilled with the recognition. “I was so touched and so honored to be recognized this year in this way at my last JTF ever.” he says. “Senior year is a time of uncertainty, of wondering where you’re going to go, whether you’ll be happy and be doing what you want to do. Receiving this award was, to me, a sign that yes, I can do it, and yes, things will be okay. This honor felt like the perfect end to this magical weekend, and I could not imagine a better way to end my five years as a JTF alumni.”
Blackwell and Madison Willett (Mary Poppins) were also selected as the Inspiration Stage company All-Stars by the adjudicators.
Six Inspiration Stage youth also received Golden Tickets — special invitations to audition for the opportunity to appear in iTheatrics’ instructional guide choreography DVDs distributed with its Broadway Jr. series of shows. Two iStagers received callbacks for the third, ultra-competitive round of auditions — Jaxon Daniel and Gentry Claire Lumpkin. Final winners will be contacted in March if they are invited to film in New York City.
In February, Inspiration Stage will take a different company to JTF West in Sacramento to perform Into the Woods JR for adjudicators.
In other iStage news, Summer Camp 2020 has just been announced with 25 youth summer camps for kids ages five through 19. Camps include Moana JR., Frozen JR., Aristocats KIDS, Willy Wonka KIDS, Aladdin KIDS, Little Mermaid JR. and more. For information and to sign up, visit https://inspirationstage.com/Summer/.
Don’t miss the remaining shows in Inspiration Stage’s 2019/2020 modified season, including:
- Honk JR, Feb. 28 – March 1
- Disney’s Moana JR, March 27 – April 5
- Annie KIDS, April 17 – 19
- A Chorus Line High School Edition, May 1 – 3
For more information about auditioning or for ticket sales, visit https://inspirationstage.com/shows/.
Inspiration Stage is a national award-winning performance arts studio located in the historic Sugar Land Auditorium at 226 Lakeview Dr. The 2019/2020 season includes ten youth productions, as well as acting and production classes, and 25 camps for Summer 2020. Tuition assistance is available to qualifying participants. For tickets and information, visit www.inspirationstage.com.