YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – When student performers take the Ursuline High School stage this weekend, it will mark a musical milestone.
“Matilda: The Musical,” running Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., marks the 60th anniversary of musicals at the school. Because of Covid and the state-ordered schools shutdown, there was no musical in 2020.
“I think that it’s a unique thing that Ursuline has had such a legacy of supporting the theater arts, and putting on a musical is a huge undertaking,” said Lisa Devlin, co-director.
Saturday’s show will welcome alumni from Ursuline musicals past.
“We have about 60 alumni from all the way back to 1967 through 2024 coming back to celebrate their memories and experiences of being part of the Ursuline musicals,” Devlin said.
Ursuline’s first musical was “The King and I” in 1965. The school has produced that show two more times, “Guys and Dolls” four times, “West Side Story” and “Hello Dolly” three times each and “Bye Bye Birdie” twice in the years since.
“I think it’s pretty amazing that we get to say we’re part of such a long-running tradition,” said senior Mackenzie Sambroak, who plays Matilda in the show. She hopes her performance does the alumni’s legacy justice.
Junior Madeleine Devlin, Lisa Devlin’s daughter, portrays Miss Honey in the production.
“It’s a big deal for me, because I strive to make my school proud, to make my family proud and my castmates,” she said. “And I also want to honor the lineage of all the people that came before me and laid the groundwork that made it possible for me to have such a wonderful experience in this theater during my past three years at Ursuline …”
Senior Emma Boughner plays Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the show’s villain.
“We have tunnels that run underneath our stage, and every year, the seniors sign their name in the tunnels as leaving their legacy behind with the theater,” she said. “And I think it’s pretty cool that we might get to meet some of those people that we’ve seen their names so many times.”
Joan Williams, the show’s other co-director, has been directing shows at Ursuline for more than 30 years. She’s always loved the arts and believes they play an important role in society.
“Artists take in everything that is happening, and we respond to it,” she said. “Whether it’s through music or writing literature or poetry, artists see what is going on in the world, and we respond. And through our art, we can hopefully allow other people to see what we are doing, and then they can come to understand a little bit more of the human condition.”
“Matilda: The Musical” is based on the 1988 Roald Dahl novel. It’s the story of a young girl who, despite her intelligence and psychokinetic abilities, gets sent to a school run by a headmistress who mistreats children.
Mackenzie said her character has a strong sense of justice. She can’t just sit back and watch if something isn’t right. She has to try to make it right, Mackenzie said.
Matilda proves to be Miss Trunchbull’s undoing, Emma said
“She believes that all children should be seen, not heard, and she’s very tough on these kids,” she said. “And Matilda is the first person to stand up to her.”
Madeleine’s character is Matilda’s champion in the play.
“Miss Honey is the teacher of Matilda’s class,” Madeleine said. “She’s very kind and she is one of the first people to realize Matilda’s special gift of just having so much knowledge and how much good she can do for the world.”
The cast includes close to 30 students, plus those involved with sound, lighting and other behind-the-scenes work.
The three lead actresses said the show offers upbeat musical numbers as well as elements that will make the audience think.
“I think they can really expect to walk away with a good lesson, a good feeling in their hearts…,” Madeleine said.
Mackenzie called the show a love letter to storytelling that will leave the audience with a lesson about standing up for what’s right.
Emma agreed.
“I definitely think that the message of Matilda is something that is going to stick with the audience of when something’s wrong, you don’t have to just let it be wrong,” she said. “You can try and fix it.”
Tickets are available HERE and at the door before each show.
Pictured at top: Joan Williams, Emma Boughner, Mackenzie Sambroak, Madeleine Devlin and Lisa Devlin.