To commemorate our 85th anniversary, the Royal Shakespeare Company very kindly invited the Fund to take 50 underprivileged and ‘special needs’ children to see a matinee performance of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical. The big day finally arrived and on the morning of Wednesday 7th August 2013, fifty very excited children were collected from London’s East End and taken to the Cambridge Theatre to see the show in a convoy of 18 balloon-decorated taxis. The children had great fun waving to all the onlookers as we passed through the crowded streets of the City and West End, with the three ecstatic children in my taxi counting a total of over 300 waves saying they now know what the Queen feels like – brilliant ! What fun they were having and this was before even reaching the theatre and seeing the show – fantastic !
The Hon. President, Hon. Chair and Committee would like to express their deep gratitude to the Royal Shakespeare Company for making this wonderful trip possible. The show was brilliant and the children had a magical and memorable afternoon and it was also very special for us to be able to do this in our 85th anniversary year.
We would also like to extend grateful thanks to the Management and staff at the Cambridge Theatre for their co-operation and are deeply grateful to two of the cast, Annette McLaughlin (Mrs Wormwood) and Steve Furst (Mr Wormwood),who were met with loud cheers and screams when they made a surprise appearance after the show to meet and greet our children. We also thank Lydia Cassidy of Lydia Cassidy Co. Ltd, Chloe, Ryan and Charlotte from the Corner Shop and Jessica Nowell of The Really Useful Theatres Group for their input.
Special thanks also go to Tristian Arnold and the National Car Parks Ltd for their kind donation of 18 complimentary parking spaces for the taxis at the Drury Lane NCP.
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere production of Matilda The Musical has captured the imagination of young and old alike and continues to play to packed houses at London’s Cambridge Theatre, winning a total of 47 awards in Stratford-Upon-Avon, London and New York. With 24 awards for the London production to date, including seven Laurence Olivier Awards, over 800,000 people have seen the show in the West End since the show opened in October 2011.
With many of the children having never been to the theatre before, we know that this was an unforgettable and cherished afternoon for them. They had an amazing day and we would like to thank all the drivers and helpers who came and made this outing possible.
Raymond Levy
(Press Officer)