![]() ![]() Some of the young cast members of Matilda at FLCT. Matilda helps encourage the underdog to take a chance and fight back.” So many humans feel small in many different ways, like they don’t have a lot to give. “It’s always been a story I’ve enjoyed, because of Matilda’s line, ‘Even when you’re little you can do a lot’,” says Manuel. When that childlike rawness is partnered with a trained professional team of adults who can direct it down the correct avenue, something truly magical happens.” “In college they’re constantly telling us to return to that childlike state to where we can just play. “I think that kid performers have a relentless, raw way of performing that most adult actors have grown out of and go to college for years to try to get back,” says Manuel. He finds working with an all-kid cast fulfilling. To date he has directed “Carrie,” “ Ragtime,” “ Annie,” “ 13 the Musical,”” Legally Blond,” and now “Matilda.” After college he began working at FLCT, becoming a full-time staff member last year. While he attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he earned a BFA in Musical Theatre, Manuel returned to FLCT each summer and worked with the company’s summer camp, directing shows. Manuel was 17 when he began performing in productions at the theatre, and he’s been involved with FLCT ever since. “I was dragged here by a friend who wanted to do “Aida” and I went along for the ride,” says Manuel. Although he always wanted to be an actor, he found FLCT by accident. ![]() Manuel’s history with FLCT predates any of those credits. ![]() In addition to his local credits, Manuel spent three months touring nationally with “Elf the Musical.” Manuel, an actor and director who has appeared in several regional productions, including “Memphis” at Slow Burn Theatre Company, which won the Carbonell Award for Best Musical of 2018. It’s real theatre that just happens to be done by younger people.” “Come see! Children deserve the best possible artistic experiences, so all of our productions are led by a team of professional adult directors and designers who empower and mentor the student actors and crew members. “I think many times people underestimate youth and expect children’s theatre to be unprofessional with low production values,” says Erlick. While it is children’s theatre, Janet Erlick, the executive artistic director of FLCT, eschews the public perception of what children’s theatre is. The cast of FLCT’s Matilda ranges from fifth graders to seniors in high school. But Matilda, a natural storyteller, uses her imagination and her special gifts to right wrongs and make life better for those around her. At school, the tyrannical head mistress, Miss Trunchbull, terrorizes the children, much to the dismay of sweet teacher Miss Honey. In the musical, little Matilda Wormwood is intelligent, clever and compassionate, traits that are not valued by her eccentric, bullying family. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is sponsored by The Bireley Family Foundation.“Matilda,” the beloved story about a little girl with magical powers by Roald Dahl, is a perfect fit for Florida Children’s Theatre, whose mission statement is, “Teaching the art of life through the magic of theatre.” “It’s a rollicking tour of Dickensian Hell, funny and frightening at the same time…It’s also a celebration of theatre, telling one of the most warped tales found in an accessible show.” – Broadway World. Lovett’s luck sharply shifts when Todd’s thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London lining up… and the carnage has only just begun. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop, above which he opens a new barber practice. Sweeney Todd, an unjustly-exiled barber, returns to 19th-century London, seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim, opens on February 10th. ![]()
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