MATILDA the Musical
Patrick McDonald, Chief Arts Writer Adelaide Advertiser
“Marika Aubrey and Daniel Frederiksen form a delightfully daft duo as Matilda’s parents Mr and Mrs Wormwood, a dodgy used car salesman and would-be ballroom dancer….From Mrs Wormwood’s samba routine on the J-Lo inspired Loud, through the funky disco groove of Revolting Children, to some truly magical stage effects and the biggest burp in history, Matilda the Musical delights and disgusts in equally pleasurable measures”.
“IT’S been a long wait for the Tony Award-winning Matilda the Musical to finally make it to the home of co-creator Tim Minchin… But of course Minchin isn’t the only reason why this production has collected more than 70 international awards – including five Tony Awards – and a record 13 Helpmann Awards…
Matilda is a dazzling piece of modern musical theatre filled with larger than life villains, gorgeous sets and costumes, fabulous songs and a wholly lovable central character…While Matilda’s indifferent parents (played brilliantly by Marika Aubrey and Daniel Frederiksen) mock rather than encourage her love of books, the resilient little girl finds solace in enthusiastic librarian Mrs Phelps…
The production – with original direction by Matthew Warchus – is expertly moderated with a lack of indulgence, which can often creep into musical theatre. While excess and exaggeration are a necessary part of the medium, in Matilda everything is expertly measured and controlled. There’s not a moment wasted, not a lull or dull patch.
Like the remarkable little girl at the heart of the story, Matilda the Musical is bright, bold, smart and loveable. Don’t miss it.”
Jay Hanna Perth Now
” …Five years is also how long Australia has been waiting for Matilda since its Royal Shakespeare Company premiere in 2010. “Not fair!” we cried, particularly as the show’s Tony and Olivier award-winning music and lyrics are the work of an Aussie – comedian Tim Minchin – alongside Dennis Kelly.
But now the show has finally arrived in Sydney, and boy! – or rather, girl! (“I’m a girl!” Matilda reminds her toad of a father), it looks and sounds good.
The grown-ups aren’t half bad either. They’re 100% bad. If Daniel Frederiksen and Marika Aubrey bring out the pantomime in Matilda’s parents, then James Millar as her terrifying headmistress Miss Trunchbull is the deliciously wrong dame. Because Matilda the Musical isn’t really a kids’ show at all”
Nancy Groves The Guardian
“As the crown jewel of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the time has come for Adelaide to stand and applaud, as they did almost unanimously at the final preview performance.
The comic relief provided by Daniel Frederiksen and Marika Aubrey and particularly Travis Khan as the faux Italian dancer Rudolpho was perfectly timed”.
James Murphy scenestr.
“…It plays on in New York and London, selling out houses eight times a week, and will tour Australia well into next year. It’s that rare work of commercial musical theatre — adapted from a book and borrowing from a film, yes, but with startling originality — that deserves its success….
This Australian production has been well cast. As the slimy parents, comic in their cruelty, Marika Aubrey and Daniel Frederiksen are terrific… Matilda is so much smarter, smarter than you think musical theatre can be. It’s an all-ages miracle”.
Jason Whittaker Daily Review
“This is a tale of a neglected child who turns out to be an academic genius and, for good measure, develops the skill of telekinesis. Matilda Wormwood’s parents are as mentally abusive as one can get. Her father, Harry, is a slimy used car salesman, happily winding back the speedometers on cars that he hopes to sell to a Russian consortium. Her mother is a competitive dancer, concerned only about her looks and dancing with her part Italian partner….
They set a high standard for the adult cast to match, but match it they do. Marika Aubrey and Daniel Frederiksen play the Wormwoods, the world’s worst parents, and they make the very most of the roles. Aubrey is incredibly funny as the self-obsessed matriarch and, in Kelly’s revised version, implied philanderer. She greatly impressed Adelaide cabaret audiences in her appearance at our Cabaret Festival, so it was always a good bet that she’d be equally marvellous in musical theatre, and she is”.
Barry Lenny Broadway World
“It’s not difficult to see how Matilda the Musical managed to scoop a record-breaking seven awards at the 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards. It’s a truly exceptional production, populated with all the of memorable characters from the novel: there’s the gaudy, ballroom-dancing-obsessed Mrs Wormwood (Marika Aubrey), who, quoting a memorable line from the book, informs the audience that she chose “looks over books”…
…Matilda The Musical is ultimately uplifting – a paean to the virtue of courage and determination, and a cautionary tale for would-be bullies (even those as entertaining as Miss Trunchbull). With stunning costumes and sets, catchy songs and impeccable performances, Matilda The Musical is an absolute must-see”.
Megan Green Australian Stage
The Last 5 Years
Jo Litson The Sunday Telegraph
“Marika Aubrey displays great vocal and acting chops. She brings wonderful comic zest to songs about performing with a second-rate provincial theatre company in Ohio and the trials of auditioning, yet also manages to capture Cathy’s lack of confidence…Growing in power as it unfolds, it is a poignant, bittersweet musical with understated but genuine emotional heft”.
Felicity Burke Aussietheatre.com
“…well balanced and entertaining, with a wonderful performance from Aubrey. Jason Robert Brown’s score and lyrics were Broadway flavoured with affecting sentiments. This suited the considerable talents of Aubrey, who with a beautifully sweet, true voice realized all of the technical aspects of the music. However Aubrey also excelled in portraying the emotional content of the songs and the nuances of mood. You believed this woman was raw and hurting. Aubrey travelled from laughter in ‘A Summer in Ohio’ and her audition piece ‘Climbing Uphill/When You Come Home’, to despair in ‘Still Hurting’ keeping the audience with her all the way. This was particularly evident in the skilful rendition of ‘I’m a Part of That’. Aubrey gave a standout performance”.
“…an attractive and well-tuned production that allows actor-singers Marika Aubrey and Rob Mills ample room to shine”.
Jason Blake The Sydney Morning Herald
Pierce Wilcox Time Out Magazine
“…the performers are nonetheless skilled musicians who handle Brown’s challenging score with aplomb. Aubrey brings down the house with the show’s most conventional showstopper, “Summer In Ohio”.
Neil Litchfield Stage Whispers
“The terrific musical theatre talents of Marika Aubrey and Rob Mills ensure truthful acting and impressive singing throughout, enlivening the show’s blend of humanity, drama and wit.
“Marika Aubrey is stupendously talented. She is a stunning singer, and extremely magnetic actor and award-winning Cabaret performer… a tender and beautiful Cathy, and she can sure sell a song!”
Augusta Supple
“Marika Aubrey as Cathy is brilliant, giving a wonderfully sung, subtly acted performance…This intimate production showcases two terrific performers playing characters we grow to know and really feel for”
Lynne Lancaster Arts Hub Australia
“Marika Aubrey’s performance of Cathy would satisfy even a diehard JRB fan. Her vocals were strong but controlled, sassy but spotlessly pure. She had the audience in fits of laughter during the number Climbing Uphill, close to tears in Still Hurting and uncomfortably squashed between the two emotions during I’m a Part of That.”
Rose Hodson Australian Stage
“…with Marika Aubrey and Rob Mills aboard, backed by a five-piece band, the journey is an enjoyable and moving one.
Elissa Blake The Sydney Morning Herald
Both performers have easy charm and voices to suit. Aubrey gets a cracker of a song in I Can Do Better Than That…Recommended”.
REDHEAD
Jo Litson The Sunday Telegraph
“…the performance (including the arrangements by fellow Aussie Geoffrey Castles) was without a flaw! For a full hour Ms. Aubrey kept everyone enthralled with her sparkling stories, exciting movement, and most of all, her fantastic Broadway belt (she actually did a Merman song without microphone)…With just the right balance of information and song, the show could very nearly called “cabaret perfection.” Several times I had to restrain myself from shouting “Brava” (OK, I did break the reviewer’s code of silence once, but I couldn’t help it)…I truly hope that Ms. Aubrey will return soon!”
Stu Hamstra Cabaret Hotline Online
“…the New York cabaret community will hopefully get to see and hear a lot more of this redhead, perhaps on her next go-round. Referring to herself as a ‘sensual ginger ninja’, Marika Aubrey is a powerhouse of vocal artistry… She is a gutsy gal with a big voice…”
Sandi Durell Cabaret Scenes
Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2010
Bryce Hallett Sydney Morning Herald“Among performers to watch in the future are the promising Marika Aubrey whose vocal power and attack in Schwartz’s mighty Meadowlark was akin to being pulled on to an emotional rollercoaster, then hanging on for the sheer excitement, danger and thrill”.
Edwina Starck The Independent Weekly“…the truly sparkling star of the show would surely be Marika Aubrey and her rendition of Meadowlark. MC Todd McKenney conceded he tainted the moment by describing Aubrey’s performance as “singing the crap out of it” – But he was right”.
Melissa Phillips News Review Messenger“Cabaret divas Donna McKechnie and Caroline O’Connor were magnificent, while stunning redhead Marika Aubrey blew everyone away with her powerful rendition of “Meadowlark”. Aubrey was a true standout and from this song alone her show is a must-see”.
Sean Riley Aussietheatre.com“…As promised by Todd McKenney, red-headed Marika Aubrey did indeed “sing the crap” out of ‘Meadowlark’, Stephen Schwartz’s most requested show-tune…Aubrey is blessed with one mighty voice, and a confidence that belies her newcomer status”.
Barry Lenny Glam Adelaide“She has a beautiful voice and is sure to delight”.
“New York stage legend Donna McKechnie – without a doubt a woman deserving the title of legend, the powerfully-talented Caroline O’Connor and the perfect Marika Aubrey took the stage in a way that show cabarets love of big performances, the sideways glance and the love of stories will always be a mainstay.”
Russell Emmerson Adelaide Now
CAUTION: Aggressive Birds
Troy Dodds Aussietheatre.com“…Aubrey is an absolute firecracker on stage – she has a powerful voice and an excellent stage presence that makes her one of the most exciting performers to come onto the cabaret scene in some time.
Spending an hour watching Marika Aubrey perform is like spending an hour in bed with your dream lover – it’s explosive, mindblowing and more than fulfilling.
…… the audience is completely captured by Aubrey and a voice that hardly needs the microphone, her voice is so strong”
Last Of The Red Hot Mamas
“Marika Aubrey has the disposition of someone who entirely adores their profession and is made for the stage. She is a truly gifted woman, coupling lovely, strong vocals with a natural acting talent and merging the two with a charming, sassy sense of humour”.
“Marika Aubrey is a beautiful, entertaining force and her latest show was a definite crowd pleaser”.
Elisha McGill The AU Review
“Marika Aubrey, in The Last of the Red Hot Mamas, masterfully revives the music, the comedy and the life of the Sophie Tucker in a personal and powerful cabaret contribution… Aubrey’s show well and truly exceeded all expectations. The combination of a formidable voice and stellar acting drew the audience forever closer, and is a major draw card…Aside from that voice, Audrey’s writing is the shows greatest attribute… Aubrey dances effortlessly between a number of characters, and this aspect of the performance is truly engaging.
The music, with Geoffrey Castles leading the polished Five Kings of Syncopation, is brilliant. Aubrey’s comic performance of Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, but Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love is a crowd highlight…”
Rowan James Aussie Theatre
“From the opening jazz number Aubrey’s strong and sensual voice has the audience swooning. The redhead knows how to work a crowd and channels the oversexed and outspoken star spectacularly”.
Emma Altschwager Adelaide Now
“…Thanks to Marika Aubrey’s ample vocal chops and terrific comic timing, Sophie now sizzles back onto our cabaret stages, backed by a smokin’ three-piece jazz combo…Aubrey’s cabaret goes way beyond a tribute to the performer with intersecting personal and family journeys based on shared Ukranian heritage… Ultimately, the show-maker is Marika’s energy and her vocal versatility to deliver on a wide range of songs from a gentle, sentimental folk song, to gems from Sophie Tucker’s repertoire, including raunchy comic songs and the blues…”
Neil Litchfield Stage Whispers
“Aubrey has a big, clear singing voice, which she uses well…She also has a big personality and commands the small space at the Hayes Theatre Co with ease. Her patter between the numbers is lively and she develops a warm rapport with the audience… it’s an entertaining show by an assured, engaging performer…”
Jo Litson Scene and Heard
“Aubrey commands this intimate room effortlessly…Aubrey makes Broadway Blues smoulder beautifully, backed by Bev Kennedy on piano, Jamie Castrisos (drums) and Trent Prees (double bass). Her comic performance of Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, (but Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love) is a standout…Last of the Red Hot Mamas is a fine showcase for Aubrey and in the vaudeville tradition, it leaves you wanting more”.
Jason Blake Eight Nights A Week
“This is a simply terrific show! Aubrey has crafted a wonderful piece of music theatre… Aubrey has a fabulous voice, impeccable diction and the musical arrangements are wonderful…
Claire Condry Australian Stage
Aubrey is versatility itself. She can belt out a big number (tunefully), swivel syncopated dance moves and emotionally move the audience with heartfelt and beautifully articulated, regretful blues…
The full house was attentive and grew more and more vociferous in their appreciation of this delightful package.
Aubrey and Kennedy could take this marvellous concoction anywhere in the worldwide festival/cabaret scene and hold their heads high. A class act!”
Georgia Stitt In Concert
“Marika Aubrey’s gorgeous rendition of ‘I Get To Show You The Ocean’ had me in tears… In Stitt’s ‘Big Wings’, Aubrey lets loose her big ol’ country belt voice that further demonstrated her ability to sell a strong character”
Xanthe Coward XS Entertainment
Time Is A Traveller
“…joined by the talented Marika Aubrey…they’ll have you in stitches…”
Allison Hilbig theatrepeople.com.au
MIRACLE CITY
“THE hotly anticipated second coming of the Australian musical Miracle City is upon us…Ranging from the rousingly uplifting to the comical and hauntingly moving, Yap’s excellent cast absolutely nails them…powerhouse vocals with Marika Aubrey…”
Jo Litson The Sunday Telegraph
“…Miracle City feels fresh, heartbreaking and genuinely surprising…Director Darren Yap has assembled an astonishing cast, which also includes the talented trio of Marika Aubrey, Josie Lane and Esther Hannaford as the shows soul-saving Citadel Choir. They do a superb job of bringing Lamberts gospel-inspired score to life and to hear their voices swell up in the tiny surrounds of the Hayes Theatre is spine-tingling at times…”
Polly Simons The Daily Telegraph
“It is superb…Hannaford, Lane and Aubrey understand how their performances affect each others; they’re a perfectly calibrated trio. Aubrey keeps them connected as two sides of the same coin by being the one holding the coin firm. Aubreys Eulella delivers her line with a fresh assurance that tells us, clearly, that shes earned everyones trust. There’s nothing wavering about her, and nothing needlessly cheerful either; she’s possibly the only person in the entire show, except for Sizemore, that has perfectly come to terms with who she is…”
“Miracle City is a triumph of Australian musical theatre and this production at the Hayes, when it swells to its conclusion, touches the sublime”.
Cassie Tongue Aussie Theatre
Man Of La Mancha
“At the heart of an excellent ensemble, Tony Sheldon gives a stellar performance. He is suave as Cervantes and dignified, gentle and frail as Quixote, his rendition of The Impossible Dream speaking to us afresh…Marika Aubrey is a spunky Aldonza, the abused barmaid, and touchingly conveys the new hope she briefly glimpses as Quixote’s Lady Dulcinea…Squabbalogic gives us a thrilling, extremely moving piece of theatre.”
The Daily Telegraph
“Man Of La Mancha an impossible but sweetly realised dream on small stage…
Director Jay James-Moody sets the entirety of the action within a dank and cavernous prison cell (set design by Simon Greer and lighting by Benjamin Brockman), where Cervantes (Tony Sheldon) and his manservant (Ross Chisari) are awaiting their turn before the Spanish Inquisition. Forced to face a kangaroo court of his fellow inmates, Cervantes defends himself by recounting the tale of Don Quixote, the self-proclaimed — and possibly mad — knight who roams the country seeing monsters in windmills, castles in down-at-heel inns, and the innocent damsel in distress Dulcinea in the wretched figure of prostitute Aldonza (Marika Aubrey).
As the fiery and downtrodden Aldonza, Marika Aubrey shines, and the supporting cast is impressive…”
Polly Simons The Daily TelegraphMarika Aubrey (Aldonza) and the cast of Man of La Mancha. Photo: Michael Francis
“…And Aldonza (Marika Aubrey), who has for her whole difficult life refused the concept and touch of beauty into her life, finds herself softening towards the one person who has ever seen good in her – even if it troubles her that he insists on seeing her as the Lady Dulcinea, rather than hard-living prostitute Aldonza.
Marika Aubrey is a very fine, blazing Aldonza/Dulcinea, and it’s incredibly difficult to watch her suffer extreme violence and violation (the loosely directed ensemble both does and doesn’t feel cruel, and it’s a strange, unsettling vision). But when she sings “Aldonza,” when she unleashes the exact reason why she can’t bear Quixote’s kindness, Aubrey is all pain and anger and sorrow, sharp like a knife to protect her deeply human, dangerously soft heart.
If you’re looking for innovation, invention, and evolution of musical theatre in Sydney, in Australia, anywhere and everywhere: look at Squabbalogic. They’re reaching as high as they can, and higher every time. Man of La Mancha is a show worth a viewing – and maybe even two or three. What an experience. What a treat to be in the audience while a company does something we’ve never really seen here before.”
Cassie Tongue Aussie Theatre
“…Most, one imagines, are here to see Sheldon. He doesn’t disappoint.
When playing Cervantes, Sheldon exercises silky charm. As the elderly, starry-eyed Don he’s dignified, inspiring yet fragile – qualities he also brings to his rendition of The Impossible Dream. He breathes life into a song that has been put to the sword and flame almost as often as My Way.
It’s no one-man-show, however. Marika Aubrey is a charismatic and fiery Aldonza, the cynical strumpet ennobled by Quixote’s belief in her goodness.”
Jason Blake The Sydney Morning Herald
“…Marika Aubrey is a spunky Aldonza, the abused barmaid and part-time tart in whom Quixote sees beauty as his honoured Lady Dulcinea. Aubrey brilliantly captures the tough, cynical carapace Aldonza has built for self-protection and then touchingly conveys the new hope she gradually, briefly allows herself to feel in Quixote’s eyes. The final scene between her and Sheldon is incredibly moving and inexpressibly sad. Aubrey is also impressive vocally and raises the roof with the song Aldonza.”
Jo Litson The Sunday TelegraphTony Sheldon (Don Quixote) & Marika Aubrey (Aldonza). Photo: Michael Francis
“Sheldon brings those same qualities of strength and sweetness and utter conviction to play here, so when exasperated tavern tart Aldonza/Dulcinea (Marika Aubrey), bemused object of his chaste love…
As the tart with the reluctant heart, Marika Aubrey is a revelation of angular, angry sexiness that finally melts to anguished realisation of the good in a man. And this despite – or perhaps because – she is the focus of the show’s darkest and most shocking sequence: when the muleteers harmonise like angels in the ballad “Little Bird, Little Bird” while gang-raping and beating up this strong and independent woman. There’s a graphic lesson there in the current climate of bullying and disdain for women demonstrated by our leader.”
Diana Simmonds Stage NoiseMarika Aubrey (Aldonza) and the cast of Man of La Mancha. Photo: Michael Francis
