Following success at the Tony Awards, the hit London production of Matilda The Musical has announced Alex Gaumond and Kay Murphy will join the award-winning musical later this year.
Top Hat’s Gaumond, who will leave the cast of the show crowned Best New Musical at this year’s Olivier Awards with MasterCard to play the iconic child-hating tyrant at the heart of 2012’s seven-time Olivier Award-winning production, has enjoyed a successful career on the West End stage in recent years having appeared in hit shows We Will Rock You, Legally Blonde The Musical, Sunday In The Park With George and Scrooge The Musical.
His forthcoming co-star Murphy, who featured in the original cast of Top Hat, was recently seen on the London stage in The Tailor-Made Man at the Arts theatre. Taking on the role of Mrs Wormwood alongside Gaumond’s Miss Trunchbull, the actress’ other theatre credits include Chicago at the Adelphi theatre, La Cage Aux Folles at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London theatre.
Replacing David Leonard and Annette McLaughlin, the duo, joining the production from 3 September, will star alongside Haley Flaherty, who will continue in the role of Miss Honey until 7 September 2014, with further casting still to be announced.
The RSC’s hit musical, which tells Roald Dahl’s extraordinary tale of a child with heartless parents and a villainous head teacher who discovers supernatural powers that can help her teach them a lesson, opened at the Cambridge theatre in 2011 after a successful run at the company’s home in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Featuring a book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by musician and comedian Tim Minchin, the show, which has now been seen by more than 800,000 people in the West End, is currently booking until 25 May 2014.