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06/05/2024 08:30 AMWhen it comes to being a “theatre kid,” Matt Landry-McWilliams has come full circle. Growing up in Guilford, he began his stage time as a cast member under the direction of a shoreline legend, Pat Souney, who was the first director of Guilford Youth and Family Service’s (GYFS) youth theater program.
Now, Matt is in his second year as the director of the GYFS Family Theatre, and he’s hoping to see a great crowd come out to enjoy Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Jr. The curtain rises soon for three shows at the Guilford High School (GHS) Performing Arts Center, 605 New England Road. Performances include two shows on Saturday, June 22, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and one at noon on Sunday, June 23. Tickets, $15, are on sale now at www.guilfordyouthandfamilyservices.org
“Matilda Jr. is a lot of fun,” says Matt. “I know a lot of people are familiar with the film version that came out in the ‘90s, as well as the later musical; and then recently there was a Netflix version of the musical as well.”
But this show is different, thanks to some direction provided by Matt.
“I’m basing it on ‘...what would happen if Matilda took place in Guilford?’” says Matt. “I’m really big about driving from our community. As I’ve told the kids, I really want to see ‘you’ in this show.”
Matt is joined in show leadership by music director Aron Smith, who directs the live pit orchestra, and producer Mike Kosko, who is also GYFS' prevention specialist and facilitates the Youth Board.
Matt was also involved in GYFS youth productions, which were directed by Kosko. Additionally, Matt worked with Kosko as a high school volunteer and member of the GYFS Youth Board and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD).
“I kind of grew up with GYFS and a lot of its youth programming, and Mike was very much a mentor and a role model to me growing up,” says Matt.
Matt graduated from GHS in 2015 and studied theater and education at college. When he came back to Connecticut during the pandemic, Matt was contacted by Kosko, who asked if he could help out with the GYFS Family Theatre program.
“I helped Mike out and did assistant directing for two years, and last year, I directed my first show for GYFS, Suessical. That was a great, full-circle kind of moment,” says Matt.
Matt is currently a private high school theater director in East Haddam at Franklin Academy, where he joined the faculty in 2020.
“We’re building a big theater program, which is very exciting,” says Matt. “My big thing is making theater and art accessible to everybody, and that’s really the reason GYFS started this program in the first place.”
While there were other programs on the shoreline when Matt was a youngster, “...it was so expensive to be in the productions, and a lot of parents, including my own, couldn’t afford something like that,” he says. “GYFS gave people the ability to be a part of a production and not with only kids from your school, but you get to work with adults who can teach you so much. I started with Pat Souney, and it was just an honor that she was my director.”
In addition to being the first director for GYFS, Souney’s name is iconic in shoreline community theater and beyond. For many years, she also directed GHS musicals.
At GYFS rehearsals, “...I remember sitting next to her when I was 12 years old in the middle of tech, and it made me realize I really want to do this — theater that’s in a community,” says Matt.
Matt’s directorial style is to give the actors creative freedom.
“I’m very big on choice work for actors, making small choices so they can flesh out the character more. They really get to play and explore the story to make it our own,” says Matt. “I really love giving the kids the creative freedom because, especially at that age, it’s not really about performing. It boosts their confidence and also creates more of that community.”
The cast of Matilda the Musical Jr. features fourth through eighth graders, with about 25 in all. Two ensembles include middle schoolers (as adults and older kids at the story’s school) and elementary and younger kids playing newer students at the school. The musical also includes a Miracle Kids featured ensemble and players in principal roles.
“It’s a great middle school bunch, and then some of our older elementary school students get to see what’s coming up next for them. I also lean a lot on our Adams Middle School kids as our role models and leaders in the group. And a lot of our middle schoolers are usually our principal leads, but this year, we have a younger lead, Katie Price, playing Matilda, which is really exciting.”
Most of the show’s big production numbers feature the entire cast, for which Matt builds in something he credits to his high school musical director at GHS, Cara Mulqueen-Teasdale.
“I come from her line of choreographed movement and nice stage pictures, so I have a lot to thank her for, as well. I think you’ll see my expression of some of how she does things within this show,” he says.
Matt’s personal touch involves the growth and development of characters before the audience’s eyes.
“In my versions of shows, I really want the characters come out and to really see people act,” he says.
The theme woven throughout Matilda Jr. is the support others can provide to make a person feel whole and confident in themselves, says Matt.
“I think it’s a story about how community bands together to promote love and unity in times when it feels like things are not that,” says Matt. “It also tells a story that every Guilford kid and every kid around us can relate to. You may have challenges in your life, but you can realize that you have the power within yourself to persevere through those obstacles, and there are people around you that are going to cheer you on every step of the way. And sometimes, it takes a little bit to find those people, but when you do, it’s like you struck gold.”
The students have been at work since rehearsals began in February. The group averages three gatherings per week. Once school is out for the summer, rehearsals will move to GHS about a week before showtime.
“That is really when we go into high gear,” says Matt. “It will be exciting because the kids know the show, but they’ll get to see the scale and the sets and the lighting and costumes. It’s putting it all together.”
Matt hopes the community will come out to fill the audience to support the young players and the mission of GYFS Family Theatre.
“It shows our community members are supporting the youth in our community who are doing amazing artistic endeavors and overcoming challenges by putting this huge musical up,” he says.
For his part, Matt is thrilled to have the opportunity, through GYFS, to help introduce local kids and audiences to the world of theater.
“It’s been a lot of fun to come back to Guilford Youth and Family Services and to do this work and to do it in a community that I really love and adore,” says Matt. “It feels like an all-around gift. Theater and building community are things I love to do, and to do those things together in a place that I call home and that has my heart really means a lot.”