Girl's power play

"Before we came to China, we had a strong sense that the Chinese audience would connect with the story. It has been surprising just how real that connection is," says producer Paul Warwick Griffin of GWB Entertainment, the company that stages the show around the world.

Griffin's professional involvement with China dates back to about two decades, when British musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's award-winning musical, Cats, first came to China in 2003 with shows in Shanghai and Beijing. As a member of the production team, he was impressed by the growth and explosion of the Chinese musical theater scene.

He notes that he was particularly impressed by the audiences when Matilda was staged in Hefei, Anhui province. Toward the end of the evening, when the titular character speaks fluently in another language, "it's thrilling to see the reaction of the audience. They seemed to celebrate the night, the story, Matilda's triumph, and the young actress playing the role of Matilda the whole night", the producer adds.

The audiences, many of them young people, have shown great passion for the musical.

Yang Yue, a 25-year-old die-hard musical fan was another one of the enthralled audience members who watched Matilda in Beijing on Nov 21.

Yang says: "My favorite scenes were the performances of the songs, School Song and Revolting Children. Clever use of words and phonetics make up the lyrics and all were set to fast-paced choreography, which was captivating.

"The little girl mirrors what's lacking in the adult world, such as being brave and real.