The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical will return to the West Midlands in Summer 2018 at Birmingham Hippodrome (3 July – 8 September) as part of its major 2018/19 UK and Ireland Tour.

The multi-award winning show had its world premiere at the RSC’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2010, before transferring to London’s West End in October 2011 where it continues to play today.

Winner of over 85 international awards, including 16 for Best Musical, the Matilda The Musical UK and Ireland Tour will open at Leicester Curve (5 – 24 March) and will also visit Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (4 – 28 April), Sunderland Empire (8 May – 2 June), Milton Keynes Theatre (5 June – 30 June), Manchester Palace (18 September – 24 November) and Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre (4 December – 12 January 2019). Further dates and venues are to be announced in due course. The West End production will continue to play at the Cambridge Theatre, where it is now in its seventh year and is booking until 10 February 2019. The adult cast for the UK and Ireland Tour will see Craige Els reprise the role of Miss Trunchbull, having played her in the West End for three years between 2014 and 2017. He will be joined by Carly Thoms as Miss Honey, and Sebastien Torkia and Rebecca Thornhill as Mr and Mrs Wormwood.

The title role of Matilda will be shared by Annalise Bradbury, Lara Cohen, Poppy Jones and Nicola Turner.

To celebrate the launch of Matilda The Musical in Birmingham, here are a few fun facts and figures you might not know about the West End and Broadway phenomenon.

  • Since its premiere, Matilda The Musical has been seen by over 7.7 million people
  • Matilda The Musical has won over 85 major awards (including 15 for Best Musical)
  • The show has played 60+ cities across the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
  • Matilda The Musical will have its official Asian premiere at the LG Arts Centre in Seoul, South Korea from September 2018 until February 2019.
  • At 4ft 4in tall, Matilda Wormwood is the smallest leading lady in a musical
  • The sound effect of the Crunchem Hall School bell played at the start of the production is a recording of the actual hand bell used by RSC front of house staff in Stratford-upon-Avon.
  • The production uses 8,320 balloons a year and 105 metres of balloon elastic.
  • The Blackboard moves 15.5 miles over the course of a year at a top speed of 1.5mph. It would take just over 2 and half days to travel from the Cambridge Theatre in London to the production’s original home of Stratford-upon-Avon.
  • There are 3,780 paper aeroplanes flown into the auditorium each year. Each one is a written school report
  • Miss Honey and Matilda enjoy cup of real hot tea on stage complete with milk and a biscuit at each performance during the song: ‘My House’.
  • The production gets through over 100 tubs of chocolate spread each year.
  • All voice over commentary used in the production is voiced by the musical’s writer Dennis Kelly.
  • The Crunchem Hall School badge that features on the children’s blazers is designed by Quentin Blake.
  • Around 28,000 pieces of confetti are used per performance which equates to approximately 60 million since the show opened in the West End
  • Matilda The Musical is in its 7th year in the West End. The show first premiered in London in October 2011.
  • Matilda The Musical is officially the longest playing show at the Cambridge Theatre and is now in the Top 20 longest running musicals in West End history.

Matilda The Musical is written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, and direction by Matthew Warchus. The production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.