Take a look at any list of the best kids’ movies ever made and you’ll be pretty sure to find Danny DeVito’s 1996 Roald Dahl adaptation Matilda on there. A nostalgic, sweethearted, magical shortcut to the warm and fuzzies, there’s a reason why 27 years (and a Matilda The Musical on both stage and screen) later, it remains a firm family favourite. All of which is to say that word of a Wormwood family reunion involving co-stars DeVito and actual Matilda herself, Mara Wilson, is more than enough to have us all kinds of excited – and maybe just a wee bit wistful.
Speaking to The Messenger, DeVito – who played Matilda’s crook father Mr. Wormwood in the 90s classic, which he also directed and co-wrote with then-wife Rhea Perlman – revealed plans for Matilda In Concert, which would see him and Wilson narrating the film accompanied by David Newman’s live score. “Mara and I were planning to perform Matilda live with the New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra just before the strike hit,” DeVito said. “We had it all set, but, after the strike hit, we couldn't proceed because it would be seen as a promotion for a movie.”
However, whilst plans for the concert have been temporarily put on the back-burner, DeVito remains optimistic that the show will eventually go on. “We're still planning to do that,” he goes on to say in the interview. “We're going to watch the movie with David Newman's score and try to do it sometime soon, as it seems the strike may be coming to an end — I hope!" We hope so too!
In the meantime, aside from continuing to work on our telekinetic powers (it’s been 9374 days and this jug of newt-infested water looks ready to fly any second now!), there’s only one thing to be done. Alexa, play 'Send Me On My Way' by Rusted Root...