Students to take part in 'Matilda the Musical' at The Straz

Students to take part in 'Matilda the Musical' at The Straz

For the first time ever, students will be participating on stage, in the orchestra and behind the scenes in production for a show at the Straz Center, "Matilda The Musical."

TAMPA - For the first time ever, students will be participating on stage, in the orchestra and behind the scenes in production for a show at the Straz Center, "Matilda The Musical."

"All the students here are incredible. It's amazing seeing what they can do in such a short amount of time and giving them these opportunities to be in a very professional setting, even at such a young age and giving that experience," production apprentice Parker DeLuca said. 

The students and crew have been preparing and rehearsing for the show for the past couple of weeks. DeLuca has been building props for the show and helping with the block movements on stage, a key component of the show. As rehearsals progress, she'll spend more time around the performers, like 10-year-old Max Melker. 

"I love how I get to show everyone how I can sing," Melker said. 

Melker sings a lot in the show, as she's playing Matilda. The actress hopes the audience feels different emotions depending on the tone of the song being performed on stage. A big part of the songs is the orchestra, including woodwind musician Camryn Middlebrooks. 

"I really enjoy creating music with other people. It's like a really big community," Middlebrooks said. 

The 18-year-old stays busy during the show, alternating between the flute, clarinet and saxophone. Sometimes, she plays different instruments during the same song. These experiences help prepare her for a hopeful professional career. 

"In the gigging industry, kind of for woodwinds, it's almost kind of expected that woodwind players know how to play all the woodwind families, because then you get more opportunities to play different gigs," Middlebrooks said. 

The students will participate in six shows over the course of the next four days, with the first one premiering tonight. 

"Any experience is a good experience, in my opinion," DeLuca said. "Every performance gives you a little bit of new information and new tools that you can use to help you out when you go out to these careers and choose what you want to do in life."