Olivier Awards – Best Actress in a Musical for Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram Eleanor Worthington Cox & Sophia Kiely Gilbert, Ryan (15 November 2013). "Tony Winner Dennis Kelly to Pen Screenplay for New Matilda Movie Musical Adaptation". Broadway.com . Retrieved 29 January 2020.

Dennis Kelly said: “It’s been a long time coming but I’m delighted that we get to take Matilda around the UK and to Ireland. We have some fantastic theatres in this country and in Ireland, supported by smart, engaged audiences and we can’t wait to bring this crazy, messy, anarchic explosion of a show to them.” In November 2012, Matilda won Favourite Family Show in the TheatrePeople Awards 2012 with Tim and Dennis making a short acceptance video. In December, the same year, folowing nine nominations, Matilda won five 2012 Broadway World: UK Awards including Best Musical. Dennis Kelly’s script actually improves and deepens Dahl’s original. Meanwhile, Aussie comedian Tim Minchin has come up with a smashing score that combines take-home melodies with delicious lyrical wit in songs that consistently develop both the plot and our understanding of the characters.

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This article was amended on 2 May 2023. Minchin moved to London in 2005, not 2002 as an earlier version said. There are a couple where I think, ‘Shit! I was playing fast-and-loose there.’ And there are lyrics I’ve changed, for instance the word ‘midget’. I never thought of that word as a slur. I thought of it as a word for a small thing, a midget submarine, a midget plant … What you want to do is not hurt anyone. But as an artist – or as a person in life – you have to understand that you are going to sometimes hurt people.” What my kids have taught me is humility about your control over shit.’ This image and top: Minchin wears suit, by Canali from mrporter.com; jumper, sunspel.com. Photograph: David Vintiner/The Guardian

The Groundhog Day rehearsal has resumed. Morning is about to hit on that fateful Groundhog Day in small-town America. Normal forward progress is about to be disrupted and, to capture this, Minchin has arranged his song so that the cast all get lodged on a note. Instead of singing “If not tomorrow / Perhaps the day after”, they sing “If not tomorrow / Perhaps the day aaaaarrrgh”. The final note starts to sound like an anguished howl.

In November 2012 the producers announced the four young actresses who’d alternate playing the feisty heroine, Matilda, all of whom would be making their Broadway debuts: Oona Laurence, Milly Shapiro, Bailey Ryon and Sophia Gennua! Also making his Broadway debut was Bertie Carvel, reprising his West End role as the fearsome headmistress Miss Trunchbull, for which he won the 2012 Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical. Around 2007, when his daughter Violet was born, Minchin wrote a sentimental ballad called White Wine in the Sun, about atheism and the search for contentment. He started playing it to end his gigs. He often ranted about organised religion from the stage, and audiences seemed to appreciate this softer finale. Minchin was performing in London one night when the director Matthew Warchus came to watch. It was 2009. Warchus was looking for a composer for a germinating Matilda musical. White Wine in the Sun, which often left people in tears, was the clincher. Warchus brought along a collaborator, the playwright Dennis Kelly, to see Minchin, too.

Tim accepting the 2016 Helpmann Award for Best Original Score. (One of a record breaking THIRTEEN Helpmann Award wins for the Australian Production of Matilda The Musical!)Time Out meets madcap comedian Tim Minchin as he talks about ‘Matilda The Musical’ Time Out London (Interview) To help celebrate the upcoming season of Matilda at the Crown Theatre, Perth, Tim returned to his home town for an intimate performance at the Crown Perth Infinity Suite: There were now high hopes for a transfer to London’s West End and for a cast recording of the show.

At the media launch in October, 2014, Tim gave a speech and performed songs from the show, including When I Grow Up. Clips and more images from the event can be found in the Video and Photos sections below. Matilda the Musical triumphed, winning Best New Musical – Tim Minchin & Dennis Kelly; Best Set Designer – Rob Howell; Best Choreographer – Peter Darling and Tim won The London Newcomer of the Year for his work on Matilda.The Broadway production of Matilda The Musical released its own original cast recording, in September 2013, and earned a prestigious nomination for the 2014 Grammys, for Best Musical Theater Album. There are more videos on the RSC YouTube channel, the Matilda The Musical YouTube channel, the Matilda Broadway YouTube channel and the Matilda The Musical Australia YouTube channel. When I Grow Up" is a song from the musical Matilda. Its music and lyrics were written by Tim Minchin. Green Room Awards for Music Theatre – Betty Pounder Award for Excellence in Choreography for Peter Darling Matilda the Musical is that rare thing: a show that’s genuinely for all the family. It’s altogether remarkable and brilliantly realised.”