Grand Theatre High School Project Alumni among those nurturing the next generation of theatre artists. 

It is fitting that the Grand Theatre High School Project’s 2024 production will be a coming-of-age story.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, this year’s selection for the Grand Theatre High School Project (HSP), contains similar themes to the Project itself, now in its 26^th year of providing professional theatre mentorship to students. The show, with a book by Dennis Kelly, and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, will play at the Grand Theatre from September 17-28. 

“[Matilda] is a coming-of-age story, and what the musical is asking to us to do is look at the world through a different lens,” says the show’s Director Megan Watson, who is tasked with creating the theatrical world of Matilda and her classmates, a group of children who navigate “grown-up” problems, such as injustice, tyranny, and stepping into one’s own power. 

As Minchin’s lyrics would put it: “even if you’re little, you can do a lot.”

In the world of the HSP, London and area high school students navigate the “grown-up” environment of a professional theatre, taking on most of the on-stage and production responsibilities to achieve a full-scale musical production.

Students from the 2024 High School Project rehearsing. Photo by Angelina Moses.

In Canadian theatre, if someone is from London, Ontario, industry professionals will often respond with “High School Project?”, as many alumni of the program go on to enjoy successful careers on stage (such as Mark Uhre, Aidan deSalaiz, Trevor Patt, Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, Henry Firmston), and on creative teams (such as Andrew Tribe, Cameron Carver). Others have remained in, or returned to, London to work at the Grand Theatre in various capacities.

As growing up would have it, three of those Alumni are in mentorship roles for the High School Project’s 2024 cohort, actively working with students to prepare Matilda The Musical—undoubtedly, a full-circle moment. 

Meghan Choma was a three-time participant of the High School Project, having been a wardrobe student on The Addams Family (2014), Hello, Dolly! (2015) and Les Misérables (2016). She was first accepted into the program after presenting a handmade pillowcase during her interview. A decade later, she is working professionally as the Grand Theatre’s Assistant to the Head of Wardrobe and has a few assistant design credits to her name at the Stratford Festival. She is currently mentoring the six wardrobe students, who are building the wacky and colourful costumes of Matilda’s world.

Meghan Choma - HSP Alumni, Now Assistant to the Head of Wardrobe. Photo by Angelina Moses.

Choma understands the pressures students face as they create a professional-calibre musical at the same time as they begin a new school year. But it was this dual reality that helped her envision her own future in the arts. 

“In high school, it feels like those four walls are your life,” says Choma. “Then [through experiences like this one] you realize that it’s not your life, and you don’t have to settle for just what’s in front of you. You can go out and chase other things.” 

This theme is woven within the narrative of Matilda the Musical – a story about a young girl with enchanting potential, who has been systematically kept from realizing that potential by the adults in her life. When she is enrolled at a school run by a brutal Headmistress, it is a teacher, Miss Honey, who notices Matilda’s gifts, and steps in as her mentor. 

In the world of the Grand Theatre High School Project, the ‘Miss Honey’ role could easily be filled by someone like the Grand Theatre’s Director of Education and Community Engagement, also an HSP Alumna (The Sound of Music, 2006), Breanne Ritchie. Ritchie handles the administration for the program and works closely with all 58 participating student-artists.

Breanne Ritchie speaking at HSP Parent Preview. Photo submitted by the Grand Theatre.

“I feel so much responsibility for making sure that this is as full of an experience as possible for the students,” says Ritchie, who was in grade eleven when she participated in the High School Project. In her third year of running the program, Ritchie sees many similarities in what students take from their experience. “It’s really the first window [the students get] into professional theatre [....] I do think it’s something that’s going to spark wherever your interests lay in the moment, and it’s cool to be able to look back and see what else it might have sparked for me that I didn’t realize at the time.” 

Sometimes, those interests span across the industry. In 2016, Preston Free Cooper, played Javert in the High School Project (Les Misérables). Now they work in the Grand Theatre’s marketing department regularly supporting the High School Project’s photography and marketing student, providing context into the publicity and promotion side of professional theatre.

Preston Free Cooper - Grand Theatre Content Manager. Photo by Angelina Moses.

“[Playing Javert] is one of the best theatre memories I can think of,” says Cooper, who studied musical theatre performance after graduating high school. “Having gone through post-secondary school in a music theatre setting, getting a degree in that way, I also know that performance isn’t the end-all-be-all when it comes to the High School Project. There are so many branches that come out of this, such as being able to work in arts administration.”

The 2024 High School Project – Matilda The Musical runs September 17-28 at the Grand Theatre. Tickets ($26-$55) are available online at grandtheatre.com or via the Box Office: 519.672.8800.