Wimpy Kids musical’s a treat 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Musical isn’t just good. It’s seriously fantastic.

As far as family entertainment goes, little can top this show.

It’s a sixty-minute romp, simultaneously snackable and moreish. Because Greg Heffley comes to life, just a few metres away from young, and a little bit older, fans. 

If you have not seen it, book your tickets now.

The show is an hour-long, but somewhat shortened version of the 120-minute musical. But like condensed milk, it’s sweet and oh so yum. Nothing’s lost, but audiences have everything to gain.

Based on the 250 million-selling Jeff Kinney novels, anyone who has read the books or seen some of the streaming adaptations of the stories will recognise many of Greg’s major life moments in the production.

There’s the ‘cheese touch’, weird kid Fregley and the cartoon competition with the Zoo Wee Mama dispute between best friends Rowley and Heffley. 

Audiences have everything to gain

Director Vicky Friedman and showrunner Daphne Kuhn have created a gem. It must have been tough, though.

There are two sets of casts, comprising 16 kids each, plus actors Sarah Richard and Sechaba Ramphele, who are the common denominators and play Heffley’s parents and teachers.

34 people to manage is no joke, yet the choreography, the performances, the singing… it’s all top drawer. 

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From the moment they sat down, it was excitement and anticipation for my kids. As the lights dimmed and Heffley shared that his journal wasn’t a diary, their gaze remained fixed on the stage.

For a five and seven-year-old used to fast-moving games on devices or running around in muddy puddles, such undivided attention for sixty minutes is unusual. But that’s how engaging the score, the script, and the performances were. 

Engaging script and performances

Afterwards, the pair wanted more copies of Wimpy Kid books.

And over lunch, they started reading the instalments we bought. On the way home, in the car, the phrase ‘this is not a diary, it’s a journal’ went on repeat between the two.

Back at home, instead of asking for anything else, they were buried in books.

That’s the beauty of the Wimpy Kid series: the cartoons make it accessible to kids of any reading level, and the musical brought it all to life. In turn, it sparked a greater desire to read more. 

Kevin Del Aquila’s script, together with Alan Schmukler and Michael Mahler’s music, never veers from the spirit of the books. The storytelling is superb.

The magic is in the performance. Friedman and Kuhn’s casting was impeccable, and there’s not a single performer whose star turns needed to be carried by their mates at any time.

Collectively, they pulled off numbers like In The Middle Of It All and Animal Heart with what would be complex choreography for a kid, exceptionally. The tunes are sticky, and the dream sequence of Animal Heart was my 7-year-old’s favourite moment in the show. For the 5-year-old, Fegley’s strangeness was hilarious. 

Fabulous storytelling

Eye contact and audience engagement, drawing both young and older people into the narrative, were seriously well done. Comedic timing, another significant challenge for any performer, was pulled off well. The American accents, nobody skipped a beat in the show we saw. 

Greg Heffley’s quest for popularity in Middle School is a universal story that everyone can resonate with in some aspect or another.

There are a lot of life lessons squashed inside it all, but not the prescriptive sitcom kind. Instead, the familiarity of Heffley’s challenges, from sibling rivalry through to the eccentric and popular kids at school…we’ve all been there, and our kids must still go through it or, depending on age, are wading through it all as we speak. 

Wimpy Kid, The Musical runs until 4 May at Theatre on The Square in Mandela Square, Sandton. If you miss it, you’ll be sorry. 

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