KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Residents looking to be transported to a new world and experience “quite extraordinary qualities of brilliance” can join South Jackson Performing Arts Center this weekend for “Matilda the Musical.”

Starting Friday, July 7, the South Jackson Performing Arts for Children and Teens (PACT) will present Roald Dahl’s “Matilda the Musical” for two weekends starting July 7 – 9 and July 14 – 16. Show time will be at 7 p.m. for the Friday and Saturday showings and 2:30 p.m. for the Sunday showings. Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for youth in advance and $22 and $20 at the door, respectively. Online ticket purchases will close two hours before each show. 

“”Matilda the Musical” is a musical adaption to Dahl’s 1988 story “Matilda.” The story centers around a little girl named Matilda Wormwood, a precocious little girl with a love for reading and gifted with the power of telekinesis. Matilda uses her abilities to deal with her disreputable family and tyrannical principal Miss Trunchball, who treats the school as a makeshift prison, as she navigates her school and helps her teacher reclaim her life

Dahl’s story would later be adapted into the 1996 film “Matilda,” which starred Mara Wilson as the title character and co-produced and directed by Danny DeVito from a screenplay by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord. The story would again be adapted into a musical with lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly. “Matilda the Musical” would make its Broadway premiere in 2013 and received widespread critical acclaim and several awards.

Tickets can be purchased at southjacksonciviccenter.thundertix.com or by calling the box office at 931-455-5321.