Melanie La Barrie on the Fun of Starring in London's Monster Hit Matilda

Winner of seven 2012 Olivier Awards, Matilda isn’t just about a literary-minded tot and a battle-axe of a headmistress (Bertie Carvel's Miss Trunchbull). The supporting cast of Matthew Warchus’ hit musical at the Cambridge Theatre includes a sympathetic turn from Melanie La Barrie, the 37-year-old, Trinidad-born performer who plays Mrs. Phelps, the librarian who helps to awaken Matilda’s passion for books. Broadway.com spoke to the instantly engaging La Barrie in the wake of the Oliviers to find out about life in the winners’ circle and how acting opposite children keeps everyone on their toes.

You’ve been with Matilda since its inception in Stratford-upon-Avon in December 2010, and the show has now won the most Olivier Awards ever. What does that feel like?
From the very beginning, this show has had a wonderful buzz, and since we won all those Oliviers, it’s been wild. But I thought it deserved [acclaim] even when we were in Stratford! What was great was that the entire cast was in the Royal Opera House to share in the occasion, and it was the most perfect and fascinating evening sandwiched by two interesting things: The week before was Lauren Ward’s last week [as Miss Honey] and we said good-bye to two of our Matilda; the morning after the Oliviers, we were in rehearsals at 10 AM to tech the new children. So it was like, hurrah, we won seven Olivier Awards, and now it’s back to work as usual.

It must have been amazing watching all four Matildas share the number [“Naughty”] that brought down the house at the awards show.
Wasn’t that the best thing you’ve ever seen? We were in the upper circle, and I wept like a proper old woman [laughs]. I sobbed and cried like I was their grandmother. It was about that whole concept within our show of taking turns; nobody on Matilda is made to feel as if they are more important than anyone else.

How would you describe Mrs. Phelps?
She’s very well described by Roald Dahl as attentive to the people around her, especially Matilda, because she recognizes someone quite special in her midst. I’d also say that she’s a story junkie, which is why, I suppose, she works in a library. I also like to think of Mrs. Phelps as part of the furniture of that library: In my head, she was there when Miss Honey [Matilda’s kindly teacher] was a little girl and when Miss Trunchbull [Matilda’s scary headmistress] was, as well.

You've got a great look in this production!
I always laugh about the way I look in this show: a bit of a higgledy-piggledy mish-mash of all sorts of things from charity shops and little beads and different fabrics, all of them clashing [laughs]. It makes me think that Mrs. Phelps gets dressed in the dark or that she throws on whatever is closest to her because nothing else matters but her books and her words.

Did you go back to the Roald Dahl book for preparation?
I did for certain signposts having to do with how much Mrs. Phelps cares for the children and that sort of thing. But the librarian as written by Roald Dahl and drawn by Quentin Blake is very much a normal librarian with glasses, and quite a bit older, so in terms of the physical manifestations of the part, I’m very different. Also, I get to use my own [Trinidadian] accent, and I thank [the creative team] for taking that chance with me. There’s a certain amount of music that comes with my accent, so I’m able to take it on to the stage.

Do you know which Matilda you will be appearing opposite before you go on?
They do tell us before the show, but I tend not to look, and I also try not to see [the children] at all before the show. When I turn around [on stage] and say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I want it to be true. I like to be surprised by which of the Matildas it is.

That must help to keep the entire production fresh.
It means you can’t get stale. It’s also a big responsibility: I can’t seem bored because that puts the children under a tremendous amount of pressure. That’s a large bit of text that they have to stand and tell me and keep me interested, and I would be doing them a huge disservice if I wasn’t always listening and engaged.

It’s been great welcoming a major new composer, Tim Minchin, to the musical theater ranks.
I remember when I got the workshop script, I ran home and sang every single song to my boyfriend. I just read the lyrics out to him. It’s good and right that [Minchin] has now added musical theater to his repertoire, and I hope this isn’t the last we see of him. The score of this musical is so important. It feels very much like an extra cast member because it has an emotional life of its own.

Backing up a bit, what brought you to London?
I moved here 12 years ago with my ex-husband to do a play called Clear Water at the Barbican as part of a Trinidadian contingent, then I got offered another play and he got offered another job and it was kind of by accident that we remained. We came with one bag, so it wasn’t as if we had plans to emigrate at the time. What’s exciting has been being part of the larger theatrical community in London and the UK.

And you’ve got to do a range of work here, from Ragtime and Daddy Cool to Once on This Island and Les Miserables.
[Les Miz] was interesting because most of the shows I have done in the West End were ones I created from scratch, so they were given to me with no idea about what was done before. I like that—not because of vanity, but because I’m just really rubbish at imitation [laughs]. But they asked me to play Madame Thenardier for a year, and I was given quite a lot of freedom to create my own person along with my Thenardier, Chris Vincent, who was very generous. Together we created this two-headed monster. He was in the production before, opposite [End of the Rainbow star] Tracie Bennett, which is how you know he’s generous: to work with somebody as magnificent as her and then not force me into that mold—that is the measure of the man.

Meanwhile, you’re busy with your evolving crop of Matildas.
Yes, and we’ve just added three more, so I’ve now played opposite nine Matildas! What’s lovely on this show is to watch them grow after they’ve done it for a while from doing what they’ve been told to actually figuring it out on their own and truly becoming an actor and being inspired by their own telling of the story: that is magic. When people come, they often say that they can tell we are having such a fantastic time on that stage, and it is really true.