Joe took the boys to see Matilda at the Bord Gáis. The lead got sick, the safety curtain came down, and an eight year old understudy walked out in front of a sold out house and stole the show.
That sets Joe off on a Ramble through the strange world of child stardom. A chance encounter with the original Matilda talking about intimacy at a variety show in New York. The militant casting rules for a Matilda, and its fleeting nature for the child actors. West End wages of sixty quid a show. The Oliver orphans doing ten o'clock finishes for twenty pounds, and three Billy Elliots sharing one Tony Award.
Also: a Jobsbridge internship, a TV station that ceased to exist before the course finished, and a considered assessment of the McGucken boys prospects after Star Camp. Explicit.
