--- title: "Danny DeVito surprises 5,000 Matilda fans at Royal Albert Hall with Mara Wilson and the 1996 cast" url: https://badiyaa.com/matilda-30th-anniversary-royal-albert-hall-reunion/ published: 2026-11-02T07:06:00+00:00 modified: 2026-11-02T07:06:00+00:00 section: Entertainment publisher: Badiyaa --- # Danny DeVito surprises 5,000 Matilda fans at Royal Albert Hall with Mara Wilson and the 1996 cast Wilson, Pam Ferris, Kiami Davael, Jacqueline Steiger and Kira Spencer Hesser walked on during a live-orchestra screening on October 30, with composer David Newman conducting his own score. Danny DeVito, 81, walked onto the Royal Albert Hall stage in his Harry Wormwood costume on Friday, October 30, and then brought out Mara Wilson, Pam Ferris and three of the schoolgirls from *Matilda* in front of an audience Wilson put at 5,000 people. The London crowd had bought tickets to a live-orchestra screening of the 1996 film, part of the hall’s Films in Concert series, with composer David Newman conducting the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra through his own score. The cast walk-on was kept secret until the pre-film talk, when Newman told the room, “We do have a very special surprise tonight,” and DeVito announced the names to cheers. Joining him were Wilson, 39, who played Matilda Wormwood; Ferris, who played headmistress Agatha Trunchbull; Kiami Davael, who was Lavender; Jacqueline Steiger, who was pigtail-swung Amanda Thripp; and Kira Spencer Hesser, who played Hortensia. ## “Five thousand Matilda fans” Wilson posted a group photo on Instagram afterwards. “Five thousand Matilda fans! I still cannot believe it!” she wrote. “What a joy to celebrate with people who mean so much to me, with whom I share so many wonderful memories.” She signed off with love to “Jaki, Kiami, Pam, Kira, David Newman, and of course, Uncle Danny.” The evening opened with DeVito and Newman in conversation about their six-film partnership before the lights went down. One reviewer at the hall noted that DeVito barely took his eyes off the screen during the film. ## The afterlife of a modest hit: a Badiyaa timeline Here is how a film that only just covered its costs became a reunion-worthy classic, drawn from the production and release record: - **November 1993:** Universal wins a bidding war for Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel; after a budget dispute the project moves to TriStar. - **August 2, 1996:** *Matilda* opens in the US, taking $8.5 million on its first weekend behind *A Time to Kill* and *Independence Day*. It finishes with $47 million worldwide against a $36 million budget. - **December 1996:** The VHS and LaserDisc release begins the home-video run that turned it into a family staple. - **2010:** *Matilda the Musical* opens on stage, a separate adaptation of the same novel. - **2012:** DeVito hosts a cast reunion in his own backyard, with a chocolate cake in honor of Bruce Bogtrotter; the footage lands on the 2013 Blu-ray. - **2022:** Matthew Warchus’s film of the stage musical arrives, giving a new generation its own Matilda. - **September 2023:** A 4K restoration with Dolby Vision and Atmos is released. - **October 30, 2026:** The Royal Albert Hall concert screening, 30 years and three months after the premiere. Our working of the money: $47 million in ticket sales against $36 million in production spend is a gross return of about 1.3 times budget, thin by studio standards once marketing is counted, which is why the film’s reputation rests on its video and streaming life rather than its opening. ## Why DeVito matters to this cast DeVito directed, co-produced, narrated and co-starred in the film opposite his wife Rhea Perlman, who played Matilda’s mother. Wilson’s mother, Suzie Wilson, was treated for breast cancer during the shoot and died in April 1996, four months before release; the film is dedicated to her, and DeVito has said he showed her the finished cut before she died. Wilson has called him “Uncle Danny” ever since, and said at an event in July that the shoot had hard days but also days that “felt like summer camp.” The Royal Albert Hall’s Films in Concert season continues through the winter with *Home Alone* and *Star Wars* screenings. ## Further reading - [Wikipedia: Matilda (1996 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_(1996_film)) *Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons* *This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. [How we work](https://badiyaa.com/editorial-policy/).*