NILES CHARTER TOWNSHIP — School was in session Wednesday night on Brandywine Elementary School’s stage, and for most students and staff, it was not fun.

The headmistress scolded a teacher, older students taunted their elementary counterparts and a girl was tossed hammer throw-style by her pigtails.

Yet, in the midst of the chaos, was five-year-old Matilda, whose kindness, courage, intellect and occasional pranks inspired her fellow classmates to rewrite their own stories.

The moments were scenes rehearsed by Brandywine sixth to 12th-grade students for their production of “Matilda the Musical,” which follows a young girl with gifts of reading and telekinesis who helps herself and those around her overcome obstacles.

The production will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23, with an additional showing at 3 p.m. Saturday. All will take place at Brandywine Elementary, 2428 S. 13th St. in Niles Charter Township.

General admission is $6 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Tickets can be reserved for $9 each by emailing agarritano@brandywinebobcats.org.

The recently off-Broadway production of “Matilda the Musical” will be one of the first in the area, said August Garritano, its director.

Being one of the first schools to produce the musical makes a statement of, “Hey, Brandywine. We can do it,” he said.

“I want [the theater department] to grow, and I want it to be the best it can,” he said. “We have been known for putting on good productions. We don’t have a grand facility and all that. We have to do the best we can.”

Garritano said “Matilda the Musical” is challenging. While the theater program has performed junior versions of shows in the past, which are shorter and simpler, “Matilda the Musical” is two hours and has a dense storyline.

To help the 36 student performers and crew members, Garritano hosted tryouts and started practices the first week of school rather than a few weeks in per usual. To aid him and the students are Denis Boger, assistant director and music director; Kevin Smith, tech and crew director; and Daysha Amster, choreographer.

Pulling off the musical will help keep Brandywine’s theater program on the map, despite its shortcomings in facility space, Garritano said.

Brandywine senior Alyssa VanLue believes the production will be a success. She plays Miss Trunchbull, the evil headmistress.

“Every rehearsal, it got better and better,” she said after a Wednesday rehearsal, still dressed in her formal headmistress uniform. “It still is. We have a show. We just have to refine it.”

Just as the Brandywine production of “Matilda the Musical” may the first in the area, VanLue believes her performance could be a first, too. On Broadway and on script, the chapter of Mrs. Trunchbull was reserved for a crossdressing man.

VanLue said she has been in about 12 plays and musicals, but she did not start out with big roles like hers now. She was happy just to be on stage back then.

As her roles grew larger and larger, VanLue began to love the energy of being on stage with her family of co-performers around her.

Despite her personal appreciation for her peers, her character is anything but nice to them.

VanLue, who enjoys playing villainous roles, is especially looking forward to the song, “The Smell of Rebellion,” where she sings as she subjects Matilda’s class to a grueling exercise routine.

“It really brings out her hatred towards kids, and you really see a more soft side of her,” VanLue said. “You don’t know if it’s true or not, but in the middle of it, I’m talking about a nice cottage in the woods and imagining a world without children.”

Garritano said he is grateful for VanLue and her castmates. Once a few flaws are fixed up, namely annunciation and stifling smiles during scenes of meanness, he said the group will be ready for a paying audience.

“Overall, I’m very, very proud of them and this production and the fact that Brandywine’s name will be on it,” he said. “I really do feel we are elevating the program once again.”