In This Program
The Concert
Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 7:30pm
Sunday, July 26, 2026, at 2:00pm
Inside Music Talk
Q&A with Danny DeVito and David Newman
On stage one hour before each performance
David Newman conducting
Danny DeVito narrator
San Francisco Symphony
TRISTAR PICTURES Presents
A JERSEY FILMS Production
A DANNY DeVITO Film
DANNY DeVITO
Matilda
RHEA PERLMAN
EMBETH DAVIDTZ
And MARA WILSON as “MATILDA”
Music by DAVID NEWMAN
Co-Producers
ROBIN SWICORD
NICHOLAS KAZAN
Edited by
LYNZEE KLINGMAN, ACE and BRENT WHITE
Production Designer
BILL BRZESKI
Director of Photography
STEFAN CZAPSKY
Executive Producers
MICHAEL PEYSER
MARTIN BREGMAN
Produced by
DANNY DeVITO
MICHAEL SHAMBERG
STACEY SHER
LICCY DAHL
Based on the book by ROALD DAHL
Screenplay by NICHOLAS KAZAN & ROBIN SWICORD
Directed by DANNY DeVITO
DISTRIBUTED THROUGH SONY PICTURES RELEASING
Read the Puffin Book
There will be one intermission.
Matilda ©1996 TriStar Pictures, Inc. All Rights Reserved
About Matilda
The children’s fiction of British author Roald Dahl (1916–90) is known for its dark and unsentimental view of childhood, usually laced with macabre touches. Over the years many of his stories have been adapted for the screen. None, however, has a more warm-hearted center than Matilda, which Dahl published in 1988 and which actor-director Danny DeVito made into a movie in 1996. The movie transplants the setting from England to California, but otherwise remains faithful to the subversive spirit and mischievous wit of Dahl’s original story.
For music, DeVito turned to his longtime collaborator, composer David Newman, who has scored all six of DeVito’s features as director. By that time, Newman had been scoring films for more than a decade and was fully prepared for the wild curves that Matilda would throw his way. He composed a magical, lyrical main theme for the little girl at the heart of the story; the rock sound of electric guitar and organ for her unpleasant parents; eerie atmosphere and diabolical sounds for Trunchbull and Crunchem Hall; a sweet, slightly sad motif for Miss Honey, reflecting her unhappy backstory; a cool, walking-bass jazz riff for the FBI agents; and music of suspense, comedy and even the occasional moment of triumph for the children.
For live performance, Newman added intermission music, an entr’acte, and a new end-credits sequence, all arranged from the original material he composed for the film score. The two songs heard in the movie, “Send Me On My Way” (performed by Rusted Root) and “Little Bitty Pretty One” (performed by Thurston Harris), which underscore key montages, are heard in their original form.
— Jon Burlingame
Production Credits
Matilda is produced by Matilda Live, LLC
Producers: Danny DeVito and David Newman
Production Manager: Krystyna Newman
Worldwide Representation: IMG Artists, LLC
Technical Director: Mike Runice
Music Composed by David Newman
Synth Programming: Trevor Welch
Musical Assistant to David Newman: Max Mueller
Music Preparation: NYC Music Services
Technical Consultant: Laura Gibson
Marketing Consultant: Jamie Benson
Sound Remixing for Concert Performance:
Chace Audio by Deluxe
The score for Matilda has been adapted for live concert performance.
With Special Thanks to: Danny DeVito, David Newman, Krystyna Newman, Philip Rothman, Trevor Welch, Max Mueller, Maureen Taylor, Jon Burlingame, Nikki Allyn Grosso, and Joel Behr
About the Artists
David Newman
David Newman has scored more than 110 films, ranging from Matilda, The War of the Roses, Bowfinger, and Heathers to the more recent Girls Trip, Night School, and Serenity. His music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; comedies such as Galaxy Quest and Throw Momma from the Train; and animated films Ice Age, The Brave Little Toaster, and Anastasia, which earned an Academy Award nomination. In 2021, after a decade conducting live concerts for the classic West Side Story film, Newman arranged the score for Steven Spielberg’s re-imagining of the musical, earning a Grammy Award nomination in 2022.
As a conductor, Newman has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2017, he conducted the concert world premieres of Star Wars: Episodes IV, V, VI, and VII with the New York Philharmonic. In 2020, he conducted the concert world premiere of Galaxy Quest live with the San Diego Symphony during Comic-Con, and in 2021, he was invited by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles to conduct their inaugural concerts of The Wizard of Oz with the American Youth Symphony.
Newman’s concert works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, and Long Beach Symphony, as well as at the Ravinia Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 2017.
Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito is one of the entertainment industry’s most versatile players, excelling as actor, producer, and director. His award-winning performance as Louie De Palma on Taxi propelled DeVito to national prominence, earning him both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe.
Throughout his career, DeVito has directed more than 25 projects, including Matilda, Death to Smoochy, The War of the Roses, Hoffa, and Throw Momma from the Train, as well as numerous episodes of Taxi. He co-runs production company Jersey Films 2nd Avenue alongside his children Lucy and Jake DeVito. On television, he will next be seen in the 18th season of FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and later this year he will appear in Sony’s Jumanji: Open World. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
