Final Bow: Lesli Margherita on Inspiration and Ibuprofen as Matilda's Mrs. Wormwood

Lesli Margherita originated the role of negligent Matilda mom Mrs. Wormwood on Broadway (making it her own from head to sparkly toe) in 2013, going on to spend two years performing the show's wildly acrobatic "Loud" day in and day out. In 2015, Margherita finally took a "break" to star in the original Broadway musical comedy Dames at Sea and to play Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame at California Musical Theatre, among several other projects. But nothing can compare with her Matilda role when it comes to sheer physical and vocal exertion, says Margherita, who calls the part, physically, "the hardest role" she's ever done.

Nevertheless, in August, she returned to the Shubert Theatre to close out the run, which ends January 1. Why couldn't she stay away? It might be her jaw-dropping ballroom dance number or her surprisingly inspiring character — but let's be honest, it's probably the shoes.

1. What is your favorite line that you get to say or sing?

Oh gosh, there's so many. I'm gonna say, "Dinners don't microwave themselves."

2. Everyone loves inside jokes. What is the best one from your show?

Every night when I'm on the gurney behind the hospital screen, [ensemble member] Travis Waldschmidt and I recap our TV shows with basically, like, horrible charades.

3. Every show experiences technical difficulties. What was the worst technical difficulty experienced during your show and how was it handled?

Our set has so many safeties built in it, especially because of the kids. If one of the kids accidentally drops a pencil or a ruler and it goes into one of the tracks for the desks, the safety mechanism goes off. It just kinda shuts down for a minute and then we go right back on. So that's the main technical difficulty we have.

4. What was the most "interesting" present someone gave you at the stage door?

I have to say the most interesting one was an ear of corn. I still don't know why they gave it to me. I was like, "Thank you!" And they didn't really explain it. I don't know if they chickened out, like maybe they grew it. I don't know. To this day that remains a mystery.

5. Who is the coolest person that came to see your show? (You can't say your family!)

Well, Barbra Streisand was awesome. So that she avoids the crush of people, she actually left during the curtain call, but we could see her. Robert De Niro was awesome too. Those [are the two] I loved the most.

6. What are the pros and cons of playing a villain?

The pro is that it's a blast. My villain's great because she's not evil, she's just dumb. She's just misguided. I think Mrs. Wormwood is just incredibly stupid. And the con — at first I thought it would be screaming at these little girls, but they love it. They think it's hysterical because they obviously know that's not us. I mean there are nights when I see they want to laugh when I yell at them. So I would say really the only con is playing such a giant, elaborate character, because sometimes it makes people think you can't do anything but be bold and brash. And that's not the worst thing. It means I've done my job well.

7. What's your favorite piece of your Mrs. Wormwood wardrobe?

My favorite piece is honestly my pink glitter ballroom dance shoes, because they were always blue (and I believe that they're still blue in London) and when I had my fitting with Rob Howell, our genius designer, I said, "Are my 'Loud' shoes blue?" And he said, "Yeah, of course they are. Why?" And I said, "Well I'm really obsessed with pink and I just think that I would love to have special shoes for 'Loud.'" And he let me have them. So now, at least in North America, Mrs. Wormwood wears pink shoes.

Eeeee thank you @laducashoes for my new gorge Bi-annual International Amateur Salsa and Ballroom Dancing Championship stunners! @matildabroadway (fun fact: they are pink b/c of ME! Duh.)

A photo posted by QueenLesli Margs (@queenlesli) on Sep 14, 2016 at 2:46pm PDT