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Interview: Bonny Baker as Miss Honey in Matilda the Musical

Red Mountain Theatre Company is wrapping up its 2018-19 season with the fresh and creative musical Matilda The Musical at the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater on the campus of the Alabama School of Fine Arts. RMTC welcomes back a lovely presence on the stage, Bonny Baker, for the third summer in a row playing the heartwarming friend and teacher of Matilda, Miss Honey.

Whether it’s Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof or Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Baker looks forward to the new and exciting challenge of undertaking a role. “This is a fresh and new experience for me. In the past, I have played very headstrong female characters, but with Miss Honey it’s a completely new angle. She is still very strong, but not in a forward way. Her strength lies in her quiet, kindness, and love for children,” Baker states.

The musical based off of the children’s book by famed author Roald Dahl, is a cute and charming tale with a powerful message that resonates throughout our community today. “It allows for us to understand that anybody has the ability to change the world. You just have to make a decision to overcome whatever obstacles you face and keep marching towards the greater good,” Baker points out.

In an age of popular, larger-than-life superheroes, it is refreshing to know the hero of our story in Matilda is not a powerful, towering adult that makes an impact, but an intelligent little girl with psychokinetic powers. Matilda faces the daily trials and tribulations of her unloving parents and an unbearable school headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, but overcomes them all with wit, charm, love, and friendship. This speaks volumes for Baker as she inserts, “The story gives children the chance to be the rockstar, the superhero. The children are the ones that save the day. How inspiring is that for any child? It allows the child to understand they can change the world now and not feel like they have to grow up to make a dent in society.”

Whether you are 2 or 92, Matilda is a story that will empower you to face the challenges of today’s world with a warm heart and a friendly smile. Matilda reminds us we are not alone in the struggle.

Matilda The Musical
July 12-August 4
Dorothy Jemison Day Theater
Click here for tickets and information.

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