Red Mountain Theatre Company will culminate its 2018-19 season with the charming Matilda The Musical at the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater on the campus of the Alabama School of Fine Arts. RMTC recently celebrated their 40th anniversary and it has been a joy to bring back faces from the past and bring forward new faces to the RMTC stage. RMTC welcomes an alum who grew up in the days of the Summerfest (former title of Red Mountain Theatre Company) workshops, the extremely talented Elise Mayfield. Mayfield will be shimmying all over the stage as Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda The Musical.
Mayfield is not only a veteran of the Birmingham stage having performed for numerous theatre companies, but she also pounded the pavement as an actor in Chicago. During her time there, she furthered her chops by studying improv and sketch comedy for the famed Improv Olympic and Second City. She is finally making her RMTC return and continuing her story with the organization, “The last production I performed in was Footloose (one of Executive Director Keith Cromwell’s first productions) and I remember closing the show, my parents picking me up at the stage, and they drove straight to my dorm room at Ole Miss where I started college the next day,” reminisces Mayfield.
She is counting the days to grace her presence on the stage as this has been a production she has been anticipating for quite some time. “It’s one of my favorite books and I still love the movie that came out in the 90s. I had the pleasure of witnessing this musical on Broadway and it reminded me how much I love the story. The music is incredible, the characters are fascinating, and the staging is engaging. What more could you want,” exclaims Mayfield.
As fun as it to play the character of Mrs. Wormwood, it is the heart of the story that she hopes resonates with the audience. “Matilda is about the small triumphing over the big. It’s not just little as in physically little like the small children in the story, but also emotionally as the character of Miss Honey triumphs after being made small time after time by Miss Trunchbull. It’s a story about the underdog,” explains Mayfield. “I hope the community is inspired by our amazing cast of kids, and remember that even the little can overcome incredible obstacles.”
Matilda The Musical
July 12-August 4
Dorothy Jemison Day Theater
Click here for tickets and information.
