Ellise Mayor is a local actor who will be acting the role of Sook Truman in the Homewood Theatre’s upcoming rendition of “A Christmas Memory.” In this interview, she shares some of her favorite acting memories and talks about her newest role—the role of being a grandmother.
Q: How did you get involved in performing?
A: I first got involved in acting whenI was about nine years old, in the fourth grade. I was a villager in the Birmingham Children's Theatre production of "Cinderella."
Q: Who inspires you as a performer?
A: I'm inspired by the audience, and the prospect of bringing the character and the story to life for them so that it can become part of their lives.
I'm also very, very inspired by senior adult actors in town, such as the late Virginia May Schmidt and our very, very wonderful Marva Douglas.
Q: What is your favorite/most memorable performance?
A: My favorite performance, most memorable one that I observed, was, I would say, Adriana Keithly in a local production that I directed of "The Oldest Profession."
In terms of my own experience, my most memorable performing experience was playing Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Q: Tell us about an upcoming performance.
A: Okay, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming production of "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote at Homewood Theatre. I'll have the thrill of playing Sook Truman, Capote's older cousin, and I'll be playing along with Stark Newton, who plays young Truman, and Russell Jones and David Coker, who are sharing the role of older Truman/narrator. It's certainly a show that will be intimate and warm, with music by Bobby Horton, and will certainly bring everybody into the Christmas spirit—which is a really good place to be.
Q: What performances do you have upcoming in the next year or so?
A: I don't have anything coming up in the near future that I can speak to at the moment, except for expanding my role of grandmother to my new granddaughter.
