(Ally Frieders/Submitted)
Ally Frieders is making her debut as a musical theater performer in “Matilda the Musical” at the Saguaro City Music Theatre.
Technically, Ally Frieders is no stranger to the stage. She’s been a dancer since she was very young, earned a degree in theater production at Arizona State University, and has painted sets and worked lights for numerous productions.
However, Dec. 22 will mark the first time she will walk the boards in a theatrical production when Saguaro City Music Theatre opens “Matilda the Muical” at The Berger Performing Arts Center.
What makes it even more exciting for the long-time Sahuarita resident is that the Roald Dahl story, in both its movie and musical format, is one of her favorites.
“Whenever I was asked as a kid what my favorite movie was, that was always my answer, and then it got turned into a musical,” Frieders said. “This is great — I love musicals, and I love Matilda.”
The heroine, a young girl with neglectful parents attending a school with an abusive headmistress, has always been the major appeal to the story for Frieders. She saw in her a person who stood up for what she believed in and was willing to fight an authority who was bigger, older and held more power than she did. As someone who spent a lot of time in the highly structured and authoritative world of dance, Frieders said she could relate.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of things growing up where people had lots of things to say about me and had tons of authority over me,” Frieders said. “I never felt like I could do what Matilda does. It amazes me that a kid could stand up for themselves like that.”
When she and her two siblings graduated from high school, their parents took them to Europe as a graduation present. They saw “Matilda” on the West End.
“That was 2016,” Frieders said. “Then the movie musical came out last Christmas, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, there’s so much Matilda.’ And now here I am doing ‘Matilda.”
Drew Humphrey, the company’s artistic director, explained that “Matilda” was a great match for Saguaro’s programming. It tries to provide access and opportunities for the performers they know in Tucson and entertainment for the population they are trying to reach.
“It’s a story about a powerful little girl who is standing up to forces that are larger than her and standing up for what is right,” Humphrey said.
“That is a mission and a storyline that really speaks to us as an organization, but it is also a wonderful story that the whole community can relate to. And when looking for programming for the holidays, a story that brings people together is important.”
Frieders’ step onto the stage as a member of the dance ensemble is more than a decade in the making. Her brother, Drew Frieders, started acting in theater when they were 11 or 12.
She loved attending his shows, but she was too involved in dance and marching band to be able to join her brother.
“I enjoyed going to all the shows, and the sets blew my mind,” Frieders said. “I’m also an avid TV watcher, and I was the kind of person who would watch all the behind-the-scenes stuff for the shows I liked.”
In high school, she learned there were degrees for theater production. She quickly signed up. In one role or another, with an emphasis on stage painting, she worked on the crew of every ASU show from 2016 to 2020 — when she graduated the theater world mostly shut down due to the pandemic.
While it was her brother who first sparked her interest in theater, it was her father, Ray Frieders, who helped to connect her with Saguaro City Music Theatre. A board member and currently the company’s interim president, he connected her with Humphrey and Dena DiGiacinto, the director of outreach and education.
“I like to do a little bit of networking for myself,” Frieders said. “Dena popped up on my Facebook one day, and I was like, ‘That’s who my dad is working with. I should probably friend her.’ From there, she got to know a little bit about me, and they reached out to me last year about doing a dance class with them for their Studio Arts.”
Studio Arts is a tuition-free, inclusive arts education program that is open to young people ages 7 to 17 of all backgrounds and abilities, including those with special needs.
For three weeks, Frieders brought her professional experience as a dance teacher to the company.
“It was almost like a theater boot camp for kids,” Frieders said. “There were acting, dance and vocal classes for nine weeks. For three weeks, I was the dance teacher, teaching them how movement can also tell stories.”
Saguaro Music Theater is a professional company with a strong focus on inclusive arts education. Humphrey, who earned a BFA in dance from the University of Arizona, said that was foundational to his co-founding the company.
An Arizona native, he spent many years performing theater around the country, including 20 years in New York performing on Broadway, off-Broadway and in national tours.
He was also deeply involved in inclusive arts education programs that gave special needs children the opportunity to be a part of professional musical theater.
“Coming back to Tucson and wanting to start a professional musical theater company, it really needed to have this inclusive mission and to always be this place that would provide opportunities not only to the Tucson community, but particularly to children, adults and teens that may not always have access to it,” Humphrey said. “We’d always try to find ways to keep that door open and invite more people to the table. On the other side, we just really want to produce high-quality, first-class entertainment, which is our first responsibility when mounting our mainstage shows.”
When they launched a little over a year ago, the education program was the first thing they opened. Since then, they’ve had four educational programs with various structures and foci. Frieders was hooked.
“There’s no better theater atmosphere out there,” Frieders said. “I am excited to perform in my musical theater debut after several years working behind the scenes.”
Inclusivity is one of the important factors that attracted Frieders to the company, in part because of her own struggles growing up.
“I would have situations where my mind only worked in a certain way, and people wouldn’t adapt to help me to understand things in the way that my mind needed,” Frieders said.
“It’s not something that I realized was a problem until I grew up and I saw things from an adult perspective. I’ve really gotten into mental health, specifically mental health within the arts, over the past couple of years. That has totally influenced the way in which I teach. Everyone needs to be met at their level, otherwise nothing gets done.”
Growing up, she said she rarely saw anyone with disabilities — whether physical, mental or developmental — performing in the dance world. It was different at Saguaro City Music Theatre.
“It was amazing to see people who have limitations push past those and learn about themselves and grow and find a love for dance,” Frieders said. “It made me happy every week to see them excited to dance and learn more. Honestly, they were the most involved and interested and focused and excited class that I’ve ever taught, because they wanted it. I loved every second of it.”
After the company’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” Frieders reached out to DiGiacinto about whether it would make sense for her to audition for “Matilda.”
“I was so heavy into my dance world that I had time for school, and I had time for dance, and that was it,” Frieders said.
“This is my first year where I’m not doing any dance, so the only thing I have in my schedule is work. I sent a message to Dena, and I was like, ‘I’m not a singer and I’m not an actor, but I am a dancer; would it be worth auditioning?’ She said yes.”
She sang “Cups” by Anna Kendrick for the initial audition, and then got a dance callback. After that, she auditioned in a final callback in which she did line reads and sang a song from “Matilda.” A couple weeks later, she got an email offering her a role in the ensemble.
She’s thrilled that her stage debut is happening with a story she loves so much at a theater she has come to respect.
“I’m excited to be a part of something,” Frieders said. “I’m excited to be on stage, I’m excited to meet new people, I’m excited for new experiences, I’m excited for people to see the show. I’ve been promoting it every day, telling people you have to buy tickets.”
However, Dec. 22 will mark the first time she will walk the boards in a theatrical production when Saguaro City Music Theatre opens “Matilda the Muical” at The Berger Performing Arts Center.
What makes it even more exciting for the long-time Sahuarita resident is that the Roald Dahl story, in both its movie and musical format, is one of her favorites.
“Whenever I was asked as a kid what my favorite movie was, that was always my answer, and then it got turned into a musical,” Frieders said. “This is great — I love musicals, and I love Matilda.”
The heroine, a young girl with neglectful parents attending a school with an abusive headmistress, has always been the major appeal to the story for Frieders. She saw in her a person who stood up for what she believed in and was willing to fight an authority who was bigger, older and held more power than she did. As someone who spent a lot of time in the highly structured and authoritative world of dance, Frieders said she could relate.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of things growing up where people had lots of things to say about me and had tons of authority over me,” Frieders said. “I never felt like I could do what Matilda does. It amazes me that a kid could stand up for themselves like that.”
When she and her two siblings graduated from high school, their parents took them to Europe as a graduation present. They saw “Matilda” on the West End.
“That was 2016,” Frieders said. “Then the movie musical came out last Christmas, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, there’s so much Matilda.’ And now here I am doing ‘Matilda.”
Drew Humphrey, the company’s artistic director, explained that “Matilda” was a great match for Saguaro’s programming. It tries to provide access and opportunities for the performers they know in Tucson and entertainment for the population they are trying to reach.
“It’s a story about a powerful little girl who is standing up to forces that are larger than her and standing up for what is right,” Humphrey said.
“That is a mission and a storyline that really speaks to us as an organization, but it is also a wonderful story that the whole community can relate to. And when looking for programming for the holidays, a story that brings people together is important.”
Frieders’ step onto the stage as a member of the dance ensemble is more than a decade in the making. Her brother, Drew Frieders, started acting in theater when they were 11 or 12.
She loved attending his shows, but she was too involved in dance and marching band to be able to join her brother.
“I enjoyed going to all the shows, and the sets blew my mind,” Frieders said. “I’m also an avid TV watcher, and I was the kind of person who would watch all the behind-the-scenes stuff for the shows I liked.”
In high school, she learned there were degrees for theater production. She quickly signed up. In one role or another, with an emphasis on stage painting, she worked on the crew of every ASU show from 2016 to 2020 — when she graduated the theater world mostly shut down due to the pandemic.
While it was her brother who first sparked her interest in theater, it was her father, Ray Frieders, who helped to connect her with Saguaro City Music Theatre. A board member and currently the company’s interim president, he connected her with Humphrey and Dena DiGiacinto, the director of outreach and education.
“I like to do a little bit of networking for myself,” Frieders said. “Dena popped up on my Facebook one day, and I was like, ‘That’s who my dad is working with. I should probably friend her.’ From there, she got to know a little bit about me, and they reached out to me last year about doing a dance class with them for their Studio Arts.”
Studio Arts is a tuition-free, inclusive arts education program that is open to young people ages 7 to 17 of all backgrounds and abilities, including those with special needs.
For three weeks, Frieders brought her professional experience as a dance teacher to the company.
“It was almost like a theater boot camp for kids,” Frieders said. “There were acting, dance and vocal classes for nine weeks. For three weeks, I was the dance teacher, teaching them how movement can also tell stories.”
Saguaro Music Theater is a professional company with a strong focus on inclusive arts education. Humphrey, who earned a BFA in dance from the University of Arizona, said that was foundational to his co-founding the company.
An Arizona native, he spent many years performing theater around the country, including 20 years in New York performing on Broadway, off-Broadway and in national tours.
He was also deeply involved in inclusive arts education programs that gave special needs children the opportunity to be a part of professional musical theater.
“Coming back to Tucson and wanting to start a professional musical theater company, it really needed to have this inclusive mission and to always be this place that would provide opportunities not only to the Tucson community, but particularly to children, adults and teens that may not always have access to it,” Humphrey said. “We’d always try to find ways to keep that door open and invite more people to the table. On the other side, we just really want to produce high-quality, first-class entertainment, which is our first responsibility when mounting our mainstage shows.”
When they launched a little over a year ago, the education program was the first thing they opened. Since then, they’ve had four educational programs with various structures and foci. Frieders was hooked.
“There’s no better theater atmosphere out there,” Frieders said. “I am excited to perform in my musical theater debut after several years working behind the scenes.”
Inclusivity is one of the important factors that attracted Frieders to the company, in part because of her own struggles growing up.
“I would have situations where my mind only worked in a certain way, and people wouldn’t adapt to help me to understand things in the way that my mind needed,” Frieders said.
“It’s not something that I realized was a problem until I grew up and I saw things from an adult perspective. I’ve really gotten into mental health, specifically mental health within the arts, over the past couple of years. That has totally influenced the way in which I teach. Everyone needs to be met at their level, otherwise nothing gets done.”
Growing up, she said she rarely saw anyone with disabilities — whether physical, mental or developmental — performing in the dance world. It was different at Saguaro City Music Theatre.
“It was amazing to see people who have limitations push past those and learn about themselves and grow and find a love for dance,” Frieders said. “It made me happy every week to see them excited to dance and learn more. Honestly, they were the most involved and interested and focused and excited class that I’ve ever taught, because they wanted it. I loved every second of it.”
After the company’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” Frieders reached out to DiGiacinto about whether it would make sense for her to audition for “Matilda.”
“I was so heavy into my dance world that I had time for school, and I had time for dance, and that was it,” Frieders said.
“This is my first year where I’m not doing any dance, so the only thing I have in my schedule is work. I sent a message to Dena, and I was like, ‘I’m not a singer and I’m not an actor, but I am a dancer; would it be worth auditioning?’ She said yes.”
She sang “Cups” by Anna Kendrick for the initial audition, and then got a dance callback. After that, she auditioned in a final callback in which she did line reads and sang a song from “Matilda.” A couple weeks later, she got an email offering her a role in the ensemble.
She’s thrilled that her stage debut is happening with a story she loves so much at a theater she has come to respect.
“I’m excited to be a part of something,” Frieders said. “I’m excited to be on stage, I’m excited to meet new people, I’m excited for new experiences, I’m excited for people to see the show. I’ve been promoting it every day, telling people you have to buy tickets.”
Saguaro City Music Theatre’s “Matilda the Musical”
WHEN: Various times Friday, Dec. 22, to Sunday, Jan. 7
WHERE: The Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $25
INFO: 520-704-0193, www.saguarocity.org
