By Alexandria Bonin

 

Picayune Theatre held its dress rehearsal for its adaptation of Matilda, which will debut this upcoming Thursday at the Life Church of Picayune, starring 11-year-old Kelly O’Grady.

Owner and director Nathan Sandercock, originally from Australia, made Picayune his home after visiting in 2020 and being unable to return home. During this time, he met his now-wife, got married, and began the process of obtaining his green card. Having been in the theatre world himself since he was 7 years old, he could see the unflourished talent that lay within Picayune and opened the Picayune Music and Picayune Theatre to nourish what was already here.

“Our goal is always just to lift the levels of creativity in Picayune,” says Sandercock. “A lot of people, when I first got here, said that nothing good comes from Picayune, and I beg to differ.”

This is the Picayune Theatre’s second year of shows, and Sandercock says it takes a village to put everything together. Just a few of the things that go into creating a space like this include project managers, builders, designers, painters, directors, producers, choreographers, and more.

“It literally takes a village to do it,” says Sandercock. “We just meet people along the way, and I sort of meet with people who are new to our team, and we have a really cool committee that is just so invested in the arts and in these kids.”

A core part and the biggest thing the Picayune Theatre faces is the need for funding. With the entertainment world of the South being more focused on sports, it can sometimes be hard to draw the attention needed for sponsorships and donations. Every show is a fundraiser for the next. Junior Matilda is funding Shrek the Musical, which will fund Legally Blonde, which will fund the next show.

“We’re constantly looking for sponsors, constantly looking for a space to rehearse and rent, because we travel and we use different stages,” says Sandercock.

Working with kids can sometimes be tricky; however, Sandercock is not a stranger to working with tiny humans. When living in Australia, he worked with several kids who dealt with trauma and abuse in schools through a program called SLSO. His experience with assisting those children with their emotions is something he carries with him as a business owner who works with kids.

“We’re dealing with 30-plus kids, all from different walks of life or from different levels of experience, and just being able to keep a cool, calm, and collected mind is the goal when we’re dealing with not only the kids, but also the parents and running a business,” says Sandercock.

Sandercock held open auditions for all his roles, and through this, found Kelly O’Grady. The 11-year-old star of the show, and also the company’s past production of Annie, travels from Biloxi to be a part of the magic being created.

“She came in, and she actually made us cry when she sang ‘Quiet,’” says Sandercock. “She’s a superstar in the making.”

O’Grady does a number of things to prepare for her roles, including studying the original films, reading bits of the book, and observing other theatre adaptations of the character. She has found joy and fun within the musical theatre world.

“To become the character of Matilda, she’s fearless,” says O’Grady. “She’s very smart and she’s brave.”

You can catch Picayune Theatre’s impressive production as it begins its run this Thursday at 7 p.m.