Evita, one of the many shows put on by McCallum, was performed 10 years ago, and captured the audience’s attention when it went all the way to Central America, as the McCallum theater program took to the stage in Costa Rica and performed at the Municipal Theatre with the accompaniment of the local Costa Rican orchestra. While the show featured many thespians, one actress took the lead role as Ava Peronne in the show and has been dominating the theatrical world since.
Aline Mayagoitia is a class of 2013 alumni, who, as a freshman, took the lead role in Evita. She took the show all the way to Costa Rica, and performed the musical in both Spanish and English to over one thousand guests, which was no easy feat. After joining the world of professional theater, Mayagoitia returned to McCallum to offer guidance to the theater community in the form of a Q&A panel.
Mayagoitia’s time at McCallum was well spent, through her lasting friendships with peers, like-minded thespians and her teachers. She learned lots from her time with the MacTheatre department, especially from her musical director at the time, Paul Pew.
“He taught us that score, and I learned so much about music,” Mayagoitia said. “He taught me everything I know, and even introduced me to Ragtime, which is one of my favorite shows.”
Pew, now a math and private piano teacher, described his student as a triple threat: a talented singer, dancer and actor.
We see amazing talent come through McCallum, as you’ve seen on our stage, but she was different.
— Paul Pew
After McCallum, Mayagoitia pursued musical theatre at the University of Michigan. There she founded and participated in a diverse theatre company, and also worked with different theatre programs throughout her college experience.
Mayagoitia most recently took the role of Catherine Howard in the Broadway musical SIX, a production based on the lives of the six wives of King Henry VIII, that has toured internationally in countries from Asia to Europe. Mayagoitia performs in the U.S. leg of the tour and with five to seven shows a week, Mayagoitia has performed in more than 400 shows with the cast so far.
Pew sat in the audience of her show on Oct. 8 at the Bass Concert Hall, observing the high energy and passionate performance she delivered. He said he was astonished at Mayagoitia’s work ethic and ability to perform the same intense show night after night.
“I’m so proud of her and proud to be a part of her life, and one of the little people she can thank when she gets her Tony,” Pew said.
Mayagoitia returned to McCallum in early October to share stories and insight on being an actor at a professional level. She spoke about everything, from auditioning for Broadway to directing cinematography. She even said that she carried her musical theatre experiences at McCallum with her to every audition.
On Oct. 3, Aline Mayagoitia returned to McCallum to share some professional actress anecdotes and answer questions from MacTheatre thespians. Flip the card to see what they asked her and how she responded.
One student took her words especially to heart, hoping to follow in her footsteps. Senior Sydney Safarik, who played Charity in MacTheatre’s fall musical, Sweet Charity, was particularly grateful to have the opportunity to hear Mayagoitia speak about her experiences.
“I loved what she had to say,” Safarik said. “She was so full of knowledge about the industry and the process I am going through right now. She was so grounded and comfortable with everyone, and it made me feel like if someone else can come from McCallum and do it, then so can I.”
[Mayagoitia] is such an inspiration to me and I feel more affirmed in my own aspirations now that I have seen [the career] carried out successfully from someone who came from Mac — Sydney Safarik
Safarik said that after listening to Mayagoitia’s speech, she feels even more committed to pursuing her own musical theatre dreams.
“[Mayagoitia] is such an inspiration to me, and I feel more affirmed in my own aspirations now that I have seen [the career] carried out successfully from someone from Mac,” Safarik said.
Mayagoitia’s memorable visit and the lessons she taught left Safarik with another career ambition: to make her own triumphant return to McCallum and follow in Mayagoitia’s footsteps.
“Hopefully one day I can come back just like she did,” Safarik said.
As for Mayagoitia, she will continue her performances in SIX and is working around the clock to deliver her best performance each night for everyone who walks into the theater. While the tour dates for SIX can extend as far as 2026, Mayagoitia will not be a part of the cast for that long.
On Oct. 3, Aline Mayagoitia returned to McCallum to share some professional actress anecdotes and answer questions from MacTheatre thespians. Flip the card to see what they asked her and how she responded.
“With SIX and British producers, they love cleaning house every 12 months, meaning every 12 months it’s a new cast,” Mayagoitia said. “I will stay in SIX as long as I am offered it, and as long as my body can keep up.”
With excruciating hours and little time in between performances, the work can not only be tiring, but also make it harder for Mayagoitia to maintain relationships.
“At a certain point, all of your friends tend to leave the business to pursue other careers, which is partially because of how hard it is to stay in contact with friends and family because of the schedule,” Mayagoitia said. “It’s the opposite of a normal career, so whenever I’m available to call, they’re about to go to bed or they call and I have to be on stage in three minutes. It’s definitely difficult.”
Through the ups and downs of show business, Mayagoitia has continued to thrive in her career and carve out time to share her experience and her expertise with others.
![MAKING MOO-VES IN THE ENSEMBLE: Sophomores Zoe Maxwell and Robin Kulhanek, senior Atticus Adair, juniors Addie Knight and Henry Mayes and sophomore Zalie Mann perform Notice Me on the opening night of Cows: the Moosical.
Maxwell, who was a member of the three-person ensemble, found dancing on Cows to be an especially intimate experience compared to their past experiences with MacTheater.
“I had worked with everyone in the cast before, and it was really refreshing to have fun with something that was so homemade,” Maxwell said.
Not only was Cows a smaller-scale production but also a faster-paced one. According to Maxwell, rehearsals were hectic but still fun.
“There were probably only a few rehearsals where everybody in the cast was there,” Maxwell said. “[Mann] and I spent the week before and of the show running back and forth between Cows rehearsal and Mac Dance rehearsals. It was very much ‘down to the last minute’ kind of rehearsal, but once the adrenaline kicked in, everything came together.”
During this frenzied pre-show period, Maxwell worked closely with director, choreographer and writer senior Anderson Zoll to perfect her performances of the many dance numbers throughout the show.
“I had some prior experience working with Anderson as the choreographer for both Pippin and Descendants, but it was really incredible seeing him work not just for choreo, but writing, staging and managing all together,” Maxwell said. “I think he’s a great choreographer, and he’s super open to suggestions and collaboration.”
Once the lights were on and the stage was set, Maxwell saw the fruits of their, and the rest of cast and crew’s, labor reflected in the audience’s reactions.
“[I loved] watching the cast from the sides and hearing the crowd laugh at all the parts I love in the show,” Maxwell said. “I think also getting to perform in the FABT for the first time was a great experience.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/09_MAKING-MOO-VES-IN-THE-ENSEMBLE-e1683085502678-475x326.jpg)
sophia • Feb 23, 2024 at 2:44 pm
Maggie and Sofia, I really love how well-written, and thought-out this story was. I can really see the effort you put in here, and I really enjoyed reading this story.
sophia m • Jan 17, 2024 at 10:03 pm
Great writing, keep up the good work!