Ragsdale returns as Aunt Ev for ‘The Miracle Worker’

RUSSELLVILLE – Elizabeth Ragsdale has spent decades devoted to storytelling.

Now she’s back at Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, returning to the outdoor stage this summer in her familiar role as Aunt Ev in “The Miracle Worker.”

This marks her fifth time playing the part. She says this run feels special and even a little bittersweet.

“It’s different this year,” she said. “We’ve got so much going on in the world. Helen’s story is one of miracles and hope and that’s something people really need right now.”

She says that’s exactly what keeps drawing her back year after year.

“You get Ivy Green in your blood. I love all the cast, and I just want the story to keep going,” she said “The Miracle Worker,” which is now in its 64th season, is performed on the grounds of Helen Keller’s birthplace in Tuscumbia. The show is the main fundraiser that preserves Ivy Green and keeps the story of Helen Keller alive.

“Every ticket sold, every program, every concession sold funds the house,” Ragsdale said of Ivy Green. “That’s why it’s so important. It’s legacy work.”

She also emphasized the show’s positive impact on audiences.

“People come out and tell us, ‘I’m so glad I saw this. It lifted my spirits,’” she said. “It’s hard to watch at times, but there’s that positive ending.”

Ragsdale said she has thought about whether this season might be her last in the role, but she isn’t making a firm decision.

“Anybody who knows me knows I want to retire to France one day,” she said. “I just don’t know when that will be yet.”

She also values helping younger cast members learn and grow.

“We’re trying to make sure the next generation can keep the show going,” she said. “That’s what matters most.”

Despite having played Aunt Ev five times, Ragsdale says she’s always discovering fresh moments. She adds the show’s director, Caroline Self, leads the cast with careful attention.

“Caroline pushes me to bring new objectives every time,” she explained. “Maybe I focus more on Kate one night, or on my brother, Captain Keller, or the tenderness I feel toward Helen. Even if the audience doesn’t realize it, I know it’s new.”

She said Self “could go out there and do the whole show herself.”

Their friendship stretches back many years. When Self was just 10, she played Helen opposite Ragsdale’s Annie Sullivan. They’ve stayed close through moves, careers and family changes.

“We’re like family,” Ragsdale said. “We know each other inside and out.”

One beloved addition to the cast is Hugo, Ragsdale’s three-year-old French Bulldog, who’s appearing in the show for the second year.

“He has his own dressing room,” Ragsdale said. “He knows exactly where to go. He even runs to the garden house set because he knows he gets a snack there.”

Ragsdale said she can sometimes be upstaged by Hugo’s popularity.

“Kids come up after the show saying he was their favorite part,” Ragsdale said. “He’s really become the Ivy Green dog.”

Ragsdale said Hugo’s inclusion is a meaningful detail, noting Helen Keller loved dogs throughout her life.

“She always had dogs,” Ragsdale said. “It’s something that really fits with the show and people don’t always know that.”

For Ragsdale, performing at Ivy Green also means honoring its history. Before each show, she cuts a fresh bouquet of flowers from the grounds to carry onstage for the celebration scene.

“Many of the plants were brought here by Kate Keller herself,” she explained. “It’s special to go out there, cut them and bring them into the show. It connects me to the history.”

Ragsdale’s love of the stage isn’t limited to Ivy Green. She recently played M’Lynn in “Steel Magnolias” at the Shoals Theatre, a “bucket list” role.

“It was one of the best shows I’ve ever done,” she said. “Audiences loved it. People stopped me at Walmart to talk about it.”

She also performed in “The Haunting of Hill House” at Cypress Moon Studios last year and won Best Actress at the Stanley Awards the year before for “Night Mother.” The Stanley Awards are dedicated to promoting excellence in the theater arts throughout the Shoals Area.

Her credits also include performing in Off-Broadway productions while living in New York.

“I don’t do it for the awards,” she said. “I do it because I love it.”

The future

“Russellville will always be home to me,” Ragsdale said. “I have a ton of cousins still here and it’s where I started all of this.”

She is no stranger to big moves and big changes. She was the first Miss RHS at Russellville High School, a recognition that earned her a scholarship, which she used to get a theatre degree at the University of North Alabama. She lived for years in France and New York, performing everywhere from community productions to professional shows.

After graduating college, she first went to Paris on what was supposed to be a three-month stay and ended up living there for two years. She later returned for more than 16 years, raising her children there with her now ex-husband.

“My kids were raised in Paris,” she said. “When they got to high school age, we moved back here so they could graduate from an American high school.”

Her children now have triple citizenship — American, French and British — and she herself holds both French and American citizenships.

“I didn’t really understand or know my own country until I was on the other side looking in,” Ragsdale said. “I’m not totally French, and I’m not totally American anymore.”

She says that sense of in-between has shaped her perspective on storytelling, acting and writing.

“Seeing other people’s perceptions of us provides a new perspective,” she said. “That’s something I try to bring to everything I do.”

Beyond acting, Ragsdale is also a writer with two book manuscripts and a script in progress.

“That’s the next chapter,” she said. “I want to focus on my writing more as I get closer to retirement, whenever that is.”