TJ’s own actors and actresses dazzle the audience on the spectacular set of the famous musical, “Mamma Mia!” photo by Ash Leroux
The actors, crew, and directors of the spring musical worked diligently together to put on an amazing show.
This year’s spring musical was “Mamma Mia!,” a jukebox musical based on ABBA’s songs about a young bride’s quest to discover the identity of her father. While there were some challenges regarding the time constraints, musical technicality, and weather delays, the show ended up being a great success for the whole cast, crew, and audience.
The musical follows Sophie, a young woman preparing to get married on her mother’s resort on an idyllic Greek island. However, Sophie launched a plot to determine the identity of her unknown father, involving intiving all three potential fathers to the wedding without her mother’s knowledge. What ensues is a series of hilarious and romantic situations that tell the coming of age story of Sophie and her relationship with her mother, Donna.
“Mamma Mia!” was chosen as the spring musical out of a list of options curated by teachers who used their knowledge of their students’ abilities and interests in musicals. Then, students across the school voted on their favorite option, and “Mamma Mia!” won. The musical was originally scheduled for April 14th, 15th, and 16th; however, a heavy snowstorm and subsequent snow days meant that the shows on the 14th and 15th had to be postponed. Despite this unexpected obstacle, the cast and crew were able to perform an excellent performance.
In the eyes of theater teacher and director, Andre Moss, “theater [is] a series of problems that you have to solve,” and this show was no different. For one, it is a more dance heavy show, meaning choreography had to be written and learned. Luckily, Moss was able to use his dance background to help tackle the task and even said “it was a fun challenge.” Additionally, in contrast to the last TJ performance, “Alice and Wonderland” that took place this fall, “Mamma Mia!” isn’t fantastical and is instead set in the real world. The show also focused on different subjects such as romance and was more lighthearted than previous shows. This meant that the actors and tech crew had to work hard to convey humor and realism in order to give the audience an enjoyable experience.
While rehearsals for the musical began in January, preparation began earlier than that with planning for the set. Over the years, the sets of TJ productions have improved and this year was no different. Senior and stage manager Mattie Brightwell began planning the set before rehearsals even started and studied the script to sketch out ideas for the Greek resort setting. Creating a magnificent set using limited time, money, and tools was difficult, but Brightwell and the rest of the tech crew were able to pull it off and create a stunning backdrop that took the audience to a sunny Greek paradise. To further add to the excellence of the set, the time the crew had was less than what is normal for musicals and was one of the only times the set or props didn’t malfunction during the show. Brightwell attributes the success of the set and props to the tech crew who he said, “was in a good mood and ready to fix problems” and was “tight-knit” and “kind.” The closeness of the tech crew not only ensured an excellent set was done on time, but also that everyone had fun while working together.
One lead of the play, senior Maya Bartelt, who played Sophie, shared Brightwell’s sentiment about the close team environment. She explained that the musical got completed due to “Everyone working together, like lights working with sound, working with costumes and then just actors working with each other.” She highlighted the hard work everyone put in, from increasing rehearsal hours, to the costume team working hard to sew custom costumes, to the excellent performances put on by all the actors. The diverse group of students involved in the musical allowed for new perspectives and connections as senior theater students, newcomers to theater, and members of different activities all worked together. Bartelt expressed how fun it was to work on the show especially as her last production and commented, “Saturday night’s [performance] was amazing, which was great for [the] seniors.”
Moss agrees with both Brightwell and Bartelt on the excellence of the show from a director’s point of view. He explained that each year he tries to be more prepared to tackle the challenges of directing and to make each production a bit better than the last. While each TJ production has been wonderful, Moss feels that, “‘Mamma Mia!’ brought everything together where we had great lighting, great sound, great costumes, great makeup, great choreography.” From forging new heights in TJ theater to overcoming daunting challenges, “Mamma Mia!” will certainly be remembered for its great success.
