Spanning from April 3 to 11, the Irvington Performing Arts Club and Stagecraft performed the “Mamma Mia!” musical in Valhalla. The musical follows the storyline of “Mamma Mia!” the movie with the same ABBA songs sung by the student performers, bringing upbeat vibes and nostalgia with singing and dancing.
This story follows a young bride-to-be, Sophie, who secretly invites three men (Sam, Harry, and Bill) from her mother Donna’s past to her wedding in hopes of identifying one of them as her father and walking down the aisle with them.
This was an important musical for Irvington Conservatory Theater because it was the Mr. Ballin, the theater teacher’s last show before retirement. It took countless hours of preparation and work to bring this musical to life on stage. Some popular musical numbers in this play include “Dancing Queen,” “Honey Honey,” “Lay All Your Love on Me,” and “Slipping Through My Fingers,” all of which are popular songs by ABBA and make up the entire soundtrack. It’s filled with meaningful themes of self-discovery, female empowerment, romantic nostalgia, and girlhood, making it sit with you long after watching.
Meera Mucharikar (11), a student who watched the play, felt it did justice to the songs she grew up listening to. “I wasn’t expecting such amazing pipes,” she said. “I had such an adrenaline rush watching the performers. They put their all into it and you can tell that they’re passionate in what they do.” Her favorite scene from the whole production was the song “Does Your Mother Know,” shared between Tonya, Donna’s friend, and Pepper, Sky’s (Sophie’s fiance) friend. Their actors were immersed in the character and didn’t break once despite the ridiculousness of that scene. In the song, Tonya rejects Pepper and tells him that he is too young to pursue her, and the song brings a playful tone to the entire musical, the actors themselves portraying the scene well. Many other characters, such as Donna’s friends, were also able to bring energy to the entire musical with their upbeat and well-choreographed singing and dancing numbers.
For many actors, stagecraft, and creative directors, this play required intense preparation to pull off. Veronika Timoshenko (11) the actress playing Lisa, Sophie’s best friend at the wedding, said that whenever she had time, she would listen to ABBA songs on repeat and read over her lines. Additionally, from December to April, most actors had three hour daily rehearsals after school.
Aanjuli Das (12) who plays Eddie, one of the comedic relief characters, adds, “one of the most challenging aspects, especially for the ensemble, is being synced for everything, especially the choreography.” The amount of singing, as well as various dance numbers that they had to learn was very difficult, but they were able to pull it off perfectly.
Stagecraft also played a vital role in bringing this play to life, as they worked with lighting, sound, and other factors to make sure the play ran smoothly between scenes. During the play, the lighting shifted from different shades of blues to hues of red, pink, and purple, painting a colorful stage. The disco ball was hung between the lights and illuminated the theater when lit up. The sets also rotated. All these set designs led to a visually pleasing performance for the audience.
Sundus Pathan (12), one of the co-stage managers, states, “As a stage manager, we write down all the blocking, which is where the characters move, and then we write down all the cues, which are light cues for every single song. Even when they’re talking, and then we call all the light, sound, spot, and deck cues.” All these cues were used to bring the show to life, and he mentions that all these cues had to be performed at certain times, such as scene transitions and songs, all of which occurred throughout the musical.
The musical brought emotion to all, especially through the scenes where Donna and Sophie argued and also had to work together to understand their emotions towards their pasts. It also brought positivity with Sam, Harry, and Bill’s comedic relief. Overall, this musical remained reminiscent with all those who watched it, bringing everything a musical could need: coordination, talented singing and well versed choreography.
