review

I saw the musical Mamma Mia! on Wednesday the twenty sixth of February. The musical was written by Catherine Johnson but Cheshire version was directed by Mrs. Guarino; performed in Cheshire Academy’s blackbox theater. The main characters were Donna, played by Elena, Sophie, played by Audra, Taynya, played by Jane, Rosie played by Olivia, Sky played by Trevor, and Sam, Harry, and Bill, played by Jackson, Tony, and Nate.

The Musical took place on an island in Greece where Donna has a small countryside inn. They are preparing for Sophie's “white wedding” which nobody is very used to. Sophie, Donna's daughter, is marrying sky and wants her father to walk her down the aisle. Unknown to Donna however, Sophia had found her diary from years ago about the island flings Donna had while she was in her band. Sophie found three names, Sam, Harry, and Bill, and proceeded to secretly invite them to her wedding without Donna knowing.  Meanwhile, all of Sophie's extended family and friends started to arrive on the island in preparation for the wedding. Donna gets really stressed out and she goes to the bar in order to relax. She runs into her past romances that have come to the island for Sophie’s wedding. Of course, this now makes things super complicated, especially for Donna. Sophie has invited all of Donna’s romances to the island in order to figure out which one is her father. The guys are equally as confused as Donna is, especially if Donna didn’t invite them. Wedding plan progress and Donna has a breakdown.  She confides in her friends and they make her realize that things will work out in the end. Donna and the Dynamos perform for Sofie’s bachelorette party and everyone is super happy and excited for the wedding.

(I had to leave the performance after this scene to go to hockey.)

The lighting and the music was super important in this show.  The spotlight was used in the more important scenes when they wanted the audience to focus on a certain character or dialogue. The lighting also became super bright and colors and designs were flashed around to highlight the joys and happiness. The brightness and colors were also brought down when the scenes were more serious. The music fit with the time period and if you closed your eyes and just listened, you wouldn't get lost because the music told the story. The tech crew had the tough job of having the audience focus on a certain person while the rest of the cast are running behind them. This was achieved with spotlights but also with overall lighting. Props were minimal and on the simple side which allowed the audience to focus better about what was going on onstage. I really liked the costumes. They helped to translate the story into the time period and were bright and fun. They helped the people enjoy the show more because the time period was brought to life.  It would not have been the same Tanya had been dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.

My favorite actress was Jane who played Tanya. Tanya was the perfect character for her because it fit her personality and she was able to portray the part well. Her portrayal of Tanya made the play more real because Jane is over the top and sassy in real life. This helped her character be more believable. Even when she was flirting with the men on stage I thought it was perfect because It’s something she would do just messing around.  She has these little extra flairs that make you fall in love with her acting. Jane was comfortable in her own part and this helped to make the whole play better. Overall I really enjoyed the part of the play I was able to watch. The mood of the production was incredible and may have been my favorite musical so far.