With Mamma Mia opening today at 7:00, students and staff are excited to see the results of months of rehearsals and hard work. The show, directed by Mr. Tim Hagerman, Ms. Karen Mitchell, as well as musical director, Mrs. Kimberly Dare, and choreographer, Ms. Kelly Heitlauf, stars senior Jordyn Corlett, who plays Donna Sheridan, an independent woman who raised her daughter as a single mother and had no clue who the father was. One summer, three flings, one baby. Sophie, played by senior Meilia Altuna, is Donna’s 20 year old daughter who is about to get married. She found out about her 3 possible dads, Bill Austin, played by junior, William Litzkow, Harry Bright, played by junior, Jayvyn Sherpa, and Sam Carmichael, played by senior, Zaniel Quiere, and invited them to her wedding. But Donna, along with the groom-to-be, Sky, who is played by senior Ren Juge, doesn’t know that she has found and invited them. With the wedding less than 24 hours away, Donna’s friends, Tanya Cresham-Leigh, played by Sienna Olsen, and Rosie Mulligan, played by senior and theatre president, Olivia Puoci, arrive just in time for the chaos. Sophie’s friends, Ali, played by Sophia Johnson, and Lisa, played by Alyssa Beavo, are the only ones who know Sophie’s secret and are hoping to help Sophie figure out who her dad is. When Sophie’s attempt to keep the dads a secret fails, Donna immediately freaks out. Suddenly, a blast from the past reveals to many that Donna did not know who Sophie’s father was. In an attempt to comfort her, Tanya and Rosie attempt to bring back their girl power band, Donna and the Dynamos. During her bachelorette party, Sophie asks Bill to walk her down the aisle and when the other dads realize why they are there, she tells each of them that they can walk her down the aisle without them knowing they are all possibly her father. As the drama unfolds, people continue to find out Donna’s secret, eventually even getting back to the dads. But at the altar, a lot is revealed, leading to a happy ending for all.
Putting on the show is no easy task. Many actors and techies have been staying until 8:30 or later, on top of the large homework load that teachers have been sending out this year with little to no late work acceptance; many actors are struggling. This leads to many students getting little to no sleep as they are overloaded with things to do and little time to do them.
The late nights, known as purgatory or hell week in the NCHS theatre, have caused a lot of tension and stress for many students.
“People are stressed with the increased workload as we are getting closer to opening,” said Puoci. “But it’s really worth it because it’s all for a great show.”
Puoci has been trying to help struggling actors by setting up new activities including tech week spirit days as well as a form where the ensemble was required to create a detailed character, story, and background for their role.
“We had each person write down a little bio about their character, and a lot of the people in the cast have little personal personalities and backstories, and some of them are related to each other,” said Puoci. “One of the people in our cast is even a time traveler.”
The rehearsals for Mamma Mia at North Creek started in early/mid September of this school year going until 5:30 each night. But as they got closer to opening, rehearsals went later.
“I’ve been actually doing a really good job of keeping things organized,” Said senior and stage manager, Caroline Axtell “So with the late nights, you know, I just get more excited.”
The large cast size for the Mamma Mia production has been difficult having over 50 actors.
“With the size of the set, we probably could have had a little bit smaller ensemble,” said Karen. “But our wonderful choreographer, Kelly Heitlauf, is making it work using both the levels of the set.”
