The Viewpoint theatre program this year choreographed and produced the play Mamma Mia. It debuted on the 25th of April in the Carlon Family Theatre, ushers handed out playbills and the excitement in the air was palpable.Though I’m pretty sure most of you experienced it in person considering that all of the tickets were sold out. (Multiple people were seen standing by the doors or sitting on floors to watch the play.) Mamma Mia was an absolutely delightful experience, with incredible performances, iconic ABBA songs, and jaw-dropping sets and lighting. After the preview on the 24th tickets started disappearing like Donna’s boyfriends.
When asked, right hand man to the lighting designer Clayton Collins gave a quick word about what’s it like behind the curtains. He explained that the flashy nature of the show allowed for more creative theatrical liberties. Clayton said “For us the fun and flashy nature of the show means we could use bright unnatural colors and striking beamy light moments, like at the end of Dancing Queen in the first act.” Clayton proudly stated that there were 471 lighting changes throughout the show, not including the hard work of the spotlight directors. I am not a betting man but I would say that this might be one of the biggest shows in Viewpoint lighting history!
Overall, the play was amazingly put together thanks to the hard work of the tech crew which was accompanied by actors who felt like they were born to play their roles. Definitely a highlight was the song “Does Your Mother Know,” which was a favorite of both Nathan Danese (Sam) and Kaelin Schetter (Tanya) who loved having fun performing it and how it always got the crowd rolling. Even more notably “Does Your Mother Know”, along with “Lay All Your Love on Me”, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” and “Money, Money, Money” were all choreographed by junior (yeah you read that right, a junior) Chloe Brendle. The first student in Viewpoint history to choreograph multiple numbers for the musical. As I am sure you can tell, Mamma Mia was a perfect example of a successful musical production. The play was a result of the efforts of many hardworking people giving it their all, and Mamma Mia did we love it!
