By Samantha Coe, Staff Writer
March 6, 2024
ROCKLAND: The fan-favorite musical Mamma Mia will be taking the stage at Rockland High School this month.
After much consideration, RHS drama students chose to perform the popular musical Mamma Mia in the auditorium on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, March 21-23 at 7 pm.
Tickets are on sale through http://www.freshtix.com and it is recommended to pre-purchase rather than rely on tickets at the door.
Play director and RMS teacher Mr. Steven Bergman said, “We expect the show to sell well, so we hope everyone will get their tickets as soon as possible, as we aren’t sure how many will be available at the door on the evenings of the performances.”
Mamma Mia, based on the music by Swedish pop group ABBA, is about a young girl named Sophie who is getting married and wants to invite her father. The only problem is, her father could be one of three different men that her mother, Donna, played by Lillian Bossie, had a relationship with during a summer in the Greek Islands.
Everyone participating in the musical began rehearsing before Christmas to perfect their roles. Freshman Lilly George will play Sophie, and is joined by a talented cast of high school performers.
Senior Katelyn Fernandes, the stage manager, said the cast has been doing “a lot of line work and a lot of personal scene work.”
Senior McKenna Maher will be playing Rosie, one of Donna's friends. She explained that students had to pick two music sections and go over scene work with the choreographer at the auditions.
Maher explained, “The pieces you choose for music are targeted for specific roles. So if you wanted to try out for Sophie, you would probably sing a song that Sophie would sing in the musical.”
The process takes months to put together, from not only deciding the play but also casting and practicing.
“We have to organize props, build the set, and make sure that everyone has the right costumes for the different locations that are portrayed in the story. For this show alone, with a cast of 37 students, there will be over 200 costumes on stage!” Mr. Bergman said.
It takes an incredible amount of work to produce a musical such as this at the high school level, and in addition to the student actors and crew, Mr. Bergman wanted to thank the rest of the people involved.
“Shout out to all the parent volunteers, the seniors who have been so critical to this production, the staff at WRPS, and to all the tech students who will be backstage helping to make sure that the show runs smoothly each evening,” he finished.
With the popularity of the songs from the musical, as well as the 2008 movie version, Mamma Mia is sure to see a crowd in the auditorium supporting RHS Drama.