Young and Sweet: Central's Mamma Mia Kicks Off With a Bang

I admit I never really got Mamma Mia. Don’t get me wrong, I love ABBA as much as the next person, but the premise of “Who’s The Father? Now With Choreography!” had never clicked with me. When it was announced that Central Drama would be putting on the pop-infused jukebox musical for the first time ever, with performances running from March 31st to April 3rd, I was curious to see the result.

The main question on my mind was “Why Mamma Mia?” Well, for Central’s Drama Director Ladonna Wilson, the show selection was based on a few factors. “One, I wanted to do something upbeat after COVID, and two, I had some Seniors who really wanted to do the show,” Wilson explained. “So I was like ‘Okay, we’ll do it!” I was surprised to hear that Mamma Mia wasn’t on the top of Wilson’s list either. “I mean, it wasn’t my favorite musical when I saw it…but there was a nice concert at the end and you leave with a really upbeat mood,” Wilson stated. “It’s one of the better jukebox musicals, I would say.”

I arrived at Centennial on Saturday, April 2nd, at 6:30pm with a small group of friends. We made our way into the crowded hallway outside the theater to buy our tickets for the 7:00 show. In-character ushers, decked out in beachy 2000s garb, then escorted us into an unusually dark auditorium. One of the ushers explained to us that the power had gone out and used their phone flashlights to guide us to our seats. The proximity to the stage, which was a vision of white adobe walls and sprawling green vibes, gave a sense of closeness one would get when visiting a small island. After a few minutes of settling in, Wilson came around and told the crowd that the crew are going to attempt to reset the light system, and if that didn’t work, a performance lit entirely by spotlights would be arriving shortly. “We’ll do Greece at midnight!” she joked.

6:50 turned to 7:00 which turned to 7:10. The crowd waited patiently, filling the air with small talk, but I could have only imagined the buzz of activity going on backstage. “We didn’t get to sweep the stage, we didn’t get to check props, we didn’t get to do all those things we normally do beforehand,” Wilson explained. “Even our mic checks were very limited. We had to roll with the punches, even more so, when some things weren’t there that were normally there.”

For the actors- who had to rely on phones propped up on water bottles and natural light from windows to put on their costumes and makeup- the blackout kicked up a last minute wave of panic. “[The blackout] gave me a lot of stress, because it was my last show as Donna and I had a lot of people I knew coming to see me that day,” Senior Rachel Gillett explained in an interview after the show. Rachel, like many others, was double cast, meaning that if the Saturday show was cancelled due to the blackout, she’d have only one show as Donna.

The fear of potentially missing an opportunity in a lead role and losing a large chunk of the audience Saturday night performances draw in didn’t stop the troupe from keeping spirits up. “Everyone was super supportive of each other,” Junior Eric Lim, who played adventuring-bound Bill Anderson, explained. “That’s what made people less worried.” Others looked inward for reassurance. “I knew the show was going to happen, but I still decided to clear my head by running two laps around Centennial,” Sophomore Bess Chamley, actress of the glamorous Tanya Chesham-Leigh, admitted. “I’m not 100% sure if it was effective, but it got me out of my head for a while at least.”

For Wilson, the blackout was a bump in the road, not a permanent stop. “I always know that Central Drama will rise to the occasion,” she asserted. “We’ve had to do with less in the past and we make it work. So we were ready to go.”

Then! At the sudden time of 7:13…there was light! And my my, did Central Drama rise to the occasion. I voice the sentiments of many of the cast and audience when I say that by the end of the night, the blackout was long forgotten.

It’s clear the pent up energy from the blackout carried into the show. Each number was high octane and fun. You can’t go wrong with ABBA, and Central Drama definitely proved that, leaving the audience clapping to the beat during the final number. The eye-catching choreography, a staple of Central’s shows, was quite the spectacle to watch and well welcomed after a year of quarantine. For Junior and ensemble member Robin Fitzgerald, getting the hang of the choreography came with repetition. “Before rehearsal, I went out on my porch and I practiced this one bit…over and over again,” he explained. “And maybe got it right once?”

However, what really sold the performance for me was the passion and sincerity each actor brought to the roles. Every scene felt new and exciting and I could barely take my eyes off the stage. I found myself laughing at the escapades of Donna and her “Dyanamos,” beaming as Sophie grew closer to her potential fathers, and cheering with the rest of the audience when the three of them donned sparkly spandex suits of their own for the final number. A standout moment for me was Gillett’s bittersweet rendition of “Slipping Through My Fingers.” In a show that’s usually very upbeat, the soft melancholy Gillett brings to the song struck a chord within me.

Throughout the show, I found myself constantly taking peeks at what the ensemble was doing. Mamma Mia was a pretty ensemble heavy show, and the actors remained onstage for most of it. It felt like there were stories happening in the background during each scene. Members of the ensemble worked together to create “personas” for themselves. Junior Cecil Bell, for example, focused less on their character’s personality but more on their relationships and how they bounced off other ensemble members. “Sam, who’s a Freshman, was my dance partner for most of the show and he played my husband in the last show we were in,” Bell explained. “And so [for Mamma Mia], he was my boyfriend but we kept fighting. We would be super close together onstage and then just [mime] getting mad at each other.” Mini interactions like these never pulled away from the main storyline in each scene but only further heightened the familial atmosphere of the show.

I was curious to see how Mamma Mia’s themes of growing up and nostalgia would translate to a high school cast. “It was kind of confusing, because I’m not old yet,” Lim said. “So it was a lot of ‘Oh would an old person do this?’” Lim drew connections between him and his character through their shared exuberance. “Being the comedic relief character and just being a loud person drew a connection between [myself and my role].”

For some actors, connecting with their much older characters came from personal experiences. As someone leaving Central this year, Gillett felt a kinship with the character of Donna, a mother about to be separated from her daughter because of a marriage. “I felt Donna's pain of losing people that you care about because of growing up,” she explained. “I felt as though I could become her instead of having to pretend to be her. I have realized that playing an older role just means taking all of your experiences and putting it into your character.” For others, it came from research: Chamley got into character by watching lots of Lisa Rinna in Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and jamming to 70s music. “Even though I played a 40 year old woman, her life was defined by her past as a musician in the 70s,” Chamley said. “[I] tried to get into character as young Tanya before transitioning to old Tanya.” For Junior Wade Schacht, running lines really helped him step into the shoes of middle-aged divorcee Sam Carmichael: “I’d sit and I’d look in the mirror for like 5 minutes and say ‘Sam Carmichael,’ over and over again.” Wade, who had played the role of Gomez Addams in 2019, described the different approaches he took when playing both older men in love. “Sam isn’t like, super suave, he’s a fifty year old, middle-age architect,” Schacht explained.”I didn’t want to be too smooth.”

A big part of what made the actors so compelling to watch onstage was the personal bonds they formed with each other backstage. For the Dynamos, that meant a surplus of bonding time. “Before rehearsals we kind of decided that we need to be closer to each other,” Chamley explained. “We’re supposed to have a close friendship from years and years ago, so we decided we couldn’t try to pretend to be friends.” For Donna and Sophie, the connection blossomed as the production progressed. “We had been spending a lot of time together outside of rehearsal and we realized that we are very similar people,” Gillett explained. “Because of this, becoming a sort of mother figure to Ellis came very naturally.” Part of these tight-knit friendships may be due to how immersive Central’s theatre department can be. “It’s a time commitment. I think the big thing is you have to look at the schedule and see if you’re able to make that commitment,” Wilson explains. “But the commitment is worth it because the more time you spend with people, that is why they become a family. You go through the trials and tribulations together, the learning together, and growing together.”

Romance is another staple of Mamma Mia, and Central’s cast sure didn’t disappoint. However, building chemistry with one another and getting comfortable especially after COVID didn’t come without its challenges. “There was a lot more [discussion] about what intimacy would be, just touching a person you want to be around you know: touching their back or touching their arm and doing things like that,” Wilson explained. “And I know there were a couple of rehearsals where I was like ‘Dont forget you like each other!’ because they were standing so far apart.” For Lim, building chemistry with Abigail Eilbract and Isabel Curtis (who both played Rosie), was all about trust and openness. “They were really considerate of me.” Lim said. “If I felt uncomfortable, they would be like ‘Just let me know.’ I think that’s what really opened me up.”

Many of the cast members had stories to tell about shenanigans that happened behind the scenes, from Schacht calling the accordion a harmonica several times to the ensemble shoving handfuls of popcorn in their mouth before running back onstage. “These funny moments are what brought us closer together and became a part of the show that you all saw!” Gillett said.

All in all, what made this show shine was the care and compassion the actors had for one another and the light on their feet, and the “anything goes” mentality that keeps the drama club moving in full gear despite setbacks, no matter how sudden. That ingenuity, grit, and talent is what ended Saturday night’s performance with a standing ovation and what left this Mamma Mia skeptic singing “Voulez Vous” as she exited the theater.

Central Drama plans on running Little Shop of Horrors in May and would love to see you there. If you’d prefer a more hands-on experience, the doors of the theater are always open to new members of the family. “People say this, but it is seriously a judgement free zone,” Schacht said. “No matter the capabilities, no matter your talents, you will always be accepted by Central Drama.”