With performances March 21-29, the Los Gatos High School cast of “Mamma Mia!” is hard at work, pouring hours into refining and rehearsing the musical.
Students began the production with auditions in December.
“Our auditions were two or three days long,” said junior Morgan Lum, who plays Ali. “You bring a song about a minute long, (vocal director Maricel Riley) hears you sing, and then they send us out with scenes to learn, and we’ll pretty much do a cold read.”
After initial auditions, students attended callbacks, where they performed character-specific songs and lines to better help the artistic staff cast the show.
Rehearsals officially began right after winter break, and since then, the cast of nearly 40 LGHS students has met almost every weekday, learning vocals, dances and stage directions. This year, under the direction of Tim Nielson, the LGHS Drama Program has increasingly emphasized student involvement. In fact, Lum and senior Nyanna Raj are choreographing “Mamma Mia.”
“I expressed interest in it,” Lum said, “so (Nielson) reached out to us, and we came up with a plan.
“(Raj) and I divide the work because ‘Mamma Mia!’ is such a dance-heavy show, and there’s a lot of songs and dances. I choreograph about half of the dances, and to me, that means going home and putting music on and moving until something feels right, and then coming in and teaching everyone else.”
Beyond choreography, students take charge in areas such as costuming, leading rehearsals, staging and vocals. “We really try to emphasize teamwork and everyone doing as much as they can to make the show as good as possible,” Lum said.
The department chose this show partially because LGHS’s 2020 cast of “Mamma Mia!” was unable to open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the current cast is treating their show as a “sort of revival” honoring the previous cast.
“Mamma Mia!” is a classic jukebox musical featuring popular 1970s Swedish group ABBA’s songs. The show follows Sophie (Giordana Gonzalez) as she invites three of her mother’s ex-lovers, whom she discovers while reading her mother’s diary, to her wedding, hoping to find her father. As this feel-good, family-friendly show progresses, the cast performs hits such as “Dancing Queen” and “Take a Chance on Me.”
“People should come watch because it’s really a lot of fun,” Lum said. “Almost everyone knows (the songs), and they’re fun to sing along to.”
The show hits the Prentiss Brown Theater stage at LGHS on March 21-22 and 27-29 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 at www.lghs.net and $20 at the door.
Ainsley Northrop is editor-in-chief of El Gato News, Los Gatos High School’s student newspaper, where this story first ran.
