Costa’s Mamma Mia displays student talent, raising the bar for high school productions

Tanya (Sienna Frederick) giving advice to Harry (Jack Searer) advice about how a father should act at a wedding. The drama department held their second day of performances on Saturday, April 23. Photo by Charlotte Levy/ La Vista

Charlotte Levy

Theme Editor

Mira Costa’s spring musical Mamma Mia sets an impressive standard for high-school level performances.

The musical uses ABBA’s iconic songs to follow the attempts of 20-year-old Sophie Sheridan, played by junior Ava May, to invite her father to her upcoming wedding in Greece. After reading her mother, Donna’s, diary, she foolishly invites all three of her potential fathers, in hopes that she will immediately sense the familial connection between them. All of this is done without the consultation of her mother, played by senior Ashley Calza.

Sophie (Ava May) reveals to her fiance, Sky (Jonah Mirkovich), that she invited her dad to the wedding.

The entire cast’s vocals were astounding and every performer was given a chance to shine. The three fathers’ voices blended seamlessly with Donna and Sophie’s vocals. Notably, junior Ava May and seniorAshley Calza flawlessly transitioned from saying their lines to belting out songs.

The actors performed in exciting dance numbers while maintaining skillful breath control, allowing them to sing while executing beautiful choreography. Impressive dancing skills were also exhibited by the ensemble, especially evident in the encore performances of “Waterloo” and “Mamma Mia” at the end.

Rosie (Samantha Probst) enthusiastically greets Sophie (Ava May) after not seeing her in years.

The set design team outdid themselves with gorgeously crafted displays. Often overlooked, the set transported the audience from a high school auditorium to a beachy taverna on the coast of a Mediterranean island in the Aegean sea. The intricate details, such as the doors and window frames painted to look worn or the overgrown flowers hanging over the balcony, made the musical much more realistic, due to the integrity of the original storyline kept.

Another aspect of the performance that worked to transform California high school students into adults on an island in Greece, was the costumes. The costume design team picked out several different outfits for each character that perfectly matched the character’s personality and the occasion in each scene.

Tanya (Siena Frederick), Donna (Ashley Calza), and Rosie’s (Samantha Probst) acting blend together to create an entertaining and dynamic trio in the performance of “Dancing Queen.”

The musical maintained a perfect balance between comedy and drama, with the hilarious dynamic duo: Tanya and Rosie, played by sophomore Samantha Probst and junior Siena Frederick. They provided hilarious comic relief with well-time jokes, while surprising the audience with incredible singing voices.

The live music was another element that brought the musical to reality, with percussion, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, and pit singers. It left the audience in awe of the instrumentals and assisted in highlighting the vocal talents of the on-stage actors.

Donna and the Dynamos perform “Super Trouper,” providing a fun musical act, displaying incredible vocals.

At the end of the show, the cast invited the audience to participate in a glowstick dance party to “Waterloo” and “Mamma Mia.” This made the experience interactive and created an intimate relationship between the audience and the cast and crew, something that is very difficult to achieve, even in professional productions.

The show was filled with so much talent that it was easy for the audience to forget the cast and crew were high school students. The entire cast portrayed their roles excellently and worked together to bring the nostalgic and classic ABBA soundtrack to life.

Costa’s Mamma Mia opened on April 21 and took place on April 22, 26, 27, 28 and it also too place on 29th in the auditorium.