The Kaneland High School theatre department’s production of “Mamma Mia!” premiered on Friday, April 10, with the final show occurring on Sunday, April 12.
“Mamma Mia!” is a comedic musical set on an imaginary island in Greece where the main character (Sophie Sheridan) attempts to uncover the identity of her biological father by inviting three prospects (Bill Anderson, Harry Bright and Sam Carmichael) from her mother’s (Donna Sheridan) past relationships to her wedding.
Sophie was played by senior Kailey Kunstman, and Donna was played by senior Anna Gatz. Bill was played by senior Dino Piemonte, Harry was played by junior John Thill and Sam was played by senior Idrees Ali.
“Mamma Mia!” is popular for its incredible scenery and unique soundtrack consisting of Europop group ABBA’s hits.
Although “Mamma Mia!” is a very well-known musical and has been requested in the past by Kaneland theatre department alumni, according to director and English teacher Rachel Giles-Bachman, “Mamma Mia!” was chosen after other preferred options for this spring musical became unsuitable.
“It wasn’t a bad choice, but we had plans for other shows,” Giles-Bachman said. “And for a variety of circumstances, those didn’t come to be.”
Despite the complications that led “Mamma Mia!” to be chosen as the spring musical, the fun nature of the show was a positive change of pace in comparison to the musicals of the past years.
“We haven’t done a pop show since I’ve taken over, so at least 10 years, and even before that there were a couple more classic shows,” Giles-Bachman said. “So it was just mixing it up, making it different.”
In order to produce a musical, the cast, crew and pit musician members must collaborate, as well as the director, conductor and choreographer. Many moving parts are happening at once, and a musical requires long rehearsals to perfect the show.
Casting is the first step in the process of producing a musical, and this requires a lot of effort from auditioning students. Students must perform a cold read, sing songs from the musical and perform choreography that they have spent time learning in advance.
After cast members are assigned to roles, they have vocal rehearsals while also rehearsing choreography. After vocals and choreography, they move onto blocking and characterization on stage.
During this process, cast members embody their characters and ultimately become them through the repetition of lines and dances.
“Sometimes we lock in and forget who we are,” Ali said. “We embrace the vibe and energy around our characters, and I forget what Idrees is thinking. I’m thinking about what Sam would think.”
Although cast members try to make their acting look natural, it takes practice and sometimes even pre-performance rituals to become a character. For a role like Kunstman’s that required her to be on stage so consistently, she had to take precautionary measures to ensure a perfect performance.
“I’ve run and sang at the same time because I needed the core muscles to be able to sing and dance for four numbers before the intermission, and it was demanding on my body,” Kunstman said. “I also mentally prepared for it by jumping up and down thirty times to get my blood running. I run and I actually slap my face because I have to emote a lot, and if my facial muscles aren’t awake, I will not be awake as a character either.”
During tech week, pit and stage crew work alongside the cast and learn their roles for the show. Although many people describe tech week as chaotic, others find the beauty behind the turmoil.
“I like tech week,” sophomore and co-student director Jo Ramsey said. “I know a lot of people think it’s crazy, but when I’m doing crew, I like watching it all come together and seeing the set we’ve been working on and watching the blocking. It all works together.”
Kunstman has been a part of the theatre department for four years and has played a variety of characters. In her role as Sophie, she found the character development to be interesting but also a factor she had to pay special attention to.
“At the beginning of the show she is very spunky, but once she figures out she’s screwed it all up, she changes and she’s a moody brat,” Kunstman said. “So figuring out how to be that spunky character and being big enough to see that change at the end is a thing I’ve had to work on.”
The popularity of “Mamma Mia!” may have made it seem like it was a simple show that was easy to perform, but the pop style music was different from what the performers typically learn in choir. Ali believes the complexity of the characters and the plot required an open mind to understand the emotional highs and lows of the show.
“You can really see everyone’s personalities and everyone having fun,” Ramsey said. “People put their own elements of their personalities into their characters to make it different. They’re not playing Meryl Streep; they’re playing themselves.”
