The young actors and actresses of Gilmer High School Theater will soar through the hit songs of Swedish pop sensation ABBA when the drama club presents its spring musical this weekend.
“Mamma Mia!” will be performed at the GHS Linda Miller Theater (inside the high school) at 7 p.m. Friday, May 12; 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 13, and a 3 p.m. matinee Sunday, May 14. Admission is $10.
James Fuller, who’s directing alongside musical director Hannah Carter, said the big spring show features a cast of more than 30.
“This cast is actually bigger than usual for us,” Fuller added. “The only reason we don’t have more cast members is because of the size of the stage. We just weren’t physically able to fit more dancers on the stage.”
Set on a fictional Greek Island, the plot of “Mamma Mia!” involves a young woman who’s about to marry and is determined to meet her father for the first time before the wedding day arrives. The story is built around the music of ABBA, the hit-making ‘70s pop group whose catchy, hook-filled tunes like “Take a Chance on Me,” “Dancing Queen” and “SOS” made them one of the all-time best-selling groups of any generation and “Mamma Mia” one of Broadway’s longest running musicals.
“It sounds like a pretty heavy plot on the face of it, but it is a very lighthearted show. There was a pretty popular movie (based on the musical) that came out about 15 years ago with Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep and other famous actors and actresses,” said Fuller. “Everybody will know at least two or three of the songs. You don’t even need to be a fan of ABBA; you’ve just heard them.”
The cast includes: Abbie Flowers (as Sophie), Addie Davenport (as Donna), Emma Heaslip (as Rosie), Maisey Hunt (as Tanya), Jonathan Mathis (as Harry), Caiden McCoy (as Sam), Tracy Mosley (as Bill), Lucas McCoy (as Sky) and Nicholai Dombrowski (as Pepper).
The spring musical will be the last show for some of GHS’s graduating seniors, several of whom have performed in past theater productions. Davenport, who’s been involved with the GHS Theater program since she was in elementary school, is among this year’s graduating seniors, Fuller noted.
“Addie has been in many, many shows here, since before I started teaching. She was cast in several child roles (before she was in high school),” he added. “She was in ‘The Music Man’ years ago when Mrs. Harbin was the director. I actually watched that show and was probably still in college then.”
Fuller said “Mamma Mia!” is a family friendly show, with some elements from the original musical having been cleaned up a bit, and its music and choreography make for an enjoyable, upbeat way to close the high school’s 2022-23 theater season.
“It’s got a pretty big catalog of songs. I would honestly compare it to doing a show with all the number one hits of The Beatles or a group like that. It’s not a hard show to sell. If you like the movie or the music of ABBA, this is the show for you,” he added.