When I tell people I’ve never seen “Mamma Mia”, I’m almost always met with gaping mouths and blank stares. Once they snap out of a five second shock, they say something along the lines of “You’ve never seen ‘Mamma Mia’? How is that even possible? It’s a classic!” And to be completely honest, I’m not sure how it’s possible either. I’ve always been a huge ABBA fan, and yet I have never felt the urge to watch a movie composed of ABBA and ABBA only. However, recently, I had the opportunity to watch the school’s theatre performance of the film. My expectations were exceeded, as the theatre program put together an excellent rendition of this classic film. 

Not just anybody can play a certain role. The process of casting an actor for a role takes months and months. So I will admit, I feared that there was a possibility of the cast not quite fitting their roles, as the pool of candidates is definitely smaller than that of a program of even other high schools. But, the cast of Mamma Mia was truly great. Each actor truly excelled in their roles. As I watched, I could see the passion each actor held in their eyes. One performance that stuck with me was that of Junior Joe Rutar. Rutar’s Tanya was an eccentric woman with enough personality to fit that of an entire class of unamused teenagers. Rutar truly put passion and life into their character, providing an extremely entertaining performance. 

Additionally, the pipes on these kids are more than impressive. Junior Nila Chandramouli’s Donna stood out especially. While watching Chandramouli’s performances of “The Winner Takes It All” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” I forgot I was in my high school’s auditorium. It truly made me feel as if I was watching a professional theatre performance. Each actor truly stunned me with their talented voices. 

After I watched the musical, I just had to watch the film. So, thank you to the theatre production for finally giving me the inspiration to watch Mamma Mia.