playbill vip

From the Producer:

I would like to welcome you to “Mamma Mia!,” I really hope you enjoy the show!

This show has been a whole new experience for us as a cast, crew, orchestra, and production staff. We have had a shorter time to produce the show this year and have had to modernize our orchestra with 3 digital keyboards using MIDI sounds to emulate the 70's disco sound that ABBA created. While the challenges are different this time around, the many challenges we face each year are the very reason the arts in schools are so important! Whether in the form of technology, working with others as a team, meeting deadlines, finding consistency in our performances, or just showing up the work we do on these shows forces our students to work on more than the music, acting, or design – they must dig deep and find something in themselves to pull this off each year. The growth that occurs in these students is what keeps me coming back to work year after year and I am proud of the accomplishments of these students and this staff again in producing Mamma Mia!

As always, thank you all for your support and assistance in producing a great show! Laugh heartily, sing along, and dance with us at the end because from the moment you walk in the doors to the final bows and the finale, we want to entertain you!

Mr. Devon Smeal

Producer

From the Artistic Director

I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to not only direct, but also to work with such amazing students and staff on this year’s Musical Production of Mamma Mia. Since I first saw Mamma Mia with my mother when it debuted in Pittsburgh, I wanted to direct this show. I remember dancing in the aisle as the cast performed the bows thinking how much fun this show would be to do with my students someday. Fast forward many, many years later to the perfect cast for an energy packed musical!

Mamma Mia is a jukebox musical based on the music of the 1975’s chart topper “Mamma Mia” from the 1970’s Swedish pop sensation ABBA. The story takes place in 24 hours where the audience is transported to the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi. Sophie is ready to be married to her fiancée Sky, except for one thing-she does not know who her father is, and she wants him to give her away on her wedding day. After reading her mother’s diary, she secretly invites the three men she believes could be her father. Donna, Sophie’s free-spirited mother, is distraught when the three potential fathers arrive on the island. Mamma Mia is a story about love, friendship, and mending the past.

Hats off to all the adults who raised the students involved in this production! It has been such a pleasure spending the past few months with each one of them. They were always polite, respectful, focused, and hardworking during the rehearsal process. Thank you for sharing them with us and giving them this opportunity to work on this show. Thank you to the production staff for their dedication, creativity, and hard work to bring this show to our stage. I hope that you enjoy our production and are too inspired to dance in the aisles!

Mrs. Melissa Prutz

Artistic Director