As the weather cools down, it’s time for this year’s Fall Musical, “Mamma Mia”, but things look a little different this time around. The theater department has decided to do a musical in the fall instead of the spring. Junior Brooklyn Russo, who plays Sophie, Donna’s daughter, believes this schedule can have a good impact.
“I think that makes it special because we switched it, knowing that there are more conflicts in the winter time than there are in our fall, and knowing our musical would have a bigger amount of people working on the production. It might be more beneficial for us to move it to the fall and move a play to the winter,” Russo said.
Musicals require a lot of time and dedication, from auditions and rehearsals to set design. Anything to make the Musical better. Alex Moore, the theater director, tells us about how he worked around a lack of people and the roles they left open.
“We also went over and auditioned in the middle school to help out or to get incoming freshmen involved, but we knew we would have auditions in the fall and we would see who was right and then where. We also have time to recruit and so when we did our auditions, we found the dads. We found some additional students for the ensemble as well,” Moore said.
Senior Clover Fortus who has been in previous productions like “The Addams Family,” “Macbeth” and “The Play That Goes Wrong,” and is currently playing Donna, the mother of Sophie, goes through her emotions and the process of her audition.
“I was called back for Sophie, which is that character, and I wasn’t called back for Donna and then they had me sing ‘The Winner Takes It All,’ which is Donna’s big number, and I sung it and I mean I don’t want to brag or anything, but I think I did pretty good and I think that’s what sealed the deal,” Fortus said.
After the audition process is over, there is something new to worry about. Rehearsals start up and things start to take place, so how does a typical rehearsal go? Moore and the actors sit through lots of different types of rehearsals every day, so it can vary.
“So a typical rehearsal for musicals. It depends on the day. Actors are usually throughout the week in acting rehearsals, vocal rehearsals and choreography rehearsals for musicals. It is a lot heavier for choreography, for the dancing and for music. So they are spending three to four hours looking at the sheet music, reviewing all of the notes, um, and everyone who sings in it,” Moore said.
Besides actors, teachers, and staff, the different crews play a major role. Made up of all sorts of students, they play a major role in making the musical colorful and complete.
“We also have thirteen crews that are running around the spaces. So we have our set crews that are building our costumes, designing hair and makeup,” Moore said.
As students, it may be hard to find a balance between education and doing something you love, but in between all of that, sometimes students, just like Russo, have a hard time finding space for themselves.
“I definitely think my biggest struggle would be finding the time to take time for myself, because there are definitely times where I have school, then rehearsal, then homework, and then I go to bed and I just don’t really have time to just relax,” Russo said.
Every musical has its highlight making it special and interesting to watch, not one musical is the same. Leaving a mark on whoever may watch it.
“I think people should come see ‘Mamma Mia,’ not only because we have such an amazing cast and crew and pit, but I think it’s an amazing show because it teaches you about family and it teaches you how to love even when there’s so much going on,” Moore said.
With so much to see at this year’s Fall Musical, bring your friends and family to see “Mamma Mia” on Nov. 13, 14 and 15. Buy tickets at https://pchs.booktix.com/
