On the first three days of May, Lightridge Theatre performed “Mamma Mia” on the Lightridge auditorium stage. “Mamma Mia” is a romantic comedy movie about a soon-to-be married girl who is trying to figure out who her father is. The performance was nominated for 22 Glammies, the Blue Ridge region high school theater awards, which is almost triple the nominations Lightridge had received in previous years. The performance won nine total awards.
The cast credited their close bond for the success.
“I feel like I had a lot of little brothers in this show,” said Mayson Wu, a senior who played potential father Sam. “The relationships between all of the guys are really good.”
Andreas Christopoulos, a junior, played Harry, another might-be-dad.
“This was the first musical or play I have done at Lightridge, and honestly it was motivating,” Christopoulos said. “The environment was such a beautiful thing to be around, and it made me just want to be better.”
“When I got the role I wanted to show everybody that just because I’m a freshman doesn’t mean I can’t put myself to the best I can possibly be,” said freshman Gavin Melanson who rounded out the father triple bill playing Bill. Melanson watched the movie multiple times to get into the character.
Chloe Steverson played soon to be married Sophie. She said the story is more realistic than other plays she has done. It was important to her to keep high energy throughout the musical, but all of the dancing and singing was definitely a cardio workout. Steverson got blonde highlights in her hair and watched both Mamma Mia movies to get into character.
“I bought an “S” necklace, so I am like ok, when I have the necklace on I am Sophie and when I take it off I’m Chloe again.” Steverson explained.
Set design, lighting, and costumes were also important. Previous shows this year used Greco-Roman dress clothing like togas, but this play used modern clothing.
Kalbaugh said the “Mamma Mia” set design was one of the most elaborate sets Lightridge Theatre has made and performed on to date.
“Every student in every department just worked really hard and took ownership in their area of leadership,” Kalbaugh said.
Lighting tech Christian Ewaldsen, used lighting from all directions as well as haze to enhance the story. Haze is a smoke that was, in this case, used from above the stage to emphasize lighting and create dimension.
“Ava Maharaj ran backstage and did a better job than a lot of professional stage managers” Kalbaugh said.
