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After a rocky start to not only “Mamma Mia!” rehearsals but also school due to the many fires around Los Angeles, the first full week of rehearsals is finally done!
“Mamma Mia!” is a juke-box pop musical with all of the songs by Swedish pop group ABBA, which became one of the most successful pop artists in the world after winning Eurovision in 1974.
This musical serves as a big change for the Van Nuys High School Theater Company from the operatic style of their last musical “Sweeney Todd.”
Sophomore Amelia Probst, playing the role of Donna, commented on the pressures and differences of this iconic soundtrack.
“This rehearsal process, so far, is very different from my last musical,” she said. “ The music in this show is so well known that we’ve had to take extra time to nail the right energy for each song as the music really makes the show.”
Due to the music being a key component to the show overall, that’s what the cast started to learn first.
After only having about seven rehearsals almost all of the 28 songs within the show were learned with only bits and pieces to be finished this week.
Some of these ensemble members are learning music for the first time ever, having solely thought of themselves as dancers.
This was the case for freshman Inaya Loox, who was extremely excited to not only be in her first show at Van Nuys, but also be in a show that she loved.
“Everyone was so sweet and kind and once you get the hang of how things work, time seems to fly by,” she said. “I’m really happy that we have already gotten so far into the process and can’t wait to bring it to the stage.”
This week was all about learning music but next week will be getting into more of the nitty gritty with learning dances, cleaning up harmonies and staging ahead.
Next week’s update will be unavailable due to the rehearsals for the black box production of “Almost Maine,” but stay tuned for the following week as well as the actual shows of “Mamma Mia!” reaching the auditorium this march!
Online tickets will also be coming soon so you can buy your tickets and spread the word early!
