Imagine a day where you and your friends get up on a stage, play some music and dance to the infamous “Mamma Mia!” soundtrack.
Just imagine how fun it’d be to dance to “Money, Money, Money” without a care in the world.
But suddenly, you look up and there are four people staring you down to see if you mess up.
Scary, scary, scary…
On Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 “Mamma Mia!” Director and Van Nuys Theatre teacher Mr. Justin Baldridge, dance teachers Ms. Diana Hula and Ms. Reesa Zagnoli, and student teacher Ms. Jordan Haddad came together to watch 40 students dance their hearts out for the chance to be in the school’s production of “Mamma Mia!”.
This was only the dance call, the first half of the audition, the first look into the future cast of the next Van Nuys High School’s production.
The auditioners were given half an hour to learn a 35 second dance. They then practiced the dance with and without music and asked questions until it was finally time to perform in groups of five, before being randomly assigned to groups and performing again.
“I want to give them a second chance to see what they can do,” Mr. Baldridge said. “And then what’ll they do if I put a weaker dancer with a stronger dancer in front of them? So there’s a lot of mixing and matching to see what they’re really capable of.”
Baldridge and the performers aren’t estranged, he knows most of them from past productions or theater class. Still, there are always some faces that he doesn’t recognize.
“Ms. Zagnoli made the dance very easy to learn and I had a lot of fun while doing it,” freshman Betty Tallman, a new face in the department, said. “It was the first time I’d ever done something like that, so I really enjoyed it.”
With new faces, there is one taking a break from her backstage role and facing the spotlight.
Sophomore Elle Sinio talks about her first time auditioning and her new found love for being on stage rather than behind it.
“Being a part of the dance call was really different, mostly because I’ve only done tech up till now,” said sophomore Elle Sinio, sharing her experiences with her first time auditioning. “The environment was super welcoming and everyone was really helpful. It was definitely a nerve wracking experience but I’m really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and did it!”
“With a show like ‘Mamma Mia!’, there’s going to be around 13 to 16 dances,” Mr. Baldridge said. “We really had to see if the performers could dance because the ensemble in this show is going to be singing and dancing almost every single day of rehearsal.”
The whole call didn’t take long, the participants were out of the auditorium by 5 p.m. The nerves still persisted as the students left and carried into vocal auditions on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
There is still more to come for the audition process, but not much time until the panel of judges can make their final decisions and let the participants know their final role.
Make sure to stay tuned and get ready to see “Mamma Mia!” this spring on March 21 and 28 at 7 p.m., March 22 and 29 at 6 p.m., and March 27 at 4:30 p.m.
