Here we go again
Emma Aviv '24
Copy Editor
Louisville’s spring musical this school year is one full of drama and heart. The widely beloved musical, “Mamma Mia!” follows a young woman, Sophie, with a mission to find her father before her wedding day. But there is a twist, she has three possible dads!
Since the very first day of the spring semester, the cast of this Louisville production has been working incredibly hard and giving their all. They have committed so much time to this show, from four hour long rehearsals after school to weekend run throughs.
The super troupers
Donna looking fondly at Sophie
Both casts were absolutely amazing, having incredible vocals and acting from all leads. They put their all into these performances, as there were four during the opening weekend alone. They managed to pull this all together in just two months, but it truly looked like they had spent twice that just getting the harmonies right.
Not only were the actors amazing, but everyone involved in stage crew, sound and lights did a tremendous job of making sure it all worked out.
Falon Rushton ’24 says that she “probably put in 100 hours by the end of the show” to make sure that music and sound went about flawlessly.
While taking on the responsibilities of tech is a lot, Rushton also stressed that her time working on the show was still a lot of fun. The month-long process of annotating and blocking scripts along with making sure that every mic is working properly is not an easy job, but Ruston was more than ready to get it done.
On the other hand, Louisville also had a new stage director on the scene, Lola Lambe ’24. Lambe also says that putting together the show was stressful, but “it wasn’t a bad stress, because I enjoyed it so much. It was fun, definitely.”
All of these people worked together to give the Louisville community a performance truly worth their money. Each song brought on either a feeling of excitement or a wave of tears as every cast member belted the famous lyrics of these ABBA songs. Some numbers even had members of the audience quietly singing along.
However, it wasn’t just our leading ladies that made this musical so wonderful. The ensemble was just as amazing. A large group ranging from freshmen to seniors truly put some of the magic to each song. These Louisville girls, with the addition of some of our Crespi brothers and other male cast members, put in hours upon hours of work each week to get their harmonies down as well as all of the choreography they needed to learn.
Songs like “Voulez-Vous” featured each ensemble member dancing on stage with perfect timing of the music in slow-motion. This really added to the viewing experience as they paused or changed the tempo when needed. It created a great set up for comedic timing as Sophie would talk to each of the dads then the music would continue to almost cut them off.
In other songs like “Name of the Game” the ensemble would do something similar to emphasize more serious moments in the conversation between Sophie and a possible contender for her father, Bill Austen.
Not only was the performance incredible, but the costumes and set design were truly a work of art, and for that we can all thank Louisville’s own Dan Mailley along with theater craft. Mr. Dan did an amazing job of giving the cast amazing outfits throughout the show as well as some matching hats and outfits when needed. Additionally, Donna and the Dynamos had amazing outfits that shined and shimmered on stage. Truly, the costumes absolutely blew me away as the three girls walked out on stage.
Of course, the director of this performance, Tracy Powell, put in just as much time as the cast members. She created and taught the choreography to every one of the stars and ensemble members for this show. Her encouragement and spirit definitely helped the cast to keep pushing even when they were tired.
This year, Louisville also introduced someone new to help with all of the music within the performance, Connor Smith. Just like everyone else, he showed up to every single rehearsal ready to help and teach the correct harmonies to everyone in the show.
Watching “Mamma Mia!” was absolutely magical. After watching both casts, there was no possible way I could pick a favorite. Both had incredible strong leads with an amazing committed ensemble. The time really flew by when watching, and as soon as I realized the show was coming to a close, I hoped desperately for it to go on. Just as I thought it was really over, Rushton, from behind the audience, shouted out “One more!” where the entire cast came out on stage to perform just another song for the excited audience.
If you got a chance to see the musical, I’m sure you left feeling happy and good-spirited afterward, just like me. This was a show I could see myself watching multiple times and never getting tired of.
If you did not get a chance to see it, I’m sure many of the cast members will be right back onstage a year from now for our next spring musical, producing something just as