The Issaquah High School Drama Department brought the ABBA-filled musical, “Mamma Mia,” to the stage of the Doug Longman Performing Arts Center March 13-17. Despite missing vital hours of rehearsal due to snow, the large cast and crew brought the audience to their feet with an energy-filled closing night performance.

Without a doubt, the actors and crew were having a great time, evidenced by an especially energetic final show at 7:00 pm on March 17. According to junior Ruby Whelan, “The energy on closing night is always a little higher than on the other nights, because everyone knows it is the last time they will be able to perform the show. Also the audience is usually filled with supporting friends and family on closing night, and the audience’s high energy really helps the actors keep up theirs.” I particularly enjoyed “Lay All Your Love on Me,” “Voulez Vous” and “Take a Chance on Me” with the company backing up the leads. Having so many people dancing and singing together was fun to watch, and I found myself smiling throughout, especially during “Lay All Your Love on Me” when the company came up the isles of the seats doing high-knees in flippers! Issaquah High boasts some talented dancers! I also really liked Tanya (senior Shona Carter) and Pepper’s (sophomore Cole Voss) scene on the beach with the song, “Does Your Mother Know.” Their inflection and blocking enhanced the meaning of lyrics and brought many laughs.

The best part of the show was the encore, where the entire cast and even the crew came out onto to the stage. According to Whelan, “My favorite songs to perform were the finale songs because it was the whole cast together singing, and the audience was up and clapping, and everyone was just having a wonderful time.” Indeed, the audience got to their feet at the conclusion of scene six, and stayed on their feet for the entire encore.

In addition to the well-executed choreography, there was also several talented singers. Whelan, who plays the mother, Donna, showed not only her beautiful voice but also her acting ability when she conveyed the character’s emotions with “The Winner Takes It All.” Whelan said, ” The song allowed me to really connect emotionally, and I got to portray those emotions through a beautiful song.”

Freshman Jenni Young, who played the daughter, Sophie, has a great voice, which was most evident when she sang, “I Have a Dream” in both the opening and final scenes. The mood she set stuck with me long after the show.

Carter and junior Cameron Zielinski, who played Donna’s childhood friend, Rosie, were also strong singers. My particular favorite was “Dancing Queen” where they danced on and off of Donna’s bed. I was impressed that they could sing so well while jumping on and off a bed! Zielinski even covered for Carter, who lost her voice Friday, in later songs.

The boys were also talented singers. I definitely enjoyed the excellent voice of Sam (senior Chris Benis), one of Donna’s old beaus, in “S.O.S” and “When All Is Said and Done.” His rendition of “I Do, I Do, I Do” was heartfelt.

Donna’s other former boyfriends, Harry (senior Matthew Bentsen) and Bill (senior John Adams) delivered as well. They were great in “Mamma Mia” and in their individual scenes with Sophie (“The Name of the Game” and “Thank You for the Music”).

When the musical began, I saw that the orchestra pit was covered, and I thought at first that they were using purchased music to back up the singers. Then I noticed in the program, the Mamma Mia Band and Aphrodite’s Angels. They recorded all their own music!  Under the conducting of David Johnson, the band included Michael Young, junior Olivia Wang, and junior Tina Shigeyama on keyboards, senior Jason Tso and sophomore Rishu Khare on guitar, senior Jack Tillman on bass, senior Michael Hansen on drums, and senior Kaitlin Seng on percussion. Aphrodite’s Angels provided the backup singing and included junior Alaina Dean, senior Alamea Banks, junior Caitlin Neill, senior Cyan Fuehr, senior Emily Andresen, senior Hailey Palm, senior Rachel Young, and senior Reagan Panah.

The show definitely had some tricky lighting, which was designed by Walter Kilmer. Singers moved about the stage with a spotlight. There were day scenes and night scenes. There were scenes with the dappled light of stars. I loved how the spotlight would be on an actor toward the front of the stage, and then the crew would do a scene change in the dark upstage. Freshman Josephine Taylor, junior Helen Petersen, and senior Jonathan Trinh, with the help of others, efficiently whisked the bed away and replaced it with a table and chairs while flymen junior Sam Leon and freshman Jailen Patel raised and lowered backdrops. Props crew sophomore Emily Webber, junior Indie Cowan, junior Isabel Petersen, and Ella Jane Harrell quickly placed props. In the encore, there was also a disco ball which threw flickering light throughout the entire theater! The lighting crew consisted of freshman Moon Blomgren and freshman Cass Wilkinson, with junior Natalie Rapier and junior Luca Nardi on spot op and freshman Braxton Wall operating the light board.

Sound posed a particular challenge in “Mamma Mia.” It seemed like it was hard to have the company well-miked as they danced about the stage, and at the same time, keep the backup music at the right volume. For the ensemble numbers, I was wishing I had sat in the bottom section of seats to feel the impact of their voices better. Sound Designer George Higashiyama and the sound crew of junior Abi McKee-Sargent, sophomore Mia Sunday, sophomore Thomas Tastad, and senior Zach Zarling definitely had their work cut out for them!

The show also had an extraordinary number of challenges. First and foremost, they lost countless hours of rehearsal due to an unusual amount of snow. School was cancelled six times, and students were also sent home early one day. Weekend practices were also cancelled. Whelan said, “I am proud of us for pulling through and creating a fantastic show, despite having to miss so much rehearsal time due to snow. Everyone really gave the show their all in order for us to be ready to perform by opening night.” As the students put in extra hours in the two weeks before opening night, the stress took its toll. Benis was sick and took a trip to the emergency room. Everyone feared it was strep throat (thankfully, it was not), which is highly contagious–a frightening thought since he kisses Whelan in the show. Carter lost her voice as well. There were broken lights and technical difficulties with the slide show for “Our Last Summer.”

Despite the difficulties, Whiting and her entourage remained positive: “I am proud of my excellent actors, tech crew, and musicians. They are extraordinary people. There are times when things can get very tense during the production process – particularly during tech week. Having a strong production team, the director, choreographer, and music director, is critical to any production, (and I’m fortunate to work with the best), but it is the students who bring the most necessary ingredient for success – hard work, determination, talent, respect for the art, and most important being a cast of caring individuals all sharing the same dream…to put on a damn good show!” said Whiting.

Speaking of Whiting, her dedication to her students really shined in the incredibly complex show. There were so many entertaining and creative touches. Whiting explains that “the evolution of fully fleshing out a show is always an interesting process. After establishing characterization, solid blocking, and getting my actors off book, the fun can begin.” Whiting then explored ideas to embellish the overall artistry of the production. For example, she thought that the scene between Donna and Harry when reminiscing about days gone by was a bit dull. “As the two of them sat down with the photo album I thought it would be fun for the audience to see what they were looking at in the album so I decided to project these images,” explains Whiting.

Another example was when Sophie and Sky leave to go on their adventure after deciding not to get married. “I wanted that end scene to connect to the opening scene when Sophie has her mom’s diary and a few scenes later when she sings with Harry ‘Headbanger.’ I had her mom, Donna, give her her own diary to record her new adventures with Sky, and Harry gave her the guitar that he and Donna played in their youth. I also wanted the big moon in the final jetty scene to suggest that all was harmonious within all these individuals lives,” said Whiting. It was details such as these that point to Whiting’s talent as a director.

Back at home after the musical, my husband and I talked for hours about the show and the talent of Issaquah’s students and drama department staff. To say it was an enjoyable show is an understatement.