tiusicm FEEDDIO

The students of the Mount Carmel Area High School Music Department, under the direction and music direction of Brandon Mowery, had the auditorium rocking as they presented “Mamma Mia!” at Mount Carmel Area High School. With an Impressive twostory set, fun costumes, and a grooving nine-piece band backing up their strong vocalists, this production was a real treat that had the audience up on their feet dancing.

“Mamma Mia!,” the jukebox musical based around the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, tells the story of young bride-to-be Sophie and her single mother, Donna, who was lead singer for a 1970s pop group and runs a taverna on a beautiful Greek Isle. When Sophie finds her mother’s diary and discovers three men who could be her father, she invites them all to the wedding, setting the stage for plenty of music and misunderstandings.

This production featured a huge ensemble cast, centered around seniors Juila Pitcavage and Hannah Yucha, playing Sophie and Donna, respectively. Other supporting cast members included “the three dads” (Sam, Bill and Harry), played by Dylan Connell, Dominick Tamborelll, and Broderick Strickland, and Donna’s best friends and backup singers Tanya and Rosie, played by Adriann Rodriguez and Gabrielle McGlnley.

The Greek Island set design by Keith Fourspring and David McFee, and the breezy, vacation-inspired costumes by Jennifer Bates and Ellena Adams added just the right touches to give the audience a taste of summertime and sunshine. Congratulations also to the Impressive group choreography by Allison Hoke Mowery that showed off these students’ dancing talents as well as their singing. The trio of Yucha, Rodriguez and McGinley (sometimes in their matching jumpsuits) provided some of the most iconic and crowdpleasing moments, including classic numbers like “Dancing Queen” and “Super Trouper.” The show was also strong with its many popular ABBA numbers reimagined as duets between the lead performers (Pitcavage and Connell on “S.O.S.,” McGinley and Tamborelli on “Take a Chance On Me”), as well as its high-spirited group numbers such as “Does Your Mother Know?” and “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.” Kudos all around to the cast and crew of “Mamma Mia!” for a truly entertaining show!

Jove Graham