By Faith Smith

The Oswego High School put on performances of the hit musical “Mamma Mia!” at the Robinson-Faust Theatre on Feb. 11 and 12 of this year.

In the show’s program, “A Note from the Director,” Eve Phillips stated that Oswego High School had not been able to pull off a musical performance for two years. Their last one was “Beauty and the Beast” in February 2020 and less than a month later, COVID-19 forced schools across the globe to lock down. Phillips wrote that hearts were broken for all the drama clubs who worked hard for their productions, but were canceled in the blink of an eye.

After many months of yearning to put on a show for their community once again, Phillips and Robert Dumas, the show’s music director and producer, decided that the perfect musical to bring to the stage was surely “Mamma Mia!” After all, it had everything that the students and the community had missed. Lots of color, upbeat tunes, energetic dances and a light-hearted plot. 

In the musical, Donna, an independent hotelier in the Greek islands, is preparing for her daughter’s wedding with the help of two old friends. Meanwhile Sophie, the spirited bride, has a plan. She secretly invites three men from her mother’s past in hope of meeting her real father and having him escort her down the aisle on her big day.

It was obvious that the Oswego High School Music Department added their own unique and creative twists to their show. This was significant because 90% of the audience probably had already seen “Mamma Mia!” before. However, they went to watch the live performance in person for a reason. It would have been a bore had the cast not switched things up like they did. 

Another noteworthy aspect of the show is that all of the actors had such strong voices. Each actor embraced their characters while also not simply “copying” them, and added bits and pieces of their own personalities. It probably was challenging to have to sing and dance around the stage with masks on, but in unity, there was certainly strength. 

The costumes were superb, while the set design was magnificent! The clothing each character was wearing on stage replicated what they wore in the original musical, which was fascinating. They were chosen perfectly to match the Greek island setting, and the time period. There were scenes at the beach and the costumes still remained appropriate to show they were still in bathing suits, while not being too revealing. 

The stage was set up beautifully from start to finish. Very smooth transitions between scenes. The boat dock with the rope and lifeguard ring buoy was such a nice touch. Lights and sound were nice, only concern being possible small technical difficulties involving microphones, but that was not human error.  

It was lovely to see that inclusiveness and equality was very evident in the show. There were breathtaking scenes in the courtyard, under the moonlight. Some may say, their favorite parts were the dazzling costumes in Act One, Scene Eight, while others may have loved the warm and sunny beach scenes the most. 

After watching the performance, there were many questions about if the fire near the ceiling was real, and if the cast meant to have someone lose their shoe like “Cinderella.” 

The overall effect of the atmosphere the cast and crew provided to their community was fun, charming and comedic. Everyone did a job well done getting the audience to dance out of their seats.

Image from Mamma Mia! via mamma-mia.com