I went into LHS Theatre’s production of “Mamma Mia!” knowing next to nothing about the show. I was pretty sure that it was about a girl trying to find out who her dad was, and that it’s set on an island in… Italy maybe? And it involved a wedding and ABBA. After watching it, though, I can say that this was an absolutely incredible show.

First of all, the cast of “Mamma Mia!” did a great job making sure that everything that happened on stage was clear and audible, so it was easy for the audience to know exactly what was going on. Now let’s get the plot straight. Sophie Sheridan, played by senior Olivia Korioth, lives in her mother’s taverna in Santorini, Greece, and is about to get married to Sky, played by senior Adan Montes. Her mother, Donna Sheridan, played by senior Rinah Milter, never told Sophie anything about her father, so she decides to look in her mother’s diary. Sophie discovers that she has three potential fathers, and invites all of them to her wedding in the hopes that the real one will be able to walk her down the aisle. 

We’ll start with the good parts: the set, the acting, the choreography and the guest actors. 

I loved the set, since it perfectly fit the story, and I could believe that the cast was actually in Greece. All the little details helped sell that idea, like how the stenciling along the stairs looked like tiles and the docks looked like they were real. Finally, the way the rooms opened up so we could see inside was incredible, with the front wall either opening like folding doors or lifting away from the set entirely.

It’s easier to immerse yourself in a play when you don’t know the actors, when you can just pretend that the people on stage are solely their characters. But despite knowing most of the actors, they were acting so well that I couldn’t really separate them from their characters, and I was completely immersed in the show.

The choreography was extremely coordinated, and I loved the solo dance moments in “Voulez-Vous.” Being able to see some of the dances again after the bows was also incredible.

I loved the costumes as well. Many of them fit the scene perfectly, like the sundresses and cutoffs worn by most of the ensemble cast. The costume changes that the main cast had were also very impressive, since many of them were complicated, like Donna and her friends Rosie and Tanya – played by seniors Gracie Cook and Cassidy King, respectively – wore during “Super Trouper,” and many of them had to change in the span of one or two songs. But the costumes that they wore during the encore dances were my favorites. Donna and the Dynamos wore their “Super Trouper” costumes again, while the potential dads wore sparkly shirts to match them. Sophie and Sky also got their own rockstar-style outfits.

Since I went to the sing-along performance on Saturday, I got to see the elementary school students join the cast for the encore dances after the bows. While most of them looked like they didn’t really know what they were doing, it was absolutely adorable to see them on stage. And since they were there, one of them – the younger sister of sophomore Lily Hardie, an actor – played young Sophie during “Slipping Through My Fingers.” This made it one of my favorite songs from this musical. 

Finally, after Principal Simpson played a priest in last year’s musical, Amelie, I wasn’t completely surprised to see him playing the priest marrying Sophie and Sky. I love the idea of this becoming a running joke in LHS Theatre productions, and I can’t wait to see if it happens again next year.

However, there were a few negative aspects of the show. Occasionally the shift from dialogue to a song was a bit abrupt, and some songs were extremely loud. These didn’t happen very often though and rarely detracted from the overall experience.

Overall, this was an incredible musical. While there were some flaws, they were never big enough to overshadow the rest of the show. 5/5 stars.