Enloe Students Take On '90s Classic in NC Theatre Production
I left Raleigh Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, February 16th with the glimmer of a disco ball imprinted in my vision and the tune of “Super Trooper” echoing in my head. Mamma Mia! had truly been a musical to remember.
February 12 through the 17th, the North Carolina Theatre put on Mamma Mia! at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. Two Enloe students, senior Maggie Hall and junior Chloe Calhoun, were a part of the musical’s ensemble.
Students like Enloe’s very own, as well as other teens, NC Theatre members, and highly experienced Broadway actors, coalesced to create the gifted cast. Stephanie Pope, an actress with 10 broadway credits, portrayed sassy Tanya, whose best friend Donna is played by Lauren Kennedy, who has starred in over 20 NC Theatre productions and originated The Last Five Years. Working alongside talents such as these has demonstrated to Enloe’s rising starlets some valuable certainties. “They’re so incredibly talented,” explains Maggie Hall, “but they’re still goofy, lovable people who make mistakes. I think theatre stars can be glorified sometimes, and it’s encouraging to see firsthand that they’re just like you and me.” Chloe Calhoun credits her experience in the cast of Mamma Mia! with her enlightenment on what it takes to partake in theatre for a living and says she’s learned that she’s “able to hold [her] own in a cast of professionals.”
Being able to excel in a professional theatre setting didn’t come without ample effort, though; a mere glance at the rehearsal schedule endured by the cast would be enough to send any uncommitted individual running offstage. “Rehearsal was mostly 2 to 10:30; weekends were 10 to 6:30 and tech days were 12 to 11:30,” Hall precisely recounts, “It was definitely intense because we only had two weeks of rehearsal—we were expected to come in knowing our harmonies based on recordings the music director sent out a month prior.” Compared to the typical several month span of rehearsals for a show, Mamma Mia! was a challenge and required the most diligent and passionate fibers of its actors.
The fruits of the cast’s labor certainly made the work worthwhile. Mamma Mia! was vibrant and energetic, with beautiful singing and dazzling choreography and costuming. From my seat in the audience, I could see the diversity of the cast, something that Mamma Mia! aimed to showcase. “Our director, Eric Woodall, was the casting director for Mamma Mia! on Broadway for years,” says Hall, “and something he said at the audition was that the most important part of the show was that every person in the audience got to see themselves on stage.” The creative team did an amazing job reaching that goal. The show hosted refreshing racial diversity, portrayed same sex couples on stage, and emulated various cultures in its choreography. As Hall notes, “I think it added a life to the show that really made it shine because everyone was so beautifully unique, but still a cohesive unit in art.”
Although the musical kept up with modern inclusivity, for many, Mamma Mia! is a treasured relic of the 90’s, and this production aimed to honor its sparkling legacy.
The choreographer and dance captain in this production were in the very first release of Mamma Mia! in 1999. Hall dissects the significance of their presence, saying, “They definitely tried to maintain a similar artistic vision [to the original] while still making the choreography and character choices unique to the artistic team’s discretion.”
And they succeeded.
Watching this rendition of Mamma Mia! felt as though I was experiencing a re-vamped classic. As the show ended and a cast of hard working, gifted, and diverse actors came out for a sing-a-long of three final ABBA songs, sweet nostalgia filled the auditorium.
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Photography courtesy of Curtis Brown
