In September of 2024, AHS Choral Director Mikayla Stockhaus came up with a musical the school could do. She decided on “Mamma Mia!” because she thought it was more modern than other school musicals in the past and it fit the students’ voices well. After coming up with the idea of Mamma Mia, she requested a license in July and got to work. Auditioning students were expected to learn and perform a section related to the role they wanted and read part of the script. The musical was choreographed by Nicole Corpela for large cast numbers and by Stockhaus for small scene numbers.

Freshman David Blake said the musical was lots of fun and he loves all the new friends he made. Blake recommends doing the musical so you can see just how fantastic it is. He said his favorite part of the musical was the scene where he ran out on Fletchor Toft (Bill) and Brady Wagner (Rosie) “kissing.” He said he got a laugh out of it. “The worst part was my dance solo and that was the only thing that made me nervous. Other than that, the musical was a blast and I will 100% do it again,” said Blake. This was the only musical he had been in and the only thing he would change about it was the emotion. He said the emotion was sort of dull at times and he felt that if some of the cast, including himself, used more expression and emotion, it would have been better.

Sophomore Zephyr Mitchell said that practice was long and sometimes got in the way of football and his downtime, but it was overall worth the time, because performing was “fun.” Mitchell says he was quite nervous at the beginning of it all but he got used to the performing and scenes. He says the way he calmed his nerves was through deep breaths. Mitchell mentions that he’s been in 3 musicals: Oliver Jr., Beauty and the Beast, and Mamma Mia. He said the only thing he would change is the practice. “Myself and a few others were off task at times and didn’t take the time for practice,” he said.

Junior Sophie Johnson said her experience was “really good.” She was very honored for the role she got and was excited to show what she could really do.  Johnson said the atmosphere was really good and incredible with the freshmen performers. Her favorite part was the performance itself was laughing and joking with everyone. Johnson mentioned that it could be stressful at the start because of cross country. Johnson said she was extremely nervous about the musical because it had been a while since she performed, but after the first performance, the anxiety disappeared. “The way I overcame the anxiety was with a deep breath. I acted like it was just a dress rehearsal or a practice and I looked into the crowd but not at the crowd.” She said. Johnson has been in three musicals: Mamma Mia as a lead role, Moana Jr. as a lead role (Grandma Tala), and Cinderella, where she controlled the spotlight as a crew member. Johnson said next musical she hopes there will be more adults on set to keep kids on track, and she would like more input on what certain individuals need to work on for their parts. One last thing Johnson would like to mention is that she encourages people to try out for the musical. She said it’s super fun and a great experience!