A marvelous Mamma Mia! Show stoppers galore at school’s annual musical

In my Reporter column last week about, in part, the health benefits of laughter, it was suggested that, for health reasons, Islanders should attend the Shelter Island School Drama Club’s production of Mamma Mia! at the school auditorium.

After attending opening night on Thursday, March 30, I now know I should have said that the audience had better be healthy enough to attend the show, which was a juggernaut of high-volume rock music delivered with high-velocity youthful vitality. 

The production was based on the 1999 Broadway musical comedy and the 2008 movie centered around hit songs recorded by the Swedish rock group, ABBA, with words and music by two band members, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and a book written by Catherine Johnson.

Though it’s embedded with hard-to-miss messages regarding free-love and 1970’s women’s liberation, the storyline could have as easily come from one of those mad-cap rom-coms of the 1930s like “Bringing Up Baby.”

The plot of “Mamma Mia!” features a daughter whose mother is a former hippy and now owns a struggling tourist taverna on a small Greek Island. The daughter wants her father to walk her down the aisle, but her mother has never been quite clear about just who that father is.

After snooping in her mom’s old diaries, she identifies three potential papas and secretly invites all of them to the impending nuptials, and thus the game and the delightful musical were afoot.

The show’s director, the legendary John Kaasik, and his intrepid producer, Anu Kaasik, were ably supported by a talented team of adults, which included: vocal director and musical wizard, Sara Mundy; choreographer Laura Dickerson; costumer Julia Brennan; Mark Kaasik handling lights; Paul Mobius on props; and drama coach Susan Cincotta.

Peter Waldner’s artistry once again literally set the stage with colorful, inventive and evocative designs. 

Mr. Kaasik was taking a chance with a show in which half the characters were a generation older than the actors playing them. The deceptively simple score, with its catchy but often complex melodies and harmonies, were also a challenge for this young cast. But in every respect, they did their director proud.

With her sweet soprano voice, Elsie Mae Brigham made a lithe and lovely “Sophie.” She and her fiancé, “Sky,” played with charming befuddlement by John Febles Torres, delivered the goods along with the company in Act I’s “Lay All Your Love on Me.”

Sophie’s pals, “Ali” and “Lisa,” played by Mackenzie Speece and Mary Gennari (and in subsequent productions over the weekend, Kaitlyn Gulluscio), respectively, provided just the right amount of rambunctious rivalry and revelry.

As Sophie’s mother, “Donna,” the former-hippie-now-harried-hotelier, Madison Springer managed to bring an unexpected maturity to the role. Her vocal range was unexpected as well, showcasing a clear soprano that could slide easily into a smoky contralto. Particularly, in her second act duet, “S.O.S”., with one of her former beaus, “Sam” — deftly played by Nathan Cronin — and in her moving solo, “The Winner Takes It All,” she used that range to full advantage. 

Along with “Sam,” the other two candidates for father of the bride, “Harry” and “Bill” were nicely handled by Hayden Rylott and Luca Martinez, respectively. In fact, this trio of teens, playing 40-something possible papas, managed to make themselves not only believable enough, but very watchable. They deserve a special kudo.

“Donna’s,” oldest friends and former bandmates, Margaret Schultheis (“Tanya”) and Johanna Kaasik (“Rosie”) were nice and naughty dynamite. Their “Super Trouper” reunion with “Donna” at the bachelorette party was a sparkling, sequined knock-out.  And “Tanya’s” turn as cougar paired with crafty “Pepper,” was perfectly played by Daniel Hernandez, who was aided and abetted by his sneaky side-kick, “Eddie,” well-played by Lionardo Napoles. Their turn in Act II’s “Does Your Mother Know?” was hilarious.

Not to be outdone, Kaasik’s “Rosie,” flaunting her stuff in “Take A Chance on Me,” for the benefit of Martinez’s hapless, reluctant “Bill” near the end of Act II, was very silly and very, very swell.

Speaking of swell, amidst all the tunes and tumult there were some terrific special effects throughout, especially during a powerful dream sequence. The creepy choreography of the shadow brides, in contrast to the enchanting “Young Sophie”  — played with exquisite timing by 3rd grader Brookelyn Gulluscio — which then was punctuated by a sudden manifestation, was a wow of a showstopper.

The chorus, comprised of Grace Catherine, Sadie Green-Clark, Madison Quinn Sobejana and Elena Schack was the spark plug for the non-stop energy infused throughout the show.

The enthusiastic applause was well-deserved on opening night, as was the roar of appreciation when the black-clad ninjas — aka the stage crew — appeared to take their bows. But then, just when we thought that they’d left it all on the stage, the cast and crew thanked us with a rousing rendition of “Waterloo.” 

Wow, again!

The show was on Friday, Saturday and  a matinee Sunday, April 2 at 3 p.m. Tickets were $15 for adults — the adrenaline wasfree.