On March 21, 22, and 23, the Rocky Mount Academy Drama Department put on their production of Mamma Mia, which was directed by the incredible Dawn Whitehurst. The cast began working on the music before auditions even started, and rehearsals started back in January so that the cast could get a grip on all the challenging harmonies scattered throughout the musical. I hope you got the chance to see this production, as it was the last for 12 seniors, but just in case you didn’t, here is a recap. 

The story follows Sophie (played by Sarah Wiederhold) and her mother, Donna Sheridan (played by Virginia Feagans), as they prepare for Sophie’s upcoming wedding on an island in Greece. Feeling sentimental and wanting her father to walk her down the aisle, Sophie decides–unbeknownst to her mother–to invite all three of her possible dads, Sam Charmichael (Ezra Moore), Bill Austen (Landon Duff), and Harry Bright (Vann Davis) to her wedding. When Donna discovers them on the island, she is furious, but her two best friends Tanya (Paige Brown) and Rosie (Ashley Passmore) cheer her up and end up performing at Sopie’s bachelorette party.  

That night, Sophie has a nightmare and gets into a fight with her mother about getting married. After she leaves, Sam–who seems to be Donna’s true love–tries to speak to Donna, and they too get into a fight. Sophie tells her fiance Sky (Gavin Bauer) about her dads, and he becomes angry with her for not telling him sooner and leaves her alone with Sam, who (realizing he might be her dad) tries to give her a lesson about what marriage should be. In the meantime, Donna and Harry are having a conversation about years past and he gives her a check to pay for the wedding since there’s a good chance it’s his little girl getting married. 

Sophie leaves to get dressed for her wedding and reconciles with Donna by having her help. After she leaves, Sam shows up and the pair gets into another, bigger argument. Before the start of the wedding, Rosie and Bill realize how much they have in common and they are just starting to get cozy when the wedding entourage walks in on them. At the wedding, Sophie reveals to Donna that she was the one who invited all the dads, and the fact Donna does not know who the real father is comes to light. Ultimately, they decide not to seek out the real father because all three are just happy to be a part of Sophie’s life, and this makes her realize she does not want to get married. Sam then takes this time to propose to Donna, saying how he has always loved her.  The two then get married (why waste a perfectly good wedding?), and Sophie and Sky go to see the world together. 

Mamma Mia really was amazing, and the cast–led by music director Ezra Moore and dance captain Kristen Webb–was incredible. It was so much fun to see and, for the actors, to perform. A huge shout-out goes to Mrs. Murphy, as she requested the show in honor of Dr. K. This made the performance all the more special to everyone involved, especially the seniors, as most of us were in his last eighth-grade class. To everyone who helped make this show possible, thank you so so much! I cannot wait to see what next year has in store!