Mamma Mia! Review- The Performance was very lively

Overall, the Mamma Mia! performance was very lively and easy to understand. I think the actors on stage were able to play their parts very well and maintained in character throughout the play. They looked very motivated and enthusiastic, especially when doing a dance routine and singing, and I felt that they had really developed chemistry between themselves and were able to perform well as an ensemble.

Throughout the whole play, it seemed like they were all able to memorize their lines, and if they were to improvise, it was not obvious at all as they were able to get back in topic all the time.

All the actors and actresses had great characterization skills; they were able to portray their characters very well and managed to stay in character at all times.

I did not notice anything wrong with their blocking and they used the stage space very effectively throughout the performance. I’ve noticed that they have carefully choreographed all the blocking in the play in a way that makes it look realistic and also avoid any characters from blocking the audiences’ view.

 In terms of vocal work and movement, I think they did a very good job in making clear what they are saying and using vocal expressions to portray their feelings. As I’ve mentioned before, all the movement seems to have been choreographed and was therefore very neat and everything was done with a purpose.

Donna Sheridan – She is a single mom living in a Greek island. She is a very stubborn yet strong person and seems to have experienced lots of pain in her life (mother disowned her, left by her lover).

Sophie Sheridan – She is the daughter of Donna. She is a young woman full of curiosity, particularly in finding out who amongst the 3 men is her real dad. She is the fiancé of Sky.

Rosie – She has a very strong and cheerful personality as an old lady. She is also very playful.

My favorite character would be Sophie. I think I empathize with her as she has a very young and naïve personality. She is also very relatable as she is also still a girl in the process of growing up as an adult.

Mamma Mia! is the story of a young woman, Sophie Sheridan, who is getting married to her fiancé Sky in a Greek island. Her mother, Donna, is a single mom who runs a resort there. Sophie is full of curiosity and she longs to be given away at the altar by her father. While snooping through her mom’s old stuff, she found a journal, which contained the name of 3 men, one being her father. Because she did not know which man her father was, she invited the 3 of them to her wedding, without her mother’s consent, thinking that she would be able to easily figure it out. The whole play revolves around this conflict.

I think one challenge that I have experienced during the Shakespeare unit would be movement and blocking. Throughout the entire musical, the stage was used very effectively. All the actors seemed to know where they had to go and there was no confusion or any actors bumping each other. After seeing this, I’ve realized that choreography of the blocking of the actors is very important in a performance. This is very relatable to my character, the witch, as amongst the three witches we must move synchronized and do spells and such that can only be done neatly if choreographed.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with the whole play and production team. I think it was smart how they used one piece of prop as a setting that remained throughout the musical. To do this, they designed a prop that could be moved around and shown in different angles to show the difference in the scenes’ setting. The props were also very simple and reused many times during the play. The overall set decoration was also very simple yet effectively used.

 In this performance, I think the music was very important as it was a musical performance and needed the timing of the music to be perfect in order for it to look nice. Another important element would be the props as they help shape the setting and supports the scene as well.

If I were to create a similar performance, I would keep the idea in which I use one big prop and change the angles to create the different settings. However, I would add some more decorations to change the setting a little bit. Also, I would like to try rearrange the songs to add more feel to the part where Sophie tries to get to know her fathers more.

As an audience, I’ve learnt to respect the performers on stage as well as the other audience members and always show enthusiasm when asked to clap or cheer for the cast members. Also, I would like to try rearrange the songs to add more feel to the part where Sophie tries to get to know her fathers more.

I really enjoy watching musicals as I think the music brings up the mood of the performance and also avoids boredom. 

On a scale of 1-10, I think the actor-audience relationship would be an 8. The Mamma Mia! actors really engage the audience particularly during the songs. Also, the things they do or feel on stage is very relatable and convincing.

For a musical, I think the performer not only has to have good acting, but they must also be able to sing and dance while minding their surroundings and the other actors on stage.

written by Calista Halim