LYNNWOOD—The Meadowdale Players are returning this Friday, May 10, with what Drama Instructor Jacqueline Meyners described as, its biggest and most ambitious performance yet — the critically acclaimed Broadway musical Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia is a romantic comedy based on the music of 1970’s Swedish pop/disco supergroup ABBA. The story takes place on the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi where bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan invites three men to her wedding, unbeknownst to her mother Donna, to figure out which one of them is her father.
The musical was a smash success when it first appeared in London’s West End in 1999, since winning a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Laurence Olivier Award, Grammy Award (for its soundtrack), Helen Hayes Award, and Touring Broadway Award. With productions still performing on Broadway in New York City and London’s West End it is the ninth longest running show on Broadway and the sixth longest running show in West End’s history.
A film adaption starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, and Julie Waters released in theaters in 2008 and quickly became the highest grossing live-action musical film of all time until Beauty and the Beast stole that title in 2017.
The Lynnwood Times sat down with Director Jacqueline Meyners and cast and crew members freshman Jaxson Hulbert, senior Julian Ling, junior Seda San Nicolas, freshman Allen Kim, and junior Lucy Knudson on Wednesday, May 8, to learn more about what went into the bringing this prestigious play to Meadowdale High School arts.
Seda San Nicolas, who performed in Meadowdale’s Newsies last year, is returning to the stage as Donna – her first lead role. San Nicolas is a member of the Meadowdale Jazz Choir which, she said, really helped her performance because she was able to already read music and was familiar with how to hit the notes. Nicolas, and her twelve other peers in Meadowdale’s Jazz Choir, recently won second place in a statewide competition for their talents.
“It’s definitely a switch, having gone from singing in a group to singing solo songs and having to match the tone of musical theater but I’ve been doing it for awhile now, for all of my high school career, so for me it’s a lot easier,” said San Nicolas.
Nicolas shared that her family are big fans of Mamma Mia, both the stage production and the film, so when she saw that she was cast as Donna, and subsequently announced it to her parents, everyone was “really excited.”
Allen Kim is making his musical theater debut in Meadowdale’s production of Mamma Mia but also comes from a rich musical background as a musician in the Seattle University Symphony Orchestra and the Meadowdale Jazz Band.
“I think there’s a huge benefit to understanding music, especially if you have a jazz background,” said Kim.
Stage Manager Julian Ling has been managing stage performance at Meadowdale for most of his career. Before returning as Stage Manager for Mamma Mia, he was the Stage Manager for Newsies and ran spotlight for previous performances. Even before that, he pursued his interest in dramatic arts in Palm Desert, California, before he moved to Lynnwood. It was really his time at Meadowdale, however, where he found his calling working in stage production.
Ling added that a lot of thought and research went into set designs to bring the Greek Island feel to Lynnwood that involved reviewing photographs of the Greek Islands and their buildings.
As far as lighting goes, Lucy Knudson, who plays Sophie but is also the lighting designer, added that she has had a lot of fun using a lot of blues, whites (the Greek flag’s colors) and bright colors.
“This show is very campy, it’s over the top and ridiculous in a lot of ways so it’s just very bright and sometimes a little excessively so,” said Knudson.
Jaxson Hubert, who plays Bill – one of Sophie’s potential fathers, a Swedish sailor and travel writer – is returning to Mamma Mia with his third Meadowdale drama performance, having previously been in the cast of Mary Poppins and Seussical the Musical.
“It was a really fun part to play because it was a lot of sitting in a tree and singing, for like half the show” Hulbert joked. “I didn’t think I would get the role of Bill but as we went on I felt like I really fit the role and felt a lot more comfortable.”
Although Hubert has been in previous Meadowdale plays this will be his first year joining the school’s choir program, which he said has helped his vocal technique tremendously. Having been in orchestra since the fifth grade he added that music has always made sense to him but choir has helped him feel more comfortable with his voice.
Mamma Mia holds a particularly special place in Hubert’s heart as it was his late grandmother’s favorite film, and the last film she watched before she passed away.
“It’s very important to me to do my best because she really would have loved to see it and it would have meant a lot to her,” said Hubert.
The cast and crew have been rehearsing Mamma Mia since March and throughout their schedule they have grown closer together, forming connections they feel they’ll carry on for the rest of their lives.
Mamma Mia runs May 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, and 18 at 7:00 p.m. within Meadowdale High School’s Black Box theater located at 6002 168th Street Southwest in Lynnwood, WA. ASL interpretation will be offered on the 16th. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $8 for students with ASB.
Mamma Mia is based on the book written by Catherine Johnson, brought to the stage first in London by Judie Craymer, Richard East, and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal. Music and lyrics were written by Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus and some songs by Stig Anderson.
Meadowdale High School’s adaptation of Mamma Mia was directed by Jacqueline Meyners with choreography by Justin Jay Smith and music production by Sam Peters and Jordyn Day.
Purchase tickets at: https://meadowdaledrama.wixsite.com/players/post/mamma-mia
