Here We Go Again! Tower Hill Takes a Chance on Mamma Mia

By: Maya Doraiswamy

With dancing, energy, and ABBA, a lively Greece filled the stage with Tower Hill Theatre’s production of Mamma Mia this past weekend! The musical follows Sophie Sheridan as she secretly invites three men from her mother Donna’s past to her wedding, hoping to discover which one is her father. What unfolds, however, is lots of drama, secrets, and, ultimately, a heartfelt, hilarious, and just slightly ridiculous story about love and family (all set to the greatest hits of ABBA, of course).

Cast

Thanks to the wide array of principal characters in Mamma Mia, we got to witness so many incredible actors showcase their talents! From emotional solos like Paige Abessinio's The Winner Takes it All to energetic group numbers such as Voulez Vous, each performer truly brought their own personality and dedication to the production.

Below are a few of the principal actors reflecting on their experiences:

Paige Abessinio ‘26 (Donna Sheridan): One of my favorite things about our Mamma Mia production was definitely the set. I think Dave and the crew did a really great job, and it was one of our best ones yet. I also just think we had a really great group of people working on the production. I really loved it, and everyone was just amazing."

Amal Bhattacharya ‘26 (Sam Carmichael): “Usually we never really know how prepared we all are until we perform, but with Mamma Mia it felt different. I got to see all the little things—the impromptu choreo practices backstage, running lines in the hallway, helping each other with music, or just marveling at the set. Working on this musical has shown me that we’re capable of so much and I can’t wait to see what the theatre does next.”

Ann Lane Flickinger ‘27 (Sophie Sheridan): "What I loved most about Mamma Mia were the bonds I made and the people I got to hangout with every day. It was really nice to be around people who care so much about what we're doing and I think we all had such a great connection as a group."

Also, you can check out a fun reel introducing the cast here!

Outside of the phenomenal performances from the main cast, this show in particular provides the perfect opportunity to participate in much more frequent and complex choreography than what the typical ensemble would—which, in my opinion, made the experience all the more meaningful for everyone to play a fun and crucial role in bringing the world of Mamma Mia to life.

Faculty

Our faculty too felt an overwhelming sense of pride over the show. “The actors were pushed and challenged to do so much choreography this year, which also adds to the energy of the show. And everyone was so excited to kind of bring this to our community, and our community was so excited to see it," says Ms. Healy, the Theater department chair and director of the show. "So I think that just kind of was like a big bomb of positivity and good times I had. So many people say I went home and listened to ABBA the whole day, and my kids have been listening to it. It was the positivity, the comedy, the great singing, the great dancing, the great characters, the costumes—I think everything just came together beautifully. There really wasn't a weak part of anything this year. And I think that the cast and crew in the pit really felt the same way, so that just makes it much more complete.”

Behind-the-Scenes

While the show only runs for three days, learning and rehearsing the show is an extensive, nearly 4-month process of reviewing music, choreography, dialogue, and stage directions. Our actors worked extremely hard in particular here, having to learn choreo much more complex than we’ve attempted before. Ms. Hines, the Lower School theatre teacher who recently came on board for our productions this year, truly made all the difference in upping the level of our choreo to create such fun, captivating sequences throughout the show. Numbers such as Money Money Money and Voulez Vous took incredible hours alone to master, but became all the more worth it with the amount of excitement in the crowd on opening night alone.

Here is a reel giving a backstage tour of our production!

Best Moments!

In terms of my personal experience, the most important thing I have to highlight about this production is the dedication and passion behind the entire process. All throughout opening night, there was an incredible level of energy throughout every single person on and off the stage; as I went backstage during intermission, genuinely every person I saw was cheering each other on or celebrating, myself included. Simply put, I think there was a really special sense of excitement and connection behind this musical that I—and so many others—are grateful for.

For those who were unable to attend closing night, it was certainly one of our more emotional moments when it came to closing speeches and dedications. Seeing that level of emotion felt like such a true representation of how deeply we all care for this production, but, more importantly, for everyone involved in it. So, while having it all come to an end comes with mixed feelings, I still see this production as incredibly uniting for all those behind it, and also a wonderful example of how great it is to have our community come together to support something as fun and meaningful as this.

Overall, we’re so appreciative of the support this musical received—we hope you all come out to our next theatre production of Amal Bhattacharya and Adam Cai’s play How to Write a Romcom running in late May!