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Hammonton High School theater students have the courage of a lion, the passion of a panther and the wisdom of a flamingo and they will showcase their talents in this year’s play Mamma Mia. Showings for the play will take place on March 9-11 at the Hammonton High School Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m.
Hammonton High School chorus teacher and musical director Marissa Carrafiello-Rodio has looked at Mamma Mia for awhile as it is considered a total favorite with her students, citing it as a super fun show. When she announced that this year’s play would be Mamma Mia, her students were so excited.
“They were so excited from the day that I announced it to do this show, they love it and it’s high energy and all the music that, I kind of grew up listening to like the music of ABBA. It’s just fun music,” Carrafiello-Rodio said.
While she noted that musically, the play is challenging as the ensemble sings in just about every single song, it’s engaging for the ensemble as they get to be in every scene.
“This one is a little bit challenging because the ensemble, not even just all the leads, the ensemble sings in just about every single song. Musically, it’s challenging but I think it’s engaging for the entire ensemble as well because they’re in pretty much every scene as far as singing goes,” Carrafiello-Rodio said.
What makes this year’s play different or special as from previous plays? Carrafiello-Rodio noted that there are a lot of ninth grade students with little experience due to not being able to participate in middle school plays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the inexperience, Carrafiello-Rodio enjoyed the experience of working with the new students in their development as the year went on.
“Because of COVID-19 and not being able to do anything down at the middle school during their years down there, they’ve come in really fresh and very inexperienced as far as being in a theatrical production. It’s been really fun to work with these new kids and see how it develops and see their growth throughout the whole process,” Carrafiello-Rodio said.
Carrafiello-Rodio is also excited about seeing her ninth grade students develop as their high school years progress.
“It’s great because most of them are ninth graders, which means they’ll get better and better every year and hopefully I’ll have them through their four years here,” Carrafiello-Rodio said.
Rehearsals for Mamma Mia began in the first week of January as soon as school resumed from winter break. Rehearsals took place everyday after school until 5 p.m. and all day on Saturdays and Carrafiello-Rodio was pleased with the progress made by the cast, especially musically.
“The progress has been amazing, especially musically. The music in the show is really difficult and they have picked up the harmony parts and the music so, so well. That’s probably been my favorite part of watching this whole production kind of happen,” Carrafiello-Rodio said.
The lead roles will be Hannah LaSasso as Donna Sheridan and Ava Santiago as Sophie Sheridan. The cast members are as followed: J.R. Edel as Sam Carmichael, Thomas Librizzi as Bill Austin, Kevin Haley as Harry Bright, Cole Herrmann as Sky, Gabriella Wyers as Tanya, Juliana Citrone as Rosie, Samantha Principato as Lisa, Audra Schiavo as Ali, Lawrence Baylock as Pepper, Anthony Berchie as Eddie and Giovanni Mendez as Father Alexandrios.
The ensemble members are as followed: Gray Gollihur, Carter Gollihur, Julie Petters, Mia Donio, Juliana Bellina, Ava Alicea, Nicole Moyano, Kaylah Rinker-Wister, Z Hess, Shirley Priciliano Chavez, Roselyn Pratts, Isaiah Travia, Zoe Rivera, Esmeralda Rodriguez, Daniela Sotelo, Katie Librizzi, Ryan McLeod, Carly DiBartolomeo, Isabella Mills, Megan Baines, Jacqueline Mendez, Richard Allen, Destiny Doll, Mia D’Auria, Leah Cundiff, Sophia Midure and Sawyer Brown.
Hammonton High School will be showing Mamma Mia as this year’s play. Showings for Mamma Mia will be on March 9-11 at 7 p.m. for all shows at the Hammonton High School Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $15 and it’s reserved seating. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at https://bluedevils.booktix.com.
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