The jukebox musical has been on his wish list for years.
And, next month, Gleneagle Secondary drama teacher Justin Maller will finally get a chance to mount Mamma Mia!
Starring Grade 10 student and professional actor Abegail Avramenko as Sophie and Grade 12er Chloe Summer as her mother Donna, the show tells the story of Sophie’s search for her birth father on the eve of her wedding in Greece.
It’s also weaved through a series of ABBA songs such as “Dancing Queen” and “Super Trooper” that keeps the energy up throughout the performance — and the audience singing along.
Selina Jia, 18, said she auditioned last fall for the role of Rosie — one of Donna’s best friends who is part of the performing group The Dynamos — just to sing and dance to the classic hits.
A Grade 12 student who will be majoring in computer science at UBC in September, Jia said it’s her fourth spring musical at Gleneagle having been cast in Rent, Into the Woods and The Prom at the Coquitlam high school.
“It’s been a really fun year and it’s mostly because of this musical,” said fellow Dynamo Kira Egery-Haley, who takes on Tanya, a character portrayed in the 2008 film by Christine Baranski.
Summer, 16, who played Dee Dee Allen in last year’s The Prom and previously as Rapunzel in Into the Woods, praised Maller for bringing Mamma Mia! to the Gleneagle stage and for forming a community “that’s come together to make something really special.”
Created by the school’s Musical Theatre 10–12 class, with 30 in the crew, Mamma Mia! is directed by Maller with choreography by Gleneagle alumna Madison Simms, as well as two student dance captains.
As for next year, Maller told the Tri-City News that Mean Girls will is the school's spring 2025 pick.
Mamma Mia! runs May 1–3 and May 8–10, 2024, at 7 p.m. at Gleneagle Secondary School (1195 Lansdowne Ave., Coquitlam). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets at $15/$12/$10 are available online.
