This weekend, 45 students from Destrehan High School will put on the fan-favorite musical Mamma Mia! at the Lafon Arts Center.
There will be four total performances, beginning with a show at 7 p.m. on Friday. There will also be two showtimes on Saturday – 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. – and a final show on Sunday at 2 p.m. Mamma Mia! is based on the songs of ABBA, a Swedish pop/dance group active from 1972 to 1982 and one of the most popular international pop groups of all time. The plot follows a young bride-to-be who invites three men to her upcoming wedding, with the possibility that any of them could be her father.
“Mamma Mia! was selected as a fan favorite,” Cristina Rivas, talented theatre teacher at DHS, said. “Students and parents alike love the show because of the popular music of ABBA. Memorable hits such as ‘Dancing Queen,’ ‘Mamma Mia!’ and ‘Money, Money, Money’ make the show a fun one to jam along to in your seat.
“What I really enjoy about the show is the heartfelt storyline between mother and daughter. The female characters are inspiring and rebellious to the show’s time period which made me excited to select it.”
The DHS students performing in the musical auditioned back in January and have been rehearsing since. There are a total of 45 student on campus involved in the production. Auditions are open to anyone at the school, so there are students acting, working behind the scenes, and even serving as musicians.
“What I enjoy most about working with the students is the laughter and sense of play they have,” Rivas said. “Kids have a sense of fearlessness when it comes to throwing themselves out there that adults seem to lose as they mature. Another thing I enjoy is the growth. They have come such a long way since the beginning of the process and I really think audiences will be stunned by them.”
Rivas said that the state-of-the-art Lafon Arts Center is truly a blessing for the students that are taking part in the musical.
“I remind them that ‘back in my day’ I had a small 60-seat blackbox to perform in for my high school, but they get this incredible space to explore professional-level production value,” she said. “It can be daunting and a challenge to fill the space fully, but I know that our kids are up for it.”
Rivas said residents should attend the performance because Mamma Mia! is fun while tugging at the heartstrings at the same time.
“There is a part in the show for everyone. Plus, the likelihood that residents know one of the children involved is very high,” she said. “Our all-star cast consists of Nadia Eiler as Donna, Glorianne Bundick as Sophie, Sarah Mire as Rosie, Tatum Guillot as Tanya, Jaidon Cotton as Sam Carmichael, Coby Trosclair as Bill Austin, Nathan Noel as Harry Bright, and Kalodro Robichaux as Sky.”
To purchase tickets for Mamma Mia! visit www.lafonartscenter.org/tickets
