Sherwood’s ‘Mamma Mia!’ offers chance for everyone to be dancing queens

by Judith Hruz

Editor

They came for the musical, but stayed for the dance party.

As soon as they were invited to join in, audience members jumped to their feet — something they had wanted to do throughout the show – and danced with the cast of Sherwood High School’s “Mamma Mia!” at the end of a fun presentation of the popular musical.

Not a person in the school’s Ertzman Theater wasn’t filled with the spirit of the dancing queen during those four shows in November.

“This show was such a pleasure to work on,” said Elizabeth Kominski, Sherwood theater director. “It seems to be the kind of show that puts a smile on everyone’s face and that was the best part about it. The students got such joy out of the experience and I could see that same feeling on the faces of the audience members, which is such a delight.”

It was easy to see the joy on the faces of the actors, singers and dancers. But frankly, it was easy to feel the smiles on the faces of the audience, despite the dark theater.

“We had some huge crowds come out to celebrate this wonderful music and these incredibly talented kids,” Kominski said. “We are so lucky to live in such a supportive community.”

The dancing was great, the costumes were fabulous, the set was ideal – well, all aspects made for a fun night.

Behind the scenes, the talent was just as spectacular.

“I am also incredible thankful for the talented staff I have working on the show with me,” Kominski said. “Michel D’Anna, my former high school director, is my technical director and my former student, Elizabeth Oliver, is my assistant director. It is a really special experience to have so many generations of theater students connect to put a show together.

“I also could not put it together without our production manager, Maisie Lynch, and our incredible music team, Alex Silverbook and Emily Chu. They make coming to work a joy.”

In addition to the talented students on stage, Kominski made sure to applaud the students on the Tech Crew, who “built a spectacular set” with the direction of D’Anna. “It was a monster task and they did an incredible job.”

The character of Donna was played by Ellie Schwam and Sophie was played by both Ali Weinrich and Melia Walz. All three did an outstanding job.

And one final shout out to the 11 teachers who joined the students on stage to sing and dance. They were a highlight of the show.

“I think they got the loudest applause at each performance,” Kominski said.

She said that one of the teachers, Kelly Schlutz, asked, “So what are we doing in the next show?”

“So, this may become a tradition of sorts,” Kominski said.

Bravo!