The famous musical, Mamma Mia!, comes to the university, and every single ticket has been sold.
Mamma Mia! is a musical that originally debuted back in 1999. Over the course of 20 years, it has grossed about $4 billion in ticket sales.
A unique characteristic of the musical is that all the music is based on songs made by a band called ABBA, a Swedish pop group from the 1970s.
Some may be more familiar with the 2008 movie version starring Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep.
The story follows a young woman named Sophie, who is about to get married on a Greek island called Kalokairi. Sophie grew up without knowing her true father, but on one fateful day before her wedding, she discovers her mother’s diary and learns that she was sleeping with three men named Bill, Harry, and Sam not too long before her birth.
Sophie figures that one of these three men is her father, so she invites all of them to the island. Of course, chaos and antics ensue.
The musical is being put on by the Capital University Theatre group, and showings will be taking place Feb. 13-16 in the Cabaret Theatre in the basement of the Student Union.
On Tuesday, Feb.11, the cast and crew met in the Cabaret Theatre to perform a dress rehearsal in preparation for the upcoming shows. The performers discussed some of the challenges that they’ve tackled on the road to premiere night.
“For me, it’s always the dancing,” Brandon Karl, who plays Harry, said.
“The most challenging part was probably the time constraint,” Caity Hoffman, junior and member of the chorus, said. “Six weeks, four nights, a week to put together the music, the dancing, and the tech was just a lot. Plus, we are all college students, so time management is already difficult.”
Tickets for the production didn’t gradually sell out but instead were purchased immediately.
“I think everything was sold out in less than two days,” Hannah Wolfe, first-year and chorus member said. “And that’s never happened for any show I’ve been in at Capital.”
The cast members also shared their thoughts on knowing that they are getting ready to perform for a sold out crowd.
“The audience is one of the most crucial parts of any theatre production I feel, because with no audience, there’s no show,” Karl said. “There’s a certain type of energy that comes with a big audience.”
The chorus members perform during the Mamma Mia dress rehearsal. Photo taken by Robert Cumberlander. 
Brandon Karl, back, in the role of Harry. Kent Peterson, left, plays Sam, one of the fathers. Meghan Smith, right, plays Donna, the mother. Photo taken by Robert Cumberlander.
Some cast members expressed nervousness about having to perform to a sold out audience, especially for a musical like Mamma Mia! where many people hold a certain level of expectation that’s unmatched by a brand new production.
“It’s a little scary knowing that every single seat is going to be filled every night,” Maddie Fleckenstein, junior and chorus member said. “But honestly, it’s just going to let me have more fun with it. I’m going to try and interact with the audience more.”
“I’m excited and nervous,” Hoffman said. “More than anything I’m just really grateful that there are going to be people here every night to see what we’ve been working on.”
