Halla Emmons, Staff Writer–
At the start of the new semester, “Midnight Mamma Mia!” is exactly what it sounds like, a production of “Mamma Mia!” that happens at midnight, where singing is not allowed. The idea was brought to campus a few years when Katie Kress ‘25 was a sophomore.
“I missed the community of theatre in my local area and realized how much college kids love ABBA songs,” Kress said, when asked what inspired her to create the production.
She had the idea to use a shadowcast, which is when a screen plays the movie behind the cast while they dance, act, and lip sync. This model is desirable to current dance ensemble member Mollie Stier ‘28.
“I don’t really like to sing,” she said, “So I think it’s nice to have something where I can dance and not have to sing.”
The production is put on by the Denison Independent Theater Association (DITA). Kress is directing and co-choreographing the production alongside her team.
Other students involved in the creative process of “Midnight Mamma Mia!” include Olivia Nach ‘28, assistant choreographer and dance capitan, M.J. Mitchell ‘25, the stage manager, and Mason Allen ’25 who is the technical director.
“DITA is incredible, it is inspiring to see theatre-making being done by our students at every level,” said Professor Brad Frenette, the faculty advisor for DITA.
The process from beginning to end is unlike a normal musical. Anyone who auditions for the production is guaranteed a spot in the show.
“We didn’t need to prepare anything ahead of time,” Stier said about the audition, “it was only a dance audition.”
The cast learned the choreography in one large group before being split into smaller ones and with the extra time they had, improvised a dance with a partner to a random Mamma Mia song.
The rehearsals can run late, typically being held from 7-10 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Despite this, the show is deliberately low commitment and well planned out.
“I lay out the calendar, reserve spaces and map out the rehearsals all before reaching out to prospective production members. This allows for students to know exactly what they are committing to ahead of time,” Kress said.
The cast is split into three groups. There are the named shadowcast actors who will shadow the lead characters in the movie. Then, there is the dance ensemble, consisting of nine people and the “surfers,” who are the bigger ensemble that also dance, but are more acting focused.
The groups split off during rehearsals to learn their separate parts and once they are learned they come together to connect each piece.
Timing all the moving parts of the separate ensembles to the movie means that some creative thinking is required.
“The cuts of the movie obviously create challenges on how to get characters on and off stage so quickly. Ultimately, when strictly following a movie you have to determine what is important to the plot. We also used a lot of ‘camp’ to justify big theatrical devices we use to make up for things,” Kress said.
“What I love about DITA is the way that it pushes our students to figure out that they’re capable of more than they might think,” Said Frenette.
The strong community built by “Midnight Mamma Mia!” will be showcased when they hit the stage on March 29.
“Every year we get to bring a new crowd of people into this show and it’s always so rewarding. The relationships I’ve made with both the cast and members of the production team are some of the strongest I have on campus,” Kress said.