Three potential fathers, two best friends and one bride-to-be took to the stage inside Spirito Hall of Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech), thanks to the Drama department’s production of the musical “Mamma Mia!” on April 17, 18, 23 and 24. The two casts split the dates, with cast “Dancing Queens” performing on April 18 and 24 and cast “Gimme Gimme Gimme” performing on April 17 and 23.
“Mamma Mia!” follows 20-year-old Sophie Sheridan as time ticks down to her wedding day on a Greek island. Sophie, who grew up without a father, invites three men from her mother’s past to her wedding in hopes that one can walk her down the aisle. The three men, Sam Carmichael, Harry Bright and Bill Austin, reminisce on their last encounters with Sophie’s mother, Donna Sheridan, from 21 years ago.
The musical opened with “Honey, Honey”, then led to “Money, Money, Money”, two well-known songs from the musical group ABBA, performed by the cast of the musical. Scarlett Palmieri ‘27 and Hannah Cagle ‘28 performed the role of Donna in casts Dancing Queens and Gimme Gimme Gimme, respectively. Commenting on the character, Cagle reflected on what she liked about playing Donna.
“I really like Donna’s emotional side. I get to cry on stage, and that’s great, just the emotional pull towards Sam and the emotions that Donna gets to feel as her child grows up, and it’s really cool,” Cagle said.
As the musical progressed, wedding guests began to arrive, including Donna’s best friends Rosie Mulligan and Tanya Cresham-Leigh. They reflected on their days of performing music as a group named “Donna and the Dynamos” and marveled in wonder at how the times had changed, with their new responsibilities and lives no longer being the worry-free days of their youth.
Beyond the culminating performances, the production provided a variety of experiences for the cast members during the process of putting together the musical. For some, “Mamma Mia!” proved to establish a community within the cast.
“It’s been so much fun to be at school until 7:30 every night and hang out with everyone … everyone just is part of each other, and they just flow together, and that’s been really great, like the community of the cast and the crew is just so good,” Scarlett Palmieri ‘27, who played Donna in the cast of Dancing Queens, said.
Other cast members reflected on their experience with the show and the Foothill Drama community as well.
“[The highlight of the experience was] meeting new people and getting to hang out with new people that I would normally never hang out with,” Brooklyn Brown ‘28, who played Tanya in the cast of Gimme Gimme Gimme, said.
Troy Braley ‘26, who was the assistant director of the musical, talked about his first experience directing a production.
“I love the cast. They’re all amazing. It was quite the challenge, I will say, but I learned a lot. I got to work with Kevin, who was very wonderful, and I think it was an overall fun production,” Braley said.
Act I closed with “Voulez-Vous” as Sophie struggled to find out whether Sam, Harry or Bill was her real father, with the impending decision weighing heavily on her thanks to each of their separate promises to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. The song, accompanied by a dance ensemble, ended the first act with an energetic segue into Act II.
The second and final act featured more musical numbers and plot developments, with emotional hits like “Slipping Through My Fingers” and “The Winner Takes It All” being performed by Donna while she recalled memories from the past and marveled at how fast Sophie grew up.
Palmieri mentioned the importance and meaning of her role as Donna in the cast of Dancing Queens to her.
“This has been my dream since I was 10 years old. I saw the production at Ventura High School when they did it in 2017… and I was just like, ‘I need to play Donna,’ and I was so excited and it’s been a dream, like an actual dream … I’m just so thrilled and I’m really sad for it to be over, but I’m very, very grateful for the opportunity,” Palmieri said.
With the musical marking the last Drama Club production of the 2025-2026 school year, the show doubles as a sendoff for the senior class of 2026. Cast members and crew alike paid tribute to the graduating class in their last hurrah before graduation.
“One of the lowest downs is … about the seniors who will be leaving us, which makes us really sad because this is our last show with them and we will not be able to work with them again,” Grace Kopp ‘28, who played Sophie in the cast of Gimme Gimme Gimme, said.
The conclusion of the musical came with Sophie deciding that finding her father’s identity no longer mattered, as Donna, the dads and the rest of her found family offered the sense of love and belonging she had been searching for. She and her fiancé, Sky, decided to call off their wedding to travel the world, while Donna and Sam took a chance on love and got married in the island chapel.
Members of the cast participated in a dance party and sing-along post bows, inviting the audience to join and celebrate the completion of another successful Foothill Tech Drama production. While the shows may be over for the 2025-2026 school year, Dragons can look forward to future productions in the coming school year.
