During lunchtime, a group of actors and crew members are shooting a video in front of the Guerin. Abigail Goldstein ‘27 (Ensemble) says to the camera, “It’s tech week, of course we’re spending more time at school then we are at home.”
Tech week is the week before the performance when actors and the creative team spend hours finalizing the design, acting, costumes, and more to ensure the show runs smoothly.
The students are scrambling to the finish line in order to be ready for the opening performance of Mamma Mia!, which had its last show on Monday, February 12. For the first four-and-a-half months, actors are in rehearsals for at least three-and-a-half hours a day, five days a week. Starting at the end of January, they are at school for seven to 13 hours a day. According to Stella Dolkart ‘24 (Tanya), “constantly, you have to be running a marathon every day from the day that you start rehearsals until closing night.” The amount of work and dedication theater takes brings to question why would students choose to dedicate so much time to a performance that is ultimately only a measly two and a half hours?
What makes theater worth the effort?
Ali Silverstein ’25 (Sophie Sheridan): “As a kid I would see shows [and] it would just be the most fun ever. So getting to do that for other people is something special.”
Jaden Schwartz ‘24 (Ensemble, Rabbi): “The community. It’s just everyone’s so supportive of one another and we get to spend a lot of time together.” Dolkart adds, “it becomes such a family because you spend so much time with people.”
James Greer ‘24 (Harry Bright): “Besides the fact that I really enjoy it (theater) as an art form, and I find it a really fulfilling way to express myself, I find the community is very accepting in a lot of ways, especially of marginalized identities.” He emphasizes that this is extremely important given that we are within the “Milken Bubble” and theater provides a space for a variety of identities.
What are some of the challenges of theater?
Madi Frank ‘27 (Rosie) explains that a challenge beyond being the only freshman with a lead role, which means having the confidence to not second guess herself, is the challenge of making Rosie’s character her own. “I’m playing an iconic character who already has a story and trying to like build connections while also honoring, like the role that is Rosie” is hard but fun.
Dolkart: “This is what I love doing. This is like my life. This is what gives me happiness and joy. But it’s also really hard work. And you have to really work really hard to maintain your health, maintain that you’re sleeping, maintain that you’re like eating, drinking, and like maintain that you’re ready to go.”
From left to right, Stella Dolkart ‘24 (Tanya), Julia Nahmod ‘24 (Donna Sheridan), and Madi Frank ‘27 (Rosie) performing “Super Trooper”. (Noa Karidi)
What does it mean to be a member of the ensemble?
Not all members of the cast have speaking parts. Contrarily, the vast majority of the cast does not speak a line throughout the show. However, this does not mean that they do not attend just as many rehearsals or work any less hard. For Mamma Mia! the ensemble members learned the vocals to 26 songs along with broadway-level dance choreography to the majority of those songs.
Norah Soormaghen ’26 (Ensemble) feels it embodies the spirit of theater. “It’s like being intertwined and connected with yourself while being connected to so many people and so many other things at the same time… it’s a beautiful human experience that you don’t get to have on a day to day life.”
Shira Abouaf ’25 (Ensemble): “Being an ensemble member means both supporting a main cast and figuring out your own track in relation to other ensemble members.” Additiontionally, Abouaf loves theater because “being on stage because it helps build my confidence a lot like and it’s because of theater that I’m like, able to make new connections.
When asked what advice they would like to give to potential members of the theater community, the overall message was “try it”. However, if the time commitment scares you and you want to dip your toes in the water, Dolkhart recommends you try a role such as deck or costume crew or follow spot operator, which are only there for the tech and performance weeks.
Their hard work culminated in eight amazing performances that left the audience with songs stuck in their heads for days afterwards. Not only that, but Mamma Mia! Has been one of the most popular shows at Milken in the last couple years, drawing in people who are not fans of musicals and leaving them with a smile on their faces as they leave the theater. The seniors have made sure to convey how sad and proud to have had this wonderful performance as their final Milken show.
