{"id":52401,"date":"2022-07-11T09:50:54","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T13:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=52401"},"modified":"2022-07-12T11:32:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:32:07","slug":"dn-r-local-high-schoolers-take-a-chance-with-mamma-mia-in-emus-new-summer-musical-theater-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2022\/dn-r-local-high-schoolers-take-a-chance-with-mamma-mia-in-emus-new-summer-musical-theater-program\/","title":{"rendered":"DN-R: Local high schoolers take a chance with ‘Mamma Mia’ in EMU’s new summer musical theater program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exploding with tension Thursday onstage at Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Mainstage Theater \u2014 it could be hard to believe local high schoolers Eleanor Albers and Mac Rhodes-Miller have only been rehearsing together for a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EMU\u2019s Summer Musical Theater Progra<\/a>m features performance and technical intensives for students grades four through 12, offering local students a new opportunity to perform a full-scale production over the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With just over two weeks to rehearse as a full cast and crew, the heat is on for 18 local high schoolers who will present the musical \u201cMamma Mia,\u201d with music by Benny Anderson and Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus with Stig Anderson and book by Catherine Johnson. The musical will be performed July 14-16 at 7 p.m. in the University Commons Mainstage Theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first time EMU\u2019s theater program has produced a show like this, challenging high schoolers with \u201ccollege-level\u201d work, said Justin Poole, head of the theater department at EMU, and then putting on a show for a real audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working eight hours each day, the high schoolers rehearse scenes, practice choreography, vocals and scene changes \u2014 repeating scenes multiple times to get them exactly right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot about actions and how they impact how characters interact with each other,\u201d said Rhodes-Lehman, a rising sophomore at Eastern Mennonite High School. He plays Sam, a man who\u2019s trying to win back his former lover\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high schoolers are learning skills that run the gamut of musical theater and technical theater from co-directors Poole and Ellie de Waal, who\u2019s also resident choreographer for EMU\u2019s theater program and choreographer for the show. Also contributing are music directors Jim Clemens and Angie Clemens and EMU theater students, who serve as student directors and mentors to the high schoolers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoing this program is a huge step for me,\u201d said Anna Hoover, a rising senior chemistry major and theater minor at EMU, who\u2019s serving as a student director. \u201cGetting to know the ins and outs of theater outside of [acting]. Being able to step back and see the outside is awesome.\u201dhttps:\/\/b8fac3a53a9401e17e4c815832449d68.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-38\/html\/container.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though they are only rehearsing as a group for a short time, the students began auditioning for the program back in February, and had their lines memorized before the start of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramping up the drama, attitude and energy with each run, the high schoolers in the program said they\u2019ve learned a bit about how to \u201cown\u201d their characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the student directing-mentors, Albers said she learned something about memorizing lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did a Zoom call with [EMU student director Greta Schrag] a few days before we started the program,\u201d said Albers, a rising junior at Eastern Mennonite High School who plays Donna, the free-spirited mother of the bride. \u201cI was still struggling to get my lines learned, and she suggested I do [online] flashcards. And then I had my lines by the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program provides a needed opportunity for local high schoolers who love theater to keep performing over the summer, said student director Joseph Sites, a recent graduate of EMU and alumnus of EMHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t something that has really existed in this area that exists in other areas,\u201d Sites said. \u201cIt\u2019s just filling a niche in the theater community around here, because there\u2019s a lot of very talented people doing theater in high schools, so we\u2019re giving them more opportunities when they\u2019re not in school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets for the show can be purchased by calling 540-432-4582 or by visiting emu.edu\/box-office<\/a>. EMU runs a separate junior program for fourth- through eight-graders, which takes place in July and leads up to a musical revue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey came to our school and they were talking about doing \u2018Mamma Mia,\u2019\u201d Albers said. \u201cI really like \u2018Mamma Mia,\u2019 and I\u2019ll take any chance to do theater, so I think it\u2019s a really fun way to spend my summer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exploding with tension Thursday onstage at Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Mainstage Theater \u2014 it could be hard to believe local high schoolers Eleanor Albers and Mac Rhodes-Miller have only been rehearsing ... read more about DN-R: Local high schoolers take a chance with ‘Mamma Mia’ in EMU’s new summer musical theater program<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7931,17562,5147],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17423,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-52401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-digest","category-theater","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nDN-R: Local high schoolers take a chance with 'Mamma Mia' in EMU's new summer musical theater program - 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