Newtown High School's (NHS) spring musical production of Mamma Mia! will open on Thursday, March 19.

Performances will be staged in the auditorium of the high school, 12 Berkshire Road, with evening performances at 7 pm Thursday through Saturday, March 19-21, and matinee performances at 2 pm Saturday and Sunday, March 21-22.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors, and are available for purchase online at nhsc.booktix.net.

Based on the songs of Swedish pop group ABBA, Mamma Mia! tells the charming and hilarious story of a young woman determined to find her birth father. On the eve of her wedding, Sophie secretly invites three men from her mother's past to the island they last visited 20 years ago. As love, laughter, and chaos unravel on the Greek island paradise, Sophie and her mother are forced to confront their pasts, their futures, and the love that brings them together.

Much like last year's spring musical, Mamma Mia! is being managed by NHS English teacher Theresa Talluto as director, NHS English teacher Wendy LaBarge as producer, and NHS English teacher Brian Tenney as technical director.

Choosing this year's show came easily, according to Talluto.

She had been hearing "rumblings" that a lot of the students wanted to do Mamma Mia! as the spring musical.

"I kept kind of laughing at first because it just wasn't really on my shortlist, but the more I heard that they wanted to do it, the more I realized we should probably listened to that," Talluto said. "And so it was really nice when we announced the show in the fall; so many kids were really excited."

The announcement of Mamma Mia! was done during morning announcements toward the end of September, and Talluto says right off the bat it got a really nice response from students and staff.

"A lot of staff were just popping by my room that day saying things like 'I'm so excited' or 'That's a great choice.' It just made me feel really good that everyone was so pumped about it," she added.

While some people might have seen the movie adaptation or its sequel, others may have seen the Mamma Mia! on tour or on Broadway. Talluto said even if people are not already familiar with the show through the movie adaptation, its sequel or even the Mamma Mia! Broadway production and subsequent tour, many at least know ABBA and the group's music.

A part of what makes the show special, Talluto said, is how fun and campy it is while having a solid emotional core.

"It's a really silly story, but an amazing story about relationships ... and being true to yourself," Talluto explained. "The mom and the daughter end up flipping sides, but they both end up making an authentic decision for themselves, which is really empowering."

Welcome To Paradise

The students have once again taken charge with leading the musical. The crew behind Mamma Mia! has been hard at work at making the Greek island paradise come to life on the high school's auditorium stage. NHS student Sophie Augustine, who serves as one of Mamma Mia!'s two prop leads, said a lot of her job means finding items that match the vibe of the show.

There are several important aspects to this. Many pieces Augustine is gathering for the three mom characters, Donna, Tanya, and Rosie, are supposed to emulate the late 70s and almost look "sort of aged." The stuff she is pulling for the rest of Mamma Mia!, which is from the late 90s, is supposed to look modern in terms of the show.

"So I have to communicate a lot with my directors and construction heads and find things that look good in terms of the show and also the time period," Augustine explained.

Not only that, but she said Mamma Mia! pulls from several different places around the world. A few characters are from the United States, one is from the United Kingdom, and the ensemble is from Greece. Augustine said finding items that match the characters is a decent amount of online shopping, but more online research.

"I'm looking a lot on Pinterest and Google to find what people were actually using, wearing, and interacting with when the show takes place, and I utilize my directors' longer life experiences to get the most accurate pieces for the shows," Augustine said.

NHS students and construction heads Gillian Boughan and Kristen Fowley said bringing Greece to the auditorium stage is a little bit difficult.

Boughan said they are building the set out of wood, with Fowley adding most Greek architecture is made out of stone. This means the many crew members have to make the wooden set pieces look like they are stone and fit the setting, a somewhat challenging but fun process, according to Boughan and Fowley.

They were part of the design team that planned what the set would look like. This process started in December, with the team deciding what they wanted to build and how they were going to build it.

"And then over winter break, we had to think of all the lumber that goes into it and planned what we needed to order," Fowley explained. "And since February we've been here every single week."

At the beginning, the work started as 2½ hours a day, three days a week; by late February, it was three hours a day, five days a week.

The weather throughout the winter season has also proved to be a bit of a challenge. The snowstorms over the past two month have caused numerous delays, early dismissals, and cancellations for Newtown Public Schools, which is an issue since students cannot do their work if they don't have school.

Nevertheless, the crew behind Mamma Mia! has continued to work around these challenges and make the best show they can.

NHS student Alli Holden, the scenic artist/painting head, works with the other crew heads to design the set. She had a lot of input on colors and what can be done just through painting. For example, she said there are doors where she just wants to carve them, while other times she just wants to shade them a little bit.

Something many people do not know about the behind-the-scenes process, she said, is how much the students run everything, from the creative aspects of the show to managing day-to-day tasks.

"Tenney is here, but he truly is just the adult watching over us. All the crew heads really know what they're doing," Holden said.

NHS student and production stage manager Liz Huizar said her job is a lot of hard work, but that she gets to see the cast and crew side.

"I get to work with people of all talents, all ages, all genders ... I really like the way I get to learn from everybody," Huizar said. "I get to see how much work they put in and then I can go forward it to the crew."

With how excited the students are for their spring musical, Talluto said Mamma Mia! is the perfect show for both them and for audiences.

She added, "It just feels like everyone could use a party right about now."

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.