Council Rock North High School Breaks Records With "Mamma Mia!"

NEWTOWN, PA — “Mamma Mia,” the award-winning Broadway show and movie which starred Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, found a home on the stage of Council Rock North High School from May 5 to 7. People have described the show as packing every bit as much energy, fun and punch as the original Broadway musical and the talent as amazing.

Directed by Miranda Leiggi, produced by Seth Epstein with choreography by Matt Snyder and costumes designed by Anna Moser, the show began auditions in February and culminated with historic sellout crowds each night during its three day run.

“The students, staff and volunteers in our Council Rock North community worked so hard to create a theatre experience that surpassed everyone’s expectations and we are so proud of them,” and Leiggi.

Sock and Buskin theatre company derives its name from the two ancient symbols of comedy and tragedy. In ancient Greek theatre, actors in tragic roles wore a boot called a buskin and actors with comedic roles wore only a thin-soled shoe called a sock.

To make “Mamma Mia” memorable, the cast had to lean on both their dramatic and comedic flair, while interspersing some memorable dance routines and choreography that brought all in attendance to their feet and created “Dancing Queens” up and down the aisles.

Music is such an important part and the music of ABBA in “Mamma Mia” is timeless. From its opening number “Honey Honey,” sung by Isabelle Hoskins, Katie Peterson and Shealyn Davis; to the powerhouse dance song “Dancing Queen” sung by Gianna Marini, Victoria Mihalek and Emmerson Gottlieb; there wasn’t a song that didn’t invoke audience clapping or dancing including to the reprise at the end “Waterloo,” where they had the audience standing on their feet.

And as far as the dancing, Leiggi said, “We are so fortunate to have a brilliant choreographer in Matt who was able to create choreography that was both fun, relevant, and exciting for each song. The actors, some of whom had previous dance experience and those that didn’t, all seemed to have fun learning from Matt and were able to execute these complex dance numbers flawlessly.”

The expert choreography was evident when the full ensemble cast performed “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” and “Voulez-Vous” where the dance trained actors performed both slow motion and stop action dancing around the show’s mostly male characters performed by Connor Ross, Max Ondik, Ian Mason, Christopher Woods, John Daniel and Sam Howe.

“Mamma Mia’s 70s and 80s vibe also entailed our expert costume designer Anna Moser creating some of the most epic and decade authentic costumes for the show. Anna is so talented and in every show she’s been involved in, nails the look of the era – and for Mamma Mia, we needed a lot of glitter, bell bottoms and shiny colors,” said Leiggi.

“All of the shows performed by Sock 'N Buskin take a huge team effort, a commitment, and a lot of funding. A musical like “Mamma Mia” can cost over $10,000 and most dramas run around $5,000 for the set, costumes, and props,” said Leiggi.

Leiggi continued, “For the student actors, it’s not easy to get up in front of an audience and perform. Our students that take that risk gain self-confidence, communication skills, learn teamwork and a work ethic that comes when you commit to something. These are all life skills that they can use both on and off the stage.”

“It’s our hope that the success of Mamma Mia will inspire other students to give performing a try and entice those in the community to come out and not only support our shows but also the Sock “n” Buskins theatre program,” said Leiggi.

If you’d like to see a Sock 'N Buskin show, you can check here for future tickets and shows https://crnsnb.booktix.com/ and can advertise in their programs here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Po7Zr-Kk6DwMQ-RZUYGyPh1xEehvQ-JX/view

If you ‘d like to support the Sock 'N Buskin program as a patron and keep the arts flourishing at Council Rock North High School, visit https://www.crsd.org/Page/55339

Broadway should take note that from the look and sound of “Mamma Mia,” the Council Rock North Sock 'N Buskin Theatre Club are clearly on their way of continuing to bring high caliber performances to Newtown and become a performing arts hub right here in the center of Bucks County.