Seniors reflect on the 2025 spring musical, Mamma Mia
By Stella Dombrow ‘25
Seniors in Mamma Mia.
Courtesy of Jordan Devlin ‘25
With a full theater for the opening and closing productions, the 2025 spring musical, Mamma Mia, was an unforgettable show. The seniors largely drove the show, as many held major roles and influenced the cast culture. So, I sat down with some seniors to hear their reflections on the show.
Mamma Mia follows the story of a single mother, Donna Sheridan, played by senior Teresa Walsh, and her daughter Sophie Sheridan, played by senior Jordan Devlin. Sophie, who is about to get married on a Greek Island, wants her father to attend her wedding. However, she doesn’t know who her father is, so she secretly invites three men who could be her father to her wedding: Sam Carmichael, played by senior Justin Xia, Bill Anderson, played by senior Nico Howlett, and Harry Bright, played by senior Paul Maslen.
Mamma Mia is unique from the musicals performed by the Catlin Gabel School (CGS) theater department in the past few years, such as “Singing in the Rain" or “Matilda”, as it is a jukebox musical. A jukebox musical is when the majority of the songs were popular before the musical existed. Mamma Mia features an upbeat pop and disco soundtrack, with music originally released by the Swedish band ABBA.
The seniors I spoke with enjoyed the show's cheerful music and lighthearted nature for their final CGS musical. When asked if Mamma Mia was a good choice for her senior year musical, Riddhi Mahajan, who played Lisa, Sophie’s best friend said, “I think it's a very joyous and silly musical, and personally it's not my favorite plot-wise, but I think the music is really fun to do together.”
A common favorite song among seniors was Dancing Queen, which heavily features the Dynamos, a female band featuring Donna and her two friends, and the ensemble. Walsh said Dancing Queen was one of her favorite numbers “because that was always the moment in the show where I feel like the audience really started getting into it and would sort of cheer and start to clap along.”
Jordan Devlin (on the left) and Teresa Walsh (on the right) performing Slipping Through My Fingers.
Courtesy of Jordan Devlin ‘25
Another favorite song was Slipping Through My Fingers, which Walsh and Devlin performed. “My favorite song was slipping through my fingers just because Teresa and Jordan did such a good job singing it together,” said Maslen.
While the performances were exceptional, the seniors highlighted that the community made Mamma Mia truly special. “We had a huge cast, and I feel like that made it really fun as the final musical because it's just people all coming together and celebrating musical theater,” said Mahajan.
The closing circle was a moment with the entire cast that was special to Walsh. After each production, the cast has a closing circle on the stage to celebrate. “Having such a large cast and hearing the appreciation and gratitude for each other that everyone had was just really heartening,” said Walsh.
This circle was also memorable because it was done right before the closing performance instead of after. The seniors agreed it made the performance feel more special because they had just been talking about how much they appreciated each other.