By Ayah Hassan, Staff Writer
Here we go again! It’s time for River Hill’s spring musical auditions. This year’s musical, Mamma Mia, will be performed from February 20th through the 23rd of 2025.
This musical features twenty-year-old Sophie, who is preparing for her wedding in Greece. While going through her mom’s old diaries, she finds the names of three men who may potentially be her father. Sophie makes the decision to invite all of them to her wedding in an attempt to figure out who her real father is.
Auditions will span from November 19th through the 21st. The audition process consists of three parts: dance auditions, vocal auditions, and callbacks. On the first day, students present their dance audition. “We go into groups of maybe five people maximum and we do the dance together in front of Ms. Meyer to determine our dancing skills.” explains senior Dara Asante.
Then on the second day, there are vocal auditions. “You have a bunch of options for songs”, sophomore Penny Tofigh explains. The song options include “Thank You For the Music,” “Does your Mother Know,” “The Name of the Game,” “I Have a Dream,” “Honey Honey,” “Lay All Your Love on Me,” “The Winner Takes It All” and “Take A Chance on Me.” After choosing the songs, auditioners are called onto the stage to perform in groups based off of the song selected. However, each individual will have a chance to sing by themselves for the audition in front of not only the judges, but also others in their group who chose the same song as them. Some students only choose one song to audition with, but many choose to audition with multiple songs.
The daunting experience of auditioning is not the end of the process. It’s now time to wait for a callback list. “Callbacks are very nerve racking,” Penny relays. The callback list is a list compiled by Ms. Meyer in response to the auditions. This list determines who will be brought back the next day to either participate in a blind read of the script or for Ms. Meyer to hear more of their singing. Especially with over 60 people auditioning for this show, the casting decision is difficult, especially with a limited number of roles available. Callbacks can provide more clarity and help the director better understand different people’s strengths and determine who will best fit each character.
Different students who are auditioning feel differently about it, but most can agree that auditioning is a stressful experience. “I’m pretty nervous because I’m doing every single song that’s on the audition list,” explains sophomore Anjali Jain. Conversely, senior Zehra Thakkar exclaims she’s “so excited!” Zehra explains that while she enjoys the experience of being in a musical, auditioning is a difficult process. “I’m kind of ready to be done with that”, she says.
While the audition process can be stressful and time consuming, it’s all worth it in the end. Even if you don’t get the part that you were hoping for, that doesn’t stop you from meeting new people and making irreplaceable memories. Regardless of the musical’s lyrics, The winner does not take it all. Theater is a community built on teamwork. It’s not just about one person, it’s about everyone working together.
Come see Mamma Mia on February 20th through the 23rd to see the hard work that the cast and crew will have put in to make a successful show. Hope to see you there!