Mamma Mia

 This just may be my favorite show ever. I've always enjoyed Mamma Mia and the ABBA music that goes with it. I was so excited when both Mia and Lily decided to audition for this. I love when they are both performing in the same show. Lily played the lead role of Donna while Mia played Rosie, one of Donna's two best friends. They've been in a couple of shows together before, but this would be the only show where they have a lot of interaction with one another on stage. Mia was Rosie for all four shows while Lily played Donna in two of the shows. The first show, we simply watched and enjoyed every moment of it. In the second show, we took a ton of pictures. Only a fraction of them are here! The really larger pictures here are courtesy of Emma Scott who Brylliant hired to get professional photos. She did a great job!

To watch my girls act together in this musical is something I will always be grateful for. They were both so incredible in their roles. Their friends, Gabby Fogas and Liam Hobson, played Donna's daughter, Sophie, and Sky, Sophie's fiancé. Lots of other friends were involved too including Avery who was double-cast as Donna with Lily. I could narrate the entire show through the pictures below, but I won't. Enjoy!

Donna leading "Money, Money, Money." As soon as she opened her mouth to sing, I knew Lily was going to do a great job in this role.

Donna leading "Mamma Mia." You can't have this production without this song!

We start to get a little more time with Donna's best friends, Rosie and Tonya. Rosie is a free-spirited, independent, supportive and loyal friend. Tonya, played by Sofie Mauldin, is a confident, witty, flirtatious, and protective friend.

Trying to comfort Donna as she tells them the three men from her past are all at the Taverna she owns on a Greek island. She doesn't know that Sophie has invited them here for her wedding as she wants to figure out which one is her biological father.

Rosie and Tonya singing "Chiquitita" to encourage Donna; this is followed by getting Donna to join in as they all sing "Dancing Queen."

In her ensemble performances, Lily played one of Sky's friends, and they have a really fun scene where they're dancing in snorkel gear as they interrupt Sky and Sophie during "Lay All Your Love on Me."

Donna and the Dynamos (Rosie and Tonya) relive their glory days by singing "Super Trouper" to Sophie and her friends.

In her ensemble performances, Lily had fun singing and dancing in "Gimme, Gimmie, Gimmie"

Towards the beginning of the second half, Donna sings solo in "One of Us." This is when you could really start to see the conflicting emotions of Donna come out clearly as Lily sang.

Donna and Sam (played by Kristian Kuznetsova) duet in "SOS." These two had great chemistry together.

Donna and Harry (played by Joel Loggins) relive the past with "Our Last Summer." These two characters have such a sweet friendship with one another.

Sophie comes in to ask Donna to help her get dressed for the wedding.

And here's where I began to start crying. As Donna is helping Sophie get dressed and put on makeup she sings "Slipping Through My Fingers" which is all about precious time slipping by as her daughter grows up. She nailed the mix of pride, love, and bittersweet ache that comes with motherhood. That's emotional enough as is, but at the very beginning of the song, Donna first lyrics are "Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning, waving good-bye with an absent-minded smile." One of the directors sent her youngest daughter on stage in a Stonehaven uniform to give Donna a hug as she's singing. I had no idea this was coming, and I couldn't hold back tears.

Donna sings "The Winner Takes It All" to Sam. Lily absolutely blew me (and everyone else in the audience) away with this performance. You could see, hear, and feel the emotions as she sang. Absolutely amazing.

After two emotionally-charged songs, Rosie provides some much needed comic relief as she sings "Take a Chance on Me" to Bill (played by Brad Coleman). She had everyone laughing as she chased him all around the stage. These two free spirits were made for each other.

It's time for Sophie and Sky's wedding!

During the ceremony, Sophie realizes she's not quite ready for marriage (though she stays with Sky), so they decide not to go through with the wedding. Sam notes that you can't let a good wedding go to waste, so he asks Donna to marry him. He leads the cast in singing "I Do, I Do, I Do."

As the cast continues to sing the song, Donna agrees and goes offstage to get a vail and bouquet. She then walks down the aisle, and we get a wedding after all!

Dancing at the reception.

The last song of the show is Sophie reprising her song "I Have a Dream" and during this song, she and Sky are telling Donna, Sam, Bill, and Harry goodbye before they begin travelling. I love this picture of Lily as Donna hugging Liam as Sky. Liam's been a big part of Lily's life too as he's Avery younger brother by one year. I think this smile is as genuine as you can get.

Lily and Gabby played opposite each other perfectly as Donna and Sophie.

It's time for the bows!

You think the show is over with the bows, but more fun is in store. Donna, Rosie, Tonya, Sam, Bill, and Harry slip backstage while the rest of the cast performs to "Mamma Mia." They even come out into the audience at one point before running back on stage. As they finish that song, they turn their attention to the back of the set as Donna and the Dyanamos come out in their full 1970's glory to lead the cast in "Dancing Queen."

To end the production, the three guys come out in their matching 1970's outfits to sing "Waterloo" with the entire cast. The girls had told us that they didn't have much time to rehearse this since it was just some fun at the end. This meant there were a few choreography mishaps which just added to the fun. You could see the happiness on their faces as they were all enjoying the moment.

What a show! Both girls were absolutely wonderful. I couldn't get enough of this (hence the incredibly long post with a million pictures). I will always treasure the memories of watching this show.

And now you know why this is probably my favorite show ever!