We are so pleased to have cast members from mama mia richland school districts musical for this year they do a musical every other year this happens to be it and in the studio with us today riley banker who plays the part of donna amirani or tease or oil who plays rosy Amelia shannon who is tanya.
And Dane Schwartz, who is Sam, Marshall Meyer, Bill, and Micah Meyer, who is Harry.
So those are the parts and those are the actors who are in the studio with us today.
Riley, we'll start with you since you were just here yesterday.
Good morning again.
Good morning.
FFA Prez and then also in the musical.
Yeah, quite a lot this fall.
You have a few irons in the fire.
So how are things going now that we're almost a week out?
I mean, it is starting to look really great.
We've got light systems up.
We've got mics going.
The songs are looking great.
The dancing's good.
I mean, it is just coming all together.
When did you first start practicing?
We had our first practices in like the middle of August.
So we've been at this for a couple months now.
Perfect.
And then getting it down to the first, I mean, you've had music all the while, right?
Yeah, I've been, or we've got music since the
very time we cast our roles.
So in the spring we've had our music with us and right now it's just dotting our eyes and crossing our T's to get it looking big in span.
Were you familiar with the songs of Abba before you took this part?
I've heard of a couple of them.
There were definitely some of them that I was doing that I wasn't quite sure what it sounded like but I mean so far I've liked all the songs that I'm singing so.
And you told me before we went on the air how many songs do you actually sing?
Donna's character sings 17 of the songs that we have with our musical.
Tell us about the character of Donna.
So Donna, she is a single mother of Sophie who started her own business on a little island in Greece.
And now all of a sudden she's got three of the possible fathers of her daughter that came back to the island and she's not sure what to do with that.
It's a real conundrum.
It sure is.
So had you seen the musical or had you seen the movie of Mamma Mia
before?
I did see the movie.
I think I watched it twice before we went to cast roles just because I needed to know what Donna was like and I fell in love with the role right away.
So.
And Donna has, for the people that don't know, you were in a group in the 1970s, right?
Yes,
she was in a group called Donna and the Dynamos and she was one of the lead singers in the group.
And that's where the songs of Abba come in
then?
Yes.
Wonderful, so it's been a great time, I'm sure, and you're just waiting for people to get out there and see it, aren't
you?
Oh yeah, we're looking for a full auditorium for all of our performances.
And I'm sure you will get that then with all the moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Community people showing support.
You were a part of the musical grease two years ago, weren't you?
I was.
I was actually, my character was old lady Lynch, so I got to be an old math teacher who didn't like
some of the students.
Not a big role but it was
it was it was a good role to start dipping my toes in the water for some other stuff.
Are you involved in in music otherwise at Richland Center High School?
Yeah so I'm involved with our choir.
Every year I participate in our solo ensemble and I get to do like all the performances that we do with our choir and it is it is a big part of my life I would say.
I recently saw a picture of the choir because you had a concert.
Yeah, just last week we did.
And what a good number of singers
you
have.
That's very impressive.
So Miss Neemire must be doing something right.
She sure is.
She's a great choir director.
I mean, the songs that she picks and how she helps her students, it is great.
And she probably works with you or has worked with you in terms of learning all the songs.
How do you learn the songs?
Is that tough?
It is listening to them over and over until they get stuck in your brain.
So it is just repetitive, repetitive, repetitive.
Are there any that you do duets with then?
I do actually do some duets so Donna has a multitude of duets within the musical so she has a couple with some of the potential dads and she's also got some trios and she's got a duet with her daughter so she has lots of different singing parts and duets and trios and all that.
So which one would be your favorite to sing?
My favorite to sing
probably SOS or the winner takes it all.
SOS I sing with Dane who is our Sam and he's got an amazing voice so it's so fun to always sing with him and the winner takes it all.
I mean
It's a classic song.
It's great.
I just, I really love both of them.
So there are, there are like ballads or slow songs and they're like the upbeat more disco songs.
Do they present a challenge?
The faster songs?
The faster songs, uh, if they get more wordy, they certainly can because they can be kind of a tongue tie.
But otherwise, I mean, they're just super fun to learn because once you get them, they sound super great.
Wonderful.
We look forward to seeing that.
We'll come back to you in a little bit.
You're not off the hook yet, Riley.
So I appreciate you coming in.
Also, I'm Arani Ortiz-Orroyos here.
Good morning.
How are you?
Good morning.
Pretty good.
Great.
Well, tell us a little bit about the character of Rosie.
So my character is complete opposite for me.
I'm very shy and introverted, and she's loud and big.
Unapologetic like she's just herself and I absolutely love tapping into that role being more myself
So is it it's a stretch for you then to to perform this character?
Yeah, it really is the
advantage of being in plays though You get to be somebody that you're not
so sure
so that makes it a lot of fun.
I'm sure yeah
my character is
I don't know.
I have a little bit of her in me and just being able to play that out and like show people who I really am other than this like shy little bean that I Present myself is is really really fun
in the storyline then your friends with Donna then is that how it
works?
I I think I actually meet her before Tonya if I'm Correct like they meet in college and then they also meet Tonya and they form a little group together and
And you sing the songs or the original group sang those songs back in the 70s then, right?
Yes.
Were you familiar with any of the songs before the musical?
Yeah, I actually knew a lot of them.
My parents are 70s babies, so they were playing my whole childhood.
That's awesome.
Because I'm thinking at this point, maybe more grandparents' music in some ways.
So that's cool that they knew that and you were exposed to that.
So great.
And what songs do you sing
then?
I have a couple trios with the dynamos, so our like Chiquitita, Dancing Queen, and then I have a solo take a chance on me.
Wonderful.
That's a fun song too.
What about wardrobe?
Tell me about what you have to wear.
It is very much my style.
I used to dress like her back in middle school.
It's like fun patterned tops and flowy pants.
Wonderful.
And what about the choreography?
How tough is that to learn?
Not at all, because if I mess up, it's very much in a character.
Oh, I see.
So you can probably get away with messing
up,
I'm sure.
Yeah.
Do you have somebody that specifically works with you to teach you the dance steps?
Yeah, we have Trent and Makayla.
They're wonderful.
I love them so much.
And that came pretty easy to you then?
Yeah.
What are some other things you're involved in at Richland Center High School other than Mama Mia the musical?
I'm not involved in a lot other than like
just the arts department in general.
I have a couple art classes that I'm in and I do art club and I'm in the fine arts club.
Other than that, I do band and choir.
Band and choir.
So you were part, were you a part of the marching band at homecoming?
Yes.
That was very impressive, I should say.
So congratulations to you and the band.
That was very fun.
Thank you.
So good.
And what year are you in school?
I'm a junior.
Junior this year, so it's a great chance to be in the musical and all of your friends coming to watch in everything.
I sure
hope so.
Do you have a chance to put it on for the entire school, don't you?
Yes.
Sure, and that's coming up sometime next week, right?
Next Thursday.
Right.
Good deal.
Well, nice to meet you.
We'll come back to you in a little bit.
Joining us next, we have Tanya.
That is Amelia Shannon.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
How are you doing?
Good.
Tell us about the part of Tanya.
Tanya is she's very sassy and flirty and I like playing her part, but like it's a little bit awkward because like that's not really me, but She's just a sassy girl.
That's the fun part of acting.
All right
Yeah,
be somebody or not, right?
And so you were a part of the original group then with Donna.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah, she her and Rosie and Donna are really all just good friends and
like um... america that they like met in college and formed a group
so you guys do kind of who's and i was behind dana what's your favorite song to sing with uh... that group
um... probably dancing queen that one's really fun that's probably my favorite yeah
that may be the one that everyone knows
yeah yeah yeah that's like uh... the one i really knew before even like trying out for the musical
Did you watch the movie?
I did watch the movie, yeah.
And my mom really likes Abba, so I like knew most of the songs.
Yeah, I'm sure that probably helped a little bit.
And sometimes maybe that puts a little pressure on because when people know them so well, you don't want to mess up the words, right?
Yeah, that is true.
What are some other things you're involved in at Richland Center High
School?
In the band, I'm also on the flag line.
I'm in choir and the Fine Arts Club and I do wrestling.
Oh, okay.
That season will be starting before too
long.
Yes, yes.
That season does start soon.
Yeah, so much on your plate.
How do you find the time, organizing time to get everything done?
It's difficult, yeah.
But I'm also in dance, so that it just like kind of all falls into place.
How
much are you practicing and how often does the group get together and practice?
Usually every day after school, especially now that we have performance in a few days.
What was the hardest night of practice when you were blocking out?
Probably like when we really started to get serious about like and everyone was off book and needed to know all the choreography, but it's really coming together now.
So it's not as difficult anymore.
Right.
Well, you have dance in your background.
So had you ever disco danced before?
No, not really.
So I'm sure that makes it fun.
And with the wardrobe that you wear and you have bell bottoms or flare legs or whatever you call it.
Um, Tanya's wardrobe is mostly, um, dresses.
She's got a lot of skirts and dresses and a lot of like shawls and scarves and more like obnoxious stuff, of course.
And her sunglasses that she wears all the time.
And yeah, that's, that's about it.
And heels, of course.
So not only do you get to be somebody that you're not on saves, you get to wear all these outlandish uniforms, right?
Yeah.
So you must have a lot of, um,
Changes wardrobe changes.
Yes.
I do have many wardrobe changes.
I think I have five or six outfits Throughout the whole show.
I'm not sure I think so.
What is the biggest challenge of putting on from what you've seen so far for you?
Probably our super trooper outfits, which is like These big like silver jumpsuits, which Donna's is blue but me and Rosie's are um
Silver and yeah, they're big flair flair bottoms big boots
So where does a person find all these things you just can't go down to the store and buy them can
you um our Costume our costume girl Megan got them for us.
I'm not sure where she found them, but Yeah, she's she's an amazing costume person.
She has like done all of the costumes.
She's really good
Well, we look forward to seeing it.
It's going to be not only to hear it, but just to see it as a spectacle on stage.
I think the audience is really going to like it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm excited.
Sure.
Well, let's move over and talk to some of the fellows here over there as well on the other side of the room, Marshall Meyer, who plays the part of Bill.
Good morning.
How are you?
I'm good.
Good to have you in the studio with us.
So has it been enjoyable so far working out with Mamma Mia?
Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.
I know there are some new upgrades to the auditorium.
I kind of wanted to ask you about that a little bit.
But have you noticed the sound being better and everything so far?
Yeah, the sound is a lot better.
There's no scratchiness or anything anymore.
Works well.
So then you got used to the microphones that you're wearing and new microphones too, I'm told to.
Yeah.
There's a lot of just everything is pretty much brand new.
Like we got new lights and curtains and flooring, which
That's been noticeable.
It's gotta be fun to be the first group to be able to debut all of those things too, I'm sure, isn't it?
Yeah, we've been told that this is gotta be a good show to show how good auditorium is.
Well, tell me about the part that you play, Marshall, the part of Bill.
Tell us who Bill is.
Bill's an adventurous book writer.
I don't know how successfully he is though.
Apparently, very few copies have been sold.
Yeah, he's...
Outgoing and yet not very emotionally confident.
So how close is that to the character of Marshall?
Like you in general.
No, I'm not outgoing.
So you have to work at it a little bit then.
Yeah, it's not that difficult because you just got to fake it till you make it.
There you go.
That's been my whole career.
So tell me about Bill, how Bill fits into the storyline.
I believe he was the third dad to show up and date Donna and then disappeared, kept on exploring the world, having adventures.
And then obviously got sent the invitation and decided to write a book about it
and shows up.
they all show up together right yeah pretty much are you on stage quite a lot with the other gentlemen the other potential dads or not
i'm on stage with them a lot but i honestly think i have the least stage time of every character
do you sing very many of the songs not really okay so music is not necessarily the reason you went out for the play then right
it was
But then I got the part.
Okay.
Are you in some of the ensemble?
Yeah, I'm in performance.
A lot of the ensemble performances.
It's nice.
That sounds, what was the biggest challenge for you then in terms of, you know, the putting us on?
Is it the wardrobe?
Is it the dancing or what is
it?
Honestly, it's been learning the dancing.
I keep like flipping the parts of the dance and then getting them wrong.
Ben there done that.
That's easy to do.
So, but you're, you're getting it down there.
I'm guessing repetition has got to be one of the keys, isn't it?
Yeah.
We're still Rosie and I dance together most of the time and it's a, we're, we're behind in speed wise a lot of the time.
Sure.
But that, that might make the, make it even funnier, right?
Or the oldest people there, of course we're slow.
So do you do any singing with Donna or not?
No.
I fall in love with Rosie while I'm over there.
Okay.
And I'm trying to remember the movie was who played Pierce, Pierce Brosnan played which part?
Oh, played Sam.
Okay.
All right.
So I got it.
Now I can kind of figure out who it was.
So what's been the most fun?
What do you think that, you know, you enjoy the most about being in this?
Honestly, the lines are the most fun.
I just enjoy
getting to say them and then just the interactions with the other people on stage.
Have you got a lot of other things going on this fall, Marshall?
Some other things at school?
No, I'm just in band and choir.
Band and choir.
Well, that keeps you busy as well.
You had the choir concert last week and I heard rave reviews about that as well.
So kudos to you guys.
Anything you want to add about the part of Bill or anything you want to say about encouraging people to come out and see this experience?
I think it will be a great show.
I mean, it can't be that bad.
We got a great cast.
Yeah, you really do.
I think it was well cast.
Did you have a part in Greece a couple of years ago or not?
Yeah, I was ensemble for most of it, but then I was the radio announcer during the show.
Oh, that's right.
That was a fun part.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that.
That was honestly the best part I've had so far.
One of the things that I thought about when I went to Greece was how well it was cast.
It just seemed like everybody
fit so well.
Do you think that we'll find that when we see Mamma Mia?
I mean, I'm not the best person to ask about that, but in my opinion, yeah.
Yeah.
I think it was really well-casted.
Sounds good.
Well, hats off to...
Mrs. Boyarsky and everybody else involved behind the scenes.
Put on by the Richland School District Foundation.
Mamma Mia, we'll take time out.
We'll talk to a couple of more of the cast members in just a moment as we talk about Mamma Mia.
Again, it's going to be showing next weekend, coming up at Richland Center High School Auditorium.
All right, welcome back to our morning show time on WRC radio.
We're highlighting Mama Mia for the first of two shows this week because it is a big cast and crew again with support of the Richland School District Foundation.
They're able to put this show on because shows like this are certainly not cheap with all the royalties and everything that that has to go into it.
But anyway, next up, we're going to talk to Dane Schwartz, who is the part of Sam.
Good morning.
Hello.
It's good to be here.
Good to meet you.
So tell us about the character of Sam.
Sam is one of the potential fathers of Sophie, Donna's daughter.
He's an architect.
And back when Donna and Sam, when they first met, Sam had to go back home.
He had to get married.
But he came back only to find that Donna had ran off with some other guy, which I think was Bill at the time.
Um, and so he went back home again to get married and they got divorced and then 21 years later now we're back on the island and he's loved her all that time.
And he wants to show her all that love that he's, he's kept pent up for the last 21 years.
That's a great explanation.
He really thought a lot about the character, I think, haven't you?
Yeah, I've tried to really, you know, get into his head and figure out how to best play him.
So
wonderful.
Tell about the songs that you sing during Mamma Mia, if you
would.
The main songs that Sam sings, as Riley mentioned earlier, me and Donna have a duet with SOS.
And then I also have a solo of knowing me knowing you.
That's a great song, too.
Were you aware of the other songs before you took the part?
I knew of only the most popular ones.
I was like dancing queen, of course, I'd heard of.
even like some of the ones I saw and like I had not heard of until I started practicing for this role.
Do you find yourself singing them as you're walking the halls of Richland Center High School and these songs going through your head?
Yeah, there's a lot of humming in my head and sometimes I realize I'm singing out loud and get some shushes.
I bet.
Yeah, well, what about we talked to the ladies about what they wear?
What about the the wardrobes that the guys have to wear?
Most it's a lot easier for the guys.
It's kind of you know button-up shirt Pants suits, maybe you know, it's not so maybe we got some disco outfits, which are pretty snazzy, but otherwise, you know, it's You know your typical dad would
wear I think for the most part and then your lines do they come easy for you?
Is there any trick to learning the lines?
Um
I think the lines are pretty easy.
Sometimes, though, with the songs, we have lines in the middle of some of the songs, of course, and trying to time that with the music that flows into it.
So you're not just sitting there awkwardly for a few seconds.
That can be a little tricky.
But it's just something we've got to work on.
What grade are you in school?
I'm a senior.
And what are some other things you're involved in at Russel Center?
I'm a member of NHS, a member of RCHS Choir.
I'm the chair of the Community Service Committee for Student Council as well.
Boy, it keeps you busy.
Yeah, I got a lot of nice curriculars to, you know,
keep me from out of trouble.
Is it premature to ask you about next year, what your plans are for after school?
Yeah, I'm planning on going to UW Madison, and I have direct admissions, so I've already been admitted there as well.
I plan on going for something in entertainment.
This is my goal.
So,
wow.
Well, congratulations with that.
Thank you.
So singing,
dancing, singing, acting, um, comedy, something in that realm.
Wonderful.
You got any jokes you can tell us this morning or not?
Uh, no, not the top of
my head
right now.
Is this fun?
I mean, being a part of this, I know it's a lot of hard work, but you guys have a lot of fun behind the scenes.
No, it can definitely be hard, but I mean,
you know, past that it's, I think it's a lot of fun, you know, working with people, trying to figure out how best we could show this relationship or do this line.
Um, and just how to portray the story.
I think it's a lot of fun personally.
Were you in Greece a couple of years ago?
This is actually my first musical.
Okay.
So you decided to get the, get the bug and the acting bug bitch and you're ready to go then.
Yeah.
I decided I wanted to try it out.
Um, and I got myself a role.
So it's really exciting for me.
Awesome.
So what's the biggest thing that you you want people to see or or enjoy when they come to the show next weekend?
I
definitely want them to enjoy the singing.
I think we have that all the songs and from my bar Amazing, of course.
We have plenty of talented singers So I want them to enjoy All the songs because we spent a lot of time working on them to try to get them
good I'm guessing the audience will be singing along in some respects.
I'm guessing
I'm sure they will I mean
They've, like, dancing Queen, a very popular song.
I'm sure a lot of people know that one.
So I think
they would be singing along with us.
Maybe people will get up and dance in the aisles.
You never know.
Maybe.
What about choreography?
Did that come easy for you,
Dane?
I think it came fairly easy.
Of course, there's always some harder parts they got to work out.
But I think overall, it wasn't the most difficult thing for me.
Let's talk as well to Micah Meyer, who plays the part of Harry.
Good morning, Micah.
Good
morning.
So tell us about your character, Harry, and all about him, if you would.
Harry is an uptight English banker.
He came down to Greece after Donna sent him the invitation because it reminded him of his 70s rock star phase he had and of his wild side that he wants to rediscover meeting Donna again.
Do you have to speak with an English accent?
I do.
if not all the dads I think speak with an English accent.
I did not realize
that.
Is that a
difficult thing?
It's difficult to flip into it when I'm backstage not using it, but once we're mid-scene it's pretty easy.
I'm
guessing you're sitting there in class at Richelt Center and you don't even realize you're breaking into the English dialogue, right?
Sometimes
I might.
So what songs do you sing
then?
The two songs that I mainly sing are Thank You For The Music and Our Last Summer.
I'm not familiar with that one, Our Last Summer.
It's a reminiscent song of Harry and Donna about their time in Paris and the childish love that they had that they lost when they left each other.
So the part that you play, Harry, is that similar to what Micah is like in real life
or not?
Not entirely.
Haven't gotten into banking yet.
But there's a lot of similarities in his, like, awkwardness, I guess.
Going into this, when you took the role, what did you know about disco in the 70s and things like that?
Did you have any idea?
Not really.
I knew it was really flashy.
And it is, it will be
on stage then too.
Yeah, we have a number or two where we all wear these bright, bright outfits and the lights are just everywhere.
And I'm guessing the lights are a big part of the show, aren't they?
Yeah, they do a lot of like showing how the scene is shifting in emotion.
You have a big tech crew to help with the sound, don't you?
Yeah.
With our tech crew, we are trying to incorporate more students to have it.
completely run by students eventually.
Good.
Do you have a lot of friends
in the cast?
Yeah, there's a lot of students that I know in the cast which makes it a lot easier to like cooperate and work as a team.
What year are you in school?
I'm a junior.
A junior this year.
Very good.
And some other things you're involved in at RCHS?
I do band and choir.
I do forensics, track.
I usually do cross-country but not this year because the musical was in the fall but
I'm also in the Fine Arts Club.
Wow.
What is Fine Arts Club doing?
Do you have any projects going on this year?
Fine Arts Club is planning on doing a showcase, like a talent show this spring, but we have to figure that out.
Wonderful.
So you'll be a part of it.
What will your talent be?
Hopefully singing.
Singing.
All right.
So you like to sing?
Outside of the musical definitely
I like doing soul ensembles best days of my year
right and you guys have a very good success in that so indeed in terms of the show why people should come see it Encouraging everybody out there in the community.
What would you like to say?
I'd like to say how our sound system and lighting has improved so much and how our Whole cast is just working to make it the best show that we can put on
Had you seen the movie, Mamma Mia, before you went on this?
I have seen it a few times.
Have you?
Okay.
And I'm guessing, because Pierce Brosnan plays the part that Dane has, right?
And I'm guessing Dane is a lot better singer than Pierce Brosnan, isn't he?
Yeah.
I'm thinking he, I'm sure he is.
That was the big thing I took away from the music.
I'm like, they couldn't find somebody better to sing these songs than, but you know,
It is what it is.
So the question that I was going to throw at all of you was if you could go back to the 70s, what would you enjoy the most?
Would it be music, the fashion, or what?
Have you thought about that, Micah?
I think it would definitely be the music for me.
I was raised in a very music-oriented household.
Favorite songs from back then?
Not just Abba's song?
From the 70s.
I'm not sure what I would pick because I don't know when things were released.
Oh, sure.
I get that.
What about you over there on the other side of the room there, Dane?
What would you go back to the 70s?
What would you enjoy the most?
I mean, I like the songs, but I think the thing I would probably like the most, the dancing, you know, just the groovingness of it.
I don't know.
I think the way I dance, no, obviously not the song, just like all the time is pretty similar to that, I would
say.
Sure.
Do you do the arms and point and things like that?
Okay.
Do you guys have a big disco ball above the stage?
We do have a disco ball.
Yeah.
Wow.
That's pretty outstanding.
So how did you guys come about that?
Did you have to order that or buy that or?
Uh, stage works.
Oh, Cole Muth had it.
All right.
It sounds good.
Swing that over.
If you would to the other side there and Marshall, what about the seventies?
What would you like to go back to?
Or what would you enjoy?
I would enjoy how cheap everything is.
There, that's a good point.
Yeah, you never lived through 35 cent gas,
you know.
That would be awesome.
Yes, it would.
Today it would be awesome.
About on the other side of the room there, Amarani, what would you say?
Definitely music and fashion.
Music and fashion, sure.
And Donna,
Riley?
I've got to say,
Probably the fashion, just the environment.
I mean, everyone seems so nice back in the seventies.
Like, it'd be so fun to go back there.
And, uh, how about, let's see, who else do we, oh yeah, uh, Tanya, Amelia.
Um,
Definitely the fashion.
I really like the look of like all like the flashiness and all the colors and I would really like the lack of technology.
There you go.
I was wondering if somebody would say that, you know, you guys don't know what it was like to, to have to call a friend or, you know, maybe a potential date and take the cord and wrap it around the corner so nobody could hear you.
You know, you had, you never had to experience that.
So let's let your director come in here.
Mrs. Boyarsky is here as well.
And Tiffany, your, your students have done very well.
Yes, they have been amazing.
It's been a ton of fun.
So let's talk a little bit about the production and any idea how many students are involved in this?
We have over 50 students involved.
And when you look at some of the adult volunteers as well, we have about 84.
I think the last time I counted is everyone coming together to make the production happen.
That is crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's amazing.
So is it like herding cats trying to get everybody where they're supposed to be?
Um, sometimes I've been given, they call it my emotional support microphone so that I don't have to, you know, when you get like 40 students on stage that I got my microphone that they can hear me with.
So, but they're good.
They're good.
And then these guys are good leaders that these principal cast that you have here today, they help, um, they help me wrangle those cats in.
So,
so as I remember, right?
There is a big encore.
at the end,
right?
Yes,
there is.
So tell us about
that.
Yeah, so for the bows at the encore, we bring back, we reprise Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen, and then you got to have the Waterloo in there too.
So that's when the disco ball comes out and the disco costumes and hopefully the audience will join and sing and dance.
So
that's still my favorite Abbas song, Waterloo.
So I know that's the closing one.
Yeah, they've been working on that one since August 4th.
Yeah, we had we had musical camp for a week So we did a little bit of a boot camp with some of the dancing and singing of those songs and yeah, so that's probably one of my favorites seen them all on stage and it's Kissing you goosebumps.
I bet when it's all said and done at the end the big finale and
A fun fact about that too, and when Abba recorded it, they didn't know how to speak English.
So I think they did a little hooked on phonics so they could actually get the words to Waterloo.
And I think later they learned English a little better, but they didn't know English when they recorded that song.
I didn't know
that.
So, yeah.
hooked on phonics.
Some other things you want to say about the production or next weekend?
Yeah, I do.
I just want to shout out a few names because like you said, you mentioned earlier that we have a lot of, it takes a lot of people to put on a production.
And we have the Richland School District Foundation that supports us every year.
We have the musical that every other year that we do the musical.
And they're one of our main biggest supporters and it wouldn't happen without them.
So it's really great.
And actually,
At least one of our students has a parent on there, a couple of parents are on there too, and so it's just been a big help and support.
And as well as we have the musical director, Liz Niemeyer from the high school, who does the choir as well, has been doing amazing with the musical part of it.
And they mentioned Trent and Mikaela.
So Trent Kleiss and Mikaela Boyarski started out as choreographers.
And then as I have needed some more support, they're now production assistants and assistant directors and helping me with all those blocking and lights and sound and things like that that I need.
They've put in a lot of late hours and long weekends.
So I definitely appreciate that.
And Lisa Balin's been coming in recently too to help with some of those final
final thoughts and ideas for just those fine-tuning things when they're on stage and what she sees or notices that needs to be changed.
She was my assistant director for the spring play last year, so we work really well together with that.
Then for our sound, we have nowhere for sound, which is George Lawmire G4 with his son G5 that head that up.
with some students and stage works Cole Meuth has been doing the lights.
He also helped with the set and we had a vision together and he drew it up and then we have the building construction crew at school with under Riley Blair's supervision constructing the set.
Ava gacha with stage crew a back.
It's it's it it takes a lot of people and they've in a lot of responsibility and commitment and it's it's all coming I'll come to fruition next week when we start our performances.
So it's been I'm sure I forgot someone I know I did but that's what I could think of right now
Well, we can mention them on Friday when you come back.
Yeah,
what does the set look like?
It is It has Donna's to have her now.
So we've got a few we have a
the bar, the little Tiki bar out front, and we have the balcony, we have an arch.
It's that typical Mediterranean Greek island type of rundown tavern, actually.
So, you know, it takes a lot of money.
Donna doesn't have all the money she needs to get it going as a single mom.
But yeah, it's amazing.
Was it the Boyarsky family that helped build the set or who put it together?
Well, it started out with, and we'll finish with Riley Blair's construction crew, but it's a big undertaking.
So there have been a few weekends, specifically now that it's crunch time that the Boyarsky family construction crew has come and filled in.
So, you know, that kind of happens when you're the director's family.
They see me stress and they're like, what can we do to help?
So they show up.
Maddie Kratzenberg also showed up this weekend.
You'll see her talk with her on Friday, but she came in right after work and also came in and threw in some extra time for that.
As Micah Meyer said earlier when we were talking about this, the Boyarski Construction Crew is not for hire, so that's just a special favor.
Tell us on the next question we'll get will be about tickets.
How can people get a hold of those?
We should be seen on social media right now.
We've been putting some post out that you can get them online or at the door.
We've always had the tickets at the door.
This is the first time we're offering them online.
So if you see online, there's a QR code that will take you to the Richland School District activities and you scroll down and find the date that you want to purchase and you can get a digital ticket that's good at the door.
So they are available now if you want to purchase early.
You should see some posters downtown that also have that QR code and with the dates of November 6th and 7th and 8th.
Um, yeah.
Otherwise show up at the door and there'll be, um, someone there to purchase a ticket.
Wonderful.
And there could be a chance that you sell out.
I mean, it'd be a nice problem to
have, but it would be a nice problem to have actually.
So
I'm usually Saturday nights are the biggest
nights.
Yeah.
Saturdays are biggest.
Yeah.
So I'm not sure, you know, when you're past, if the best night is opening night, you know, that's always a question.
Sometimes it is cause you've got that, that good energy, but sometimes, uh, maybe the best time is Sunday.
You never know.
And you know, like you said, it,
does takes a lot of people and even with our tickets on the Phoenix center, um, has taken on that responsibility.
They, um, and cost of, of just those printing of the tickets and on the back of the ticket, you get that free bowling opportunity to go to the Phoenix center and bowl, bowl a game of see who can, uh, at least get over a hundred.
I, that's my goal to get over a hundred my bowl
with the bumpers on.
You can do that for the cast party, right?
You
can
take them all bowling, right?
Um, well, we're going to take it out with, um, we're going to put her on the spot a little bit here.
Uh, how about, uh, Donna Riley banker sing a little bit of a snippet of an obvious song.
Would you do that for us?
Oh, for sure.
I'll pick, I'll pick one out and I'll sing it for us.
Okay.
Okay.
So I'm going to sing a little bit from Mama Mia, which is the scene where Donna realizes that.
All three of the dads have now come back to the little island, and she's just seeing them for the first time, so she is like, whoa, what is going on?
So
I'll sing some from that.
Okay.
Blue since the day we parted.
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mama Mia, now I really know.
My, my, I should not have let you
go.
Donna, thanks for joining us here today.
I'm Arani Ortiz-Oreo, along with Amelia Shannon, Dane Schwartz, Marshall Meyer, Micah Meyer, and their director, Tiffany Boyarsky.
And Tiffany, are you prescribing some vitamin C for everybody for next
week?
Yes, because as it always happens, we have people getting sick.
We put in some long nights.
She coughs on Q. Yeah, she coughs on Q, but yeah.
Vitamin C guys vitamin C and
if you're gonna get sick it's sick this week.
Yeah, right Well, good luck.
We'll hear more about it this week, but thanks everybody.
Good luck.
We look forward to seeing it Mama Mia cast joining us here and again, thanks to the Richland School District Foundation Mama Mia is coming up next weekend at Richland Center High School