The Kearny High School performing arts department’s spring play “Mamma Mia” kicks off with a special presentation for the town’s senior citizens Tuesday, March 11 — and then resumes with performances March 13, 14 and 15. Curtain time is 7 p.m. for the regular shows and the senior performance begins at 5 p.m. with a special dinner catered by the Kearny HS Culinary Arts students in the school’s atrium.
Many should be familiar with the music from “Mamma Mia,” even if one has never seen the show — it comes mostly from the 70s group Abba.
Donna Sheridan will be played by Haley Felix; Sophie Sheridan will be played by Maleah Clauberg; Tanya will be played by Arianny Alvarez; Rosie will be played by Jenson Bonilla; Lisa will be played by Gia Kaminski; Ali will be played by Rossy Ramirez; Sam Carmichael will be played by Miguel Pinero; Harry Bright will be played by Luis Refosco Medina; Bill Austin will be played by Gianluca Sanchez; Sky will be played by Erick De lima; Pepper will be played by Jayden X. Rodriguez; Eddie will be played by Cesar Ceron and Father Alexandrios will be played by Victor Lebron on March 11 and 13; Mauricio Gomez on March 14 and Harold Rodriguez on March 15.
When not playing Father Alexandrios, those actors will move to the ensemble.
The ensemble includes Josephine Brizuela, Dayna “Knox” Dajer, Theresa Dimase, Sarah Fonseca, Rebecca Fontes, Amanda Garcia, Jocelyn Garcia, Lizkarla Garriga, Gabriella Gomez, Margaret Kelly, Ariana Landro, Chloe Latona, Kendra Lopes, Midori Mataro, Brooke Lynn Pulcine, Allany Quinones, Phaedra Rodrigues, Valerie Rosales, Emma Sabados, Robert Sabados, Jasmine Santamassino, Olenka Tineo Mejia, Kaira Vazquez, Carlie Vega and Ayanna Delgado.
John Joseph Friel and Jason Rivera will play the guitar; Amanda Waters plays bass; Owen Seaver, Antonio Aquino, Scott Burzynski and Kyle Cao will play the keyboard; Daniel Zapata is on percussion and Sanjay Pamaar will perform the drum set.
The Stage Manager is Madelyne Pichardo; volunteers include Tanya Batista, Nicolle Gongorra and Luis Limao; the Stage Crew includes Mickey Bradow (assistant stage manager), Camila Bedoya, Barbara Calienes, Elizabeth Fontan-Pallares, Aric Kryzanowski and Sharon Ponce Flores.
The Scenery Crew includes Jasmine Viera, Bryanna Albino, Sharon Ponce-Flores, Samantha Abadal Ventura and Alexandra Rosas
The Lighting Crew includes Noemi Suarez, Cecelia Rodriguez, Jeanelle Peralta, Mateo Santiago and Nicolas Libanori.
Behind the scenes on the faculty: Milagros Gonzalez is the stage director and choreographer; Owen Seaver is the vocal coach; Danny Conde is the instrumental music director and is in charge of the lighting design; Ian Costello is in the charge of the set design; Dave Caravella is the sound engineer; Kathleen Astrella is the business manager and Joe Domalewski designed the show’s program.
Reservations for the free senior citizen performance March 11 are required and may be made by calling Tammy Munro at (201) 955-5048. The show will be rescheduled for March 12 at 5 p.m. in case of inclement weather.
Tickets for the general performances are $10 and $8 for senior citizens and students.
All shows will take place in the Kearny HS auditorium.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.