ABOVE: In the opening scene of Fairmont High School Theater Department’s fall musical production of “Mamma Mia!”, Sophie Sheridan (played by Alexis Sundeen) reads an excerpt from her mother’s diary to her best friends, Ali and Lisa (played by Megan Wheeler and Audrina Suckow) on Monday evening’s dress rehearsal at the Performing Arts Center at FHS.

FAIRMONT — ‘Here we go again’, the Fairmont High School (FHS) Theater Department is raising the curtains for its fall 2025 musical production of “Mamma Mia!”

“We are so excited,” said Director Sara Gudahl. “This show is the show that I think the community will love to come out and sing and dance to. I like jukebox musicals for that reason. So many of the songs are familiar. So, when you have people in the audience who know them, everything feels, you know, a little more like they’re involved. We’re excited to put on a show that is a huge crowd pleaser and bring all of them a little bit of summer.”

The story follows bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan and her hotelier mother, Donna Sheridan, as the former brings three men of the latter’s past in hopes of finding her real father to walk her down the aisle of her wedding ceremony, navigating various situations in a coastal Greek setting.

The production features 139 students within the performing cast, crew and pit band, and 25 choreographed songs, including “Dancing Queen,” “Mamma Mia (Here We Go Again)”, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”, “Lay All Your Love on Me” and more familiar songs, originally composed and performed by Swedish pop band ABBA.

This jukebox musical takes the cake as one of the largest musical productions at FHS, and the largest musical production directed by Gudahl. She said that since they began rehearsing in September, things have been going surprisingly smoothly.

“I would have said in the past that I might have some reservations about [directing a large show and cast], but I also have a team around me who’s so amazingly talented and solid that I didn’t even really hesitate. We knew we had kids with the right skills for this particular show, and we just jumped in headfirst. I have an amazing choreographer, an amazing vocal coach and my build team is fantastic. When you put all of those people in the same room together, there is nothing we cannot do. I’ve been really excited to watch this unfold,” Gudahl said.

She said that “Mamma Mia!” was a highly requested musical by junior and senior students at FHS.

To add anticipation to the reveal of the production, Gudahl conducted a process-of-elimination reveal on social media, in which one show title was eliminated from a list of productions at a time. From a broad list of recognizable musical titles, “Mamma Mia!” triumphed as the 2025 fall production selection, to students’ delight.

“They have been asking for this for five or six years in a row. It’s always on the list of things they want to do. They had a deep love for it. We kind of knew last spring that this was going to be the one for this fall. On the day we released it, there were a lot of excited text messages and screaming in the courtyard when we announced it at the Activities Fair. Everyone was so happy. They finally got what they wanted, but this was highly requested and we’re glad to be able to do it for them,” Gudahl said with a laugh.

In addition to colorful scenery and music, there are strong messages within the musical that the students hope to convey to audiences during the showtimes.

“We were talking the other day about how much we resonated with certain lyrics and lines from different songs in the show. We keep coming back to the song, ‘Thank You For The Music’. That song in particular talks about how music, dance, singing are joy, and it brings that into our lives. That’s the part of ‘Mamma Mia!’ that resonates with us the most is that it’s a show about joy. It’s a show about happiness, finding yourself, learning a little bit more about your identity and having a great time doing it,” Gudahl said.

She is also anticipating a strong crowd at the performances.

“The kids, they really feed on the energy of the room. When the room is excited, they get excited,” she said.

Gudahl noted the newly established theater fund that will help execute more productions at FHS and ‘expose students to the craft’, which she is excited to bring more light to, and keep the theater community strong at FHS.

Showtimes will be at 7 p.m. on today, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14 and 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Performing Arts Center at FHS.

Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and free for students. Annual passes will be accepted. FHS is partnering with Alex’s Cakes and Culligan Water to provide Mamma Mia-themed cookies and water.

“You’re going to see a great show. You’re going to be wildly entertained. You’re also going to show these kids ages 12 to 18 that you care about their efforts, about their hard work and you’re supporting the hours they’ve put in. I can’t think of a better way to spend two hours,” Gudahl said.