Mamma Mia! (In The Park)

Mamma Mia In The Park was the last show I did for American Stage in the Park, and the first time I had a rig that was primarily LED and moving lights in the park. After several years of working up to it (color scrollers in trash bags on incandescent rigs, then waterproof LEDs, then finally movers), the technology had caught up to what the design wanted to do.

Mamma Mia is essentially a giant pop concert wrapped inside a musical. The design had to walk that line. Most of the time it leaned theatrical, keeping focus on stage and on the storytelling. In the big concert moments, especially the megamix, the lighting opened up and reached into the audience. The push and pull between audience inclusion and stage focus was the heart of the design.

Two specific moments illustrate the push-pull. “Super Trouper” is a song featuring follow spots, so the design pushed aerial beam looks out into the air above the audience without ever getting in anyone’s eyes. “Dancing Queen” called for the audience to feel like part of the show rather than watching from outside, so during the choruses, subtle spinning dot gobos drifted out into the audience, then receded back to the stage during the verses. The audience got to be part of the chorus, then back to watching the story when the song called for it.

The rig was still relatively limited (waterproof fixtures were expensive at the time,) so the design had to be specific. Every fixture had to earn its place on the plot.