For years, Shaler Area and North Hills have been rivals within the sports world, seemingly always head-to-head with each other. Yet during the 2025 football season, both the North Hills Indians and Shaler Area Titan Marching Bands came together and began to form a lasting friendship within the performing arts community.

Both high schools announced the ABBA jukebox musical “Mamma Mia!” would be their 2026 Spring Musicals around the same time. This musical follows the stories of mother and daughter Donna Sheridan and Sophie Sheridan, as the headstrong women both attempt to discover their past. Taking place on a sunny island of Greece, Sophie is getting married to her lover Sky, and wants to find out who her real dad is so that he can walk her down the aisle. Through lively dance numbers, upbeat songs, and emotional scenes, the audience themselves will be playing a guessing game until the very end of the encore.

Both directors, Mrs. Jenny Birch of Shaler Area and Ms. Lauren Sarazen of North Hills worked tediously to cast and organize the musicals.

Mrs. Birch has been teaching at Shaler Area since 2006. She started directing the middle school musicals in 2008, and became the high school director in 2022. This show was an interesting one as she described, partly because it does not have any original songs and all are from ABBA, but it has bloomed into such a groovy, fun time for performers and audiences alike.

“I think sometimes people are skeptical of jukebox shows, but Miss Yuretich (our music director) made a really passionate pitch for this show last spring, and her enthusiasm was contagious. Ultimately, she was right!” Mrs. Birch said. “I didn’t expect it to, but this show has completely captured my heart! Watching the students invest themselves in it has been the most beautiful and rewarding experience.”

The director of a show makes so much magic happen on the stage, simply just because of their words and preferences, and both Mrs. Birch and Ms. Sarazen have done phenomenal jobs of bringing this magic to life.

Ms. Sarazen, the director and alumna of North Hills, has been heavily involved in theater since her middle school years. She was involved in both the middle school and high school drama clubs, before returning to become one of the musical staff members. Her first directed show was in 2011, and she fully took over the drama club direction in 2019. As a director, she explained that casting can always be a challenge, especially with such a talented and hardworking cast.

“We care very much about all of our students and want to make sure they have the opportunities to learn from not only us, but other professionals in the industry. We provide them with a lot of material and rehearsal time beforehand to show us what they can do,” Ms. Sarazen said. “We cast students in the roles who sincerely commit to the characters, take direction well, and create authentic chemistry with their scene partners.”

As detailed above, casting is just the beginning of this bigger picture. Once the cast is set, the crew is ready, and everyone collectively is willing to work together, the rehearsal process turns out to be such a fun time. Everything starts to morph together into organized chaos in those first few weeks.

“I think what’s different about this year’s show is definitely the level of content but also knowing most of it. It being a jukebox musical, a lot of the songs I’m already familiar with, which is so fun when I get to see the cast give their renditions,” said senior Autumn Mandell, who is one of the stage managers for North Hills. “The choreography and the vocals are incredible in the whole show, and it’s so fun to watch it all come together.”

Compared to traditional musicals, Mamma Mia is a jukebox musical, which features no original musical, and rather pop music that has already been created. Other jukebox musicals may feature a variety for different genres and artists, but “Mamma Mia” is complex in the fact that it features solely ABBA hits. Not all of ABBA’s music happens to be party, it’s actually quite diverse.

“Mamma Mia is a very different shift in characters for me. I’ve always been the comedic relief, but finally I get to be a more serious character with two heartfelt songs,” said sophomore Logan Tepshich, who plays Sam in Shaler’s production. “This show is different because it’s a mix of family and love while also being a party the entire time; It goes between party and heartfelt emotions.”

Throughout upbeat numbers like “Super Trouper”, “Mamma Mia”, and “Dancing Queen”, the cast is able to truly enjoy themselves, beyond the characters that they are portraying. Most of these numbers feature a fully women-run vocal section, dance section, and acting section.

“Mamma Mia is unique to me in the fact that it’s almost exclusively centered on familial female relationships,” said junior Aubrielle Costic, who plays Donna in Shaler’s production. “I’m grateful to be a part of such a powerfully feminine show, as these kinds of relationships aren’t portrayed nearly as much as romantic ones.”

Including a women-dominated leadership within the numbers themselves, both schools are run under elements of student direction. Shaler includes student directors, blocking apprentices, vocal apprentices, and dance apprentices, and North Hills features a president and vice president, along with other drama student government positions. Student leadership and other opportunities like this bring many different crowds together to audition, whether someone has been acting their whole life, or has just started out.

“I haven’t been in any other musical but, I love how it has a ton of mixed emotions throughout the whole show. There are moments filled with energy and then there are songs that bring everyone to tears,” North Hills senior Gabe Allen, who plays Sky, said. “I think that it is very important to remember that any musical is a team effort, and you should care for everyone involved, and no one is higher than another.”

Of course, putting on a musical can be such a strenuous process, but the end product and the enjoyment of everyone involved is something truly magical.

“We have all worked so hard collectively when learning the material, putting in the extra hours outside of practice, etc. Now the fun part is living in the moment on stage, getting to perform what we have learned, and sharing this amazing show with the audience!” said sophomore Leah Byrne, who plays Sophie in North Hills’ production. “ With this being such a positive, vibrant show, confidence is key!”