What it takes to be the main character with Carly Garcia

BY TAYLOR GRANT
Oct. 29, 2025

The Eisenhower auditorium is filled with choir voices and the stomping of feet as the “Mamma Mia!” cast practices their choreography. ABBA songs can be heard from even outside the auditorium.

Senior Carly (Willow) Garcia plays Sophie in the fall musical, “Mamma Mia!”

Senior Carly (Willow) Garcia is amongst them during this rigorous rehearsal. Since September, she has been working hard with the rest of the cast. For the musical, “Mamma Mia!” Garcia plays Sophie, one of the main characters. 

“I think the hardest part about having a lead role is kind of just, normalizing yourself to having to perform and having to give your all into a performance from day one,” Garcia said. “Because you can't just go there and just give no energy, then it's kind of just, like, ‘why did we cast you?’’’

The jukebox musical “Mamma Mia!” is about a girl named Sophie who is getting married and wants her father to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. In the pursuit for her dad, she invites three men from her mothers’ past in order to find out who her father is. All of the music is from the band ABBA, some of the songs include “Dancing Queen,” “Gimme Gimme” and much more.

With rehearsals happening almost everyday after school lasting two hours on top of school work and everyday stress, it can easily become overwhelming. “Mamma Mia!” is a show with 23 songs and plenty of dances and stage directions to pair with it, however, Garcia is not a stranger to these responsibilities. As well as now being the lead in this year's musical, she was the lead in last year's production “Cinderella” which Garcia said has prepared her greatly for this role.

“Cinderella prepared me in the preparation way, or, during rehearsals, with how to handle a major role, because I have a lot of lines. I have a lot of dances. I have a lot of songs to sing,” Garcia said. Garcia also adds that for her the most important aspect about handling a main role is time management, which is important for limiting stress and fully enjoying the performance.

Although this production takes months of hard work, that work will soon pay off as Garcia describes the final performance as her favorite part, especially when performing for younger audiences.

“I really like seeing the little kids' faces, and their expressions, and telling me how they feel about the show,” Garcia said. “It always just makes me really happy because I love kids.” 

The performances for “Mamma Mia!” the musical will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 6, 7 and 8 in the auditorium at EHS.

“It's really fun, and if your parents or grandparents like ABBA at all, the band from the 70s, freaking bring them,” Garcia said.