For those of you that have seen the original Mamma Mia!, you may recall a story of how Sophie, a young woman approaching her wedding date, attempted to track down her birth father to walk her down the aisle. She narrows the field to three men, but unfortunately can’t figure out her true parentage.
With the title reflecting the number of people named Michael in the faculty of engineering, Michael Mia! tells a similarly wholesome and family-friendly story, however it’s a young woman attempting to find out which Michael from engineering gave her sister a frosh-related STI. The tainted Michaels include the rugged construction-worker Michael, one-foot-in-the-closet Michael, and raised-by-feral-cats Michael. Featuring appearances from various famous Michaels—Caine, Phelps, Tyson, and Jordan—as well as the BoJack Horseman-esque Michael Adultman, this engineering Sophie is left with her hands full as she tries to get to the bottom of this mystery.
If there’s one thing that defines Engineering Musical performances, it’s the audience. The audience was invested the whole way through, shouting at the characters during scenes, playing balloon keep-up, throwing objects on stage, and singing along to transition music. With rousing renditions of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” and Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good,” the audience showed they could compete with the performers singing-wise. Jabs at the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and the $96,000 owed in taxes by the Carleton Student Engineering Society (CSES) were well-received, and appearances by a rubber fist named Laharah kept audiences gripped, and they kept demanding for dirty things to be done to that fist.
While the audience was way more fun to watch, there were still quality performances on stage. Natalie Smith gave it her all as the if-you-can’t-handle-me-at-my-worst, you-don’t-deserve-me-at-my-best Donna, from being doused in cash during “Money, Money, Money” to her passionate, sensual hatred of Carol (Genna Bonnor). Miryam Yakub Aya’s deadpan portrayal of Debbie was a great source of comedy, her performance channeling Saturday Night Live’s Debbie Downer and Bob’s Burgers’ Tina Belcher in equal measures. “I wish my family would blackmail me,” she moaned at one point. “Or at least talk to me.” Other highlights included Gabriel Sanna’s campy take on Tanya and Eli Goddard as the religiously sanctimonious Rosie, who carried themselves with strong presence on stage. There were fun moments in the musical numbers, with “Mamma Mia” being about Sophie’s need to stare at penises, and the choreography to “SOS” featuring dancers tied up at the ankles.
Even though there wasn’t a single Michael in the cast or crew according to the program (there were a few Mitchells, does that count?), Michael Mia! was an engaging show that revelled in the type of humour only engineering students could pull off. Most importantly, the show never lost its fun spirit.
“We get shit done and have more fun while wasting time,” the cast sang on its closing performance of “Waterloo.” The show was crass yet light-hearted, and satisfied musical fans and seekers of dick jokes in one glorious spectacle.
Photo by Scott Miller
