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This year's Milton High School musical is "Mamma Mia!" It opens this Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.

"Mamma Mia!" features songs from the band ABBA. It was a feature film in 2008 starring Sydney Sweeney, Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.

Additional shows are at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. All performances are in the John C. Platt Auditorium in Milton High School, 114 W. High St., Milton.

James MacNeal, a junior, is participating in the Milton musical for the first time.

"I think it's really exciting for us in high school because it's always been a show that maybe 'We'll do but we're not totally sure,' but we ended up doing it this year, and it's such a fun show to do. It's very interactive and I get to do it with some of my very best friends so that's even better," Musgrove said.

MacNeal said the selection of "Mamma Mia!" is a "different turn" from what the musicals have been for the school in recent years. The most recent ones have been "Matilda" and "The Wizard of Oz," which are more fantasy based.

"Now we are getting into a drama. It's just a different spin on what musicals can be and I think it's very fun to explore the different mindsets and themes," MacNeal said.

MacNeal plays Harry "Headbanger" Bright, in "Mamma Mia!" The character was played by Colin Firth in the film. Musgrove plays Donna Sheridan, who runs an island in the musical. Sheridan was played by Meryl Streep in the film.

"I feel like her character is very closed off. After what happened with the three dads, she doesn't feel like she needs a man in her life but when they all come back, it's kind of like, 'Oh my gosh I'm super overwhelmed,'' Musgrove said.

Bright is "a normal man who has an interesting past as a rockstar," MacNeal said. "From what we know, Harry was a musician and some sort of rockstar because he was nicknamed 'Headbanger' and he knew Donna's band, Donna and the Dynamos somehow because in some scenes we see her mentioning him. At some point, he was an exchange student and he fell in love with Donna."

Musgrove is a fan of Streep.

"I think her portrayal of Donna is great. She is very well spoken. I feel like she is a very funny woman in real life and that just adds to the overall character she plays in the movie, and her vocals are also insanely good," Musgrove said.

"I think it's more fun, the musical, because we are the characters. I think the movie itself is a very good movie," MacNeal said.

MacNeal said he was "shocked" by the selection, which was made by choir director Abbi Landrum. There was a wall of pictures of potential musicals, and each day there were photos removed. Gradually photos were removed to a select few, one of which was "Mamma Mia!"

MacNeal said every year there is always an assumption that one of the photos is just meant to be a decoy meant to "mess with everyone."

"I think when they took off the last couple and left 'Mamma Mia!' up there, and they've messed with us before where they've pulled some off and put them back up and swapped them and hid ones under each other, so I thought this was probably a joke one. And then they're like, 'We're not messing with you this year.' I'm like, 'OK, I like Mamma Mia!'"

"I don't think it was a bad shocked because it has always been a musical we've wanted to do and it has given us something to look forward to, especially for a musical," Musgrove added. "But the other picks were good too. The other picks were 'The Little Mermaid and 'Peter Pan,' and we were like, 'It would be good if it was any of them.'"