When senior Isabel Najera hit the high note in “The Winner Takes it All,” the climactic song in the spring musical “Mamma Mia!” a palpable shiver went through the auditorium.

The show features hit songs by the Swedish Europop group ABBA, arranged to suit a romantic plotline that takes place on a Greek island. Oak Park and River Forest High School’s production was directed by Michelle Bayer, head of the theater program.

The performance on Saturday, March 11 showed the strength of its two stars: Najera, who played hotel-owner Donna, and senior Tori Hutson, who played Donna’s daughter Sophie. Their excellent acting skills made their dynamic like a real mother-daughter relationship, which strengthened the play significantly.

Sophie grew up without a father, and is soon to be married to her lover named Sky, played by Chip Papier. However, Sophie wants to meet her father, so she can be given away at her wedding. The primary conflict of the play is finding the identity of Sophie’s father, because he could be one of three different men. Sophie secretly invites all three potential fathers to her wedding, much to the dismay and frustration of her mother.

“Mamma Mia!”’s biggest strength by far was the set design. The set was a huge multilevel structure in the style of the famous blue and white painted Greek cycladic houses, and I was legitimately shocked by the quality and size of it when the curtains were first drawn.

The set included a bar, a running fountain, a postal box and two fishing docks on the left and right side of the stage. However, “Mama Mia!” was not restricted to this location, and the set switched to the inside of a hotel room a number of times. This was done by attaching large painted boards of drywall to carts on wheels, which allowed for a rapid change of scenery and helped maintain the viewers’ immersion in the musical.

The acting in “Mamma Mia!” was also a major highlight of the play. The set design was also complemented by the large cast. With such a large stage and scenery, the musical could have very easily felt dead and empty. However, the stage was often filled with background dancers, extras or minor characters which made the Greek hotel feel alive.

To complement this wonderful set design were excellent visual effects. Notably, the lights on the stage changed during scenes and songs to fit the mood. For example, the lights shifted from pink to represent love, to purple to represent fear and anxiety. These small tweaks in the lighting may seem like minor changes, but they really brought the play to life.

It would be a crime to not mention the music of “Mamma Mia!”, which was played live by various OPRF students. ABBA songs featured in the show included “Dancing Queen,” “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” and “Slipping Through My Fingers.” Fans of ABBA surely enjoyed the musical aspect, but even unfamiliar listeners could have a good time.

“Mamma Mia!” really struggled with its bare bones plot and excessive runtime. The play is a little under three hours long, including the 15-minute intermission between act one and act two. The story is very simple, almost too simple. The struggle of Sophie trying to understand herself by finding her true father has no real tension, and I always assumed each conflict would just be resolved during the next musical number. This makes the longer runtime even worse, and I feel that if the musical had more of a developed plot it would be less of an issue.

The weak plot also limited some other interesting aspects of the play. I feel that the feminist themes of “Mamma Mia!” were highly undeveloped and really only scratched the surface. The interesting conflicts between traditional marriage, independence and the role of women in society felt inconsequential in the end.

That said, “Mamma Mia!” shined with its stunning visuals, excellent music and talented actors. Fans of ABBA were sure to enjoy it, but I think it had a little something for everyone.