Mamma Mia on a Budget
Make it Sparkle Video with Billy Tighe
Broadway Performer and Teacher
6:04 (runtime)
Director’s Notes
In this special segment, Broadway actor and theatre teacher Billy Tighe takes us on a journey behind the scenes of staging the iconic musical "Mamma Mia" on a budget. Through the lens of his experience with City Springs Theater Company, and amidst the challenges of the pandemic, Billy shares the adventurous road they traversed to bring the production to life in a non-traditional venue. He emphasizes the power of creativity and collaboration in overcoming budgetary and technical constraints.
Pandemic-Era Challenges: Billy discusses the significant challenges posed by the pandemic while staging a production in 2020, including concerns around audience safety and attracting viewers to a live performance during lockdowns.
Venue Adaptation: The production took a bold step by moving from a traditional indoor theatre to Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, a massive 12,000-seat concert venue—an initiative filled with unprecedented challenges and requiring a rethinking of set design and technical elements.
Creative Solutions: Despite the grand scale of the venue and the pandemic's restrictions, the team found low-tech and inventive solutions to navigate around their obstacles, keeping the cast safe and the production feasible within the budgetary confines.
Engaging the Audience: To cater to the venue's massive scale, the production employed techniques like utilizing large screens to project the action, ensuring the audience could follow the storyline clearly—akin to the broadcasting of a baseball game.
Lesson in Creativity: Drawing from other successful minimalistic productions he has witnessed or been a part of, Billy advocates for leveraging creativity to work around budget constraints, encouraging others to find transformative solutions rather than just throwing money at problems.
About Billy Tighe
Billy has performed with Symphonic Pops Orchestras and Broadway tours internationally and all across the country and is honored to have the opportunity to continually work with many of the worlds greatest musicians. His symphonic career started while attending the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music where he began his professional relationship with the late Maestro Erich Kunzel of the Cincinnati Pops. Since receiving his BFA in Musical Theatre, he has worked with the Toronto, Atlanta, Modesto, Vancouver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Long Beach & Cincinnati orchestras in a variety of programs. When not performing with symphonies he is continually pursuing a career in professional musical theatre. His recent theatrical credits include the Broadway tour of WICKED as Fiyero; La Cage Aux Folles starring George Hamilton, where he played the son Jean-Michel; the U.S. premiere tour of Dirty Dancing; The Marriott Theatre (Hairspray as Link); Goodspeed Opera House (Happy Days as Potsie); North Carolina Theatre (Dreamgirls as Dave) and many others. Currently, Billy is in the Tony Award winning Broadway revival of Pippin. Billy's studies began at the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts. Born in Germany, raised in Marietta, GA, college in Cincinnati, OH, and now calls NYC home with his wife and Boston Terrier Buster.
Specialties: Gymnastics, Break Dancing, PADI certified Scuba Diver