March 19 through March 24, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus’ lively and energetic “Mamma Mia!” will be showing at the Overture Center.
The production takes place on an idyllic Greek Island, where the main character, Sophie, finds her mother’s diary detailing love affairs with three men who could potentially be Sophie’s father. With her wedding drawing near, Sophie invites the three of them to the island to attend, hoping to uncover the truth about who her father is. Based on enduring pop classics from the Swedish group ABBA, of which both Andersson and Ulvaeus were members, the story examines love, friendships and relationships, specifically between women.
Haley Wright, the actress who plays Ali, Sophie’s friend and bridesmaid, weighed in on the upcoming show. When asked about the significance of the show, she emphasized how “joyful,” “fun” and “high energy” it is.
In Wright’s eyes, the heart of the story is the relationships between the characters. Over the course of the show, the friendships between Sophie and her bridesmaids, the friendship between the Dynamos and the mother-daughter relationship between Donna and Sophie are the central focus. Wright draws on her relationships with L’Oréal Roaché, the actress who plays Sophie’s other friend Lisa and Alisa Melendez, who plays Sophie. The three are friends off the stage and they utilize this chemistry to portray the relationships on stage.
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Performing a show on tour can be grueling. Wright described the seemingly never ending grind of performing eight shows a week with days off consisting of travel. In the few breaks Wright gets, she does everything she can to take care of herself and her body to prepare for the coming shows. Such an intense schedule can sometimes make it challenging to stay engaged.
But, Wright draws on the relationships within the production and the sheer joy and fun of performing to get herself through the difficulty of tour. Though touring can be very difficult, it has also given her the opportunity to travel, which she didn’t do much of growing up. She specifically emphasized the surreal moment when the tour was performing in Los Angeles. Wright reflected on seeing “Mamma Mia!” banners that lined Hollywood Boulevard, which was a shock to her as she had grown up seeing it in movies and on TV.
Part of what makes this a unique show is that it is based on hit songs by ABBA that have had significant pop culture impacts outside of the show. Songs such as “Dancing Queen” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” have garnered near universal acclaim. Despite the prior fame of the music, “Mamma Mia!” is able to effectively convey key themes and emotions throughout the production.
Sophie and Donna share a very intimate moment as the wedding approaches to the song “Slipping Through My Fingers.” The two reflect on their relationship as mother and daughter and the inevitable distance that develops between children and their parents as they grow up.
Conversely, “Lay All Your Love on Me” conveys a seductive and romantic feeling as Sophie and Sky express their passionate love for each other ahead of the wedding.
When asked about the music in the production, Wright emphasized the fun and excitement of “Voulez-Vous.” This is the final song of Act One and takes place during the climax of the show. Each of the potential dads have realized that they could be Sophie’s dad and each are offering to walk her down the aisle. Simultaneously, a huge musical number is taking place. Over the course of the show, the audience will experience ballads, pop dance numbers and everything in between.
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Potential viewers are likely already familiar with the 2008 movie starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård. But, there is hardly a one-to-one correlation between the film and the musical production. Wright emphasizes how special it is to see “the story coming to life” on a stage versus in a film. In addition, there are numbers in the show that are not in the movie, which certainly makes the stage production worth the trip to the overture center.
The show will provide attendees an exciting, fun and at times emotional journey through relationships that we are all familiar with. All this takes place within a hilarious farce with three men each thinking they are Sophie’s dad. Wright offered her professional opinion, believing that Bill’s wild, adventurous spirit is most similar to Sophie. If you attend the show, you’ll get the chance to decide for yourself who you think is Sophie’s father.
“Mamma Mia!” has a runtime of two hours and 40 minutes, including an intermission. The show lists its age recommendation as 10 and up. More information about purchasing tickets can be found on the Overture Center website.
