By JESSICA NEU
Mamma Mia!, which opened in the UK in 1999, followed by its Broadway debut in 2001, opened at the Benedum Center Tuesday night as the latest production in the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series.
Audiences certainly will not be able to “resist” loving Phyllida Lloyd’s production of this beloved show, now three years older than one of its main characters, Sophie Sheridan (Alisa Melendez). Sophie opens the show with “I Have a Dream,” where Melendez’s rich tone offers a glimpse into the vocal talent audiences will enjoy throughout the performance. Sophie hesitantly yet hopefully sends three wedding invitations to three different men: Sam Carmichael (Victor Wallace), Bill Austin (Jim Newman), and Harry Bright (Rob Marnell).
Fast-forward a few months, and Sophie’s two best friends and bridesmaids, Ali (Haley Wright) and Lisa (L’Oreal Roache) arrive on an island off the coast of Greece, where she and her mother, Donna (Christine Sherrill), reside. Donna and Sophie live at the hotel that Donna owns and operates. Sophie excitedly explains to Ali and Lisa that all three men she invited to the wedding will come and that, based on the salacious details described in her mother’s diary from a steamy summer 20 years prior, any one of the men could be her father. Sophie desperately wants to find out who her father is before she marries the love of her life, Sky (Patrick Park), so she fails to mention the three men’s arrival to Donna.
As they read Donna’s diary, the giddy, child-like excitement from Sophie and her friends catapults the musical into “Honey, Honey” which begins a tour de force score of familiar yet timeless ABBA songs written by Abba’s Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Mamma Mia! is noted as being the first jukebox musical.
While many other musicals have followed suit stylistically (e.g., Beautiful: the Carole King Musical, Girl From the North Country, and Juliet), Mamma Mia! was the first musical to incorporate an artist’s catalog into a Broadway production. While not always the general rule of thumb, the oldest is the best. Abba’s music is effortlessly woven into the plot as each scene swells, leading up to a song that offers the perfect punctuation to accentuate the moment.
Mamma Mia! offers humor, relatability, and even a bit of nostalgia for multiple generations now that it is entering its 25th year in production. I first saw the show when I was 17, and now I am closer in age to Dona, then Sophie. Hearing songs such as “Slipping Through My Fingers” from Donna’s perspective instead of Sophie’s eyes makes this musical new again for the millennial or Gen Z generations. Regardless of age, the bonds, friendships, and past regrets exemplified in this show are relatable to nearly everyone. One can easily picture themselves drowning in Donna’s despair during “Chiquittita” while needing her best friends, Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and Rosie (Carly Sakolove) try to lift her spirits.
Similarly, the women’s energy, charisma, and contagious spirit shine in numbers like “Dancing Queen,” which makes you smile, sing, and laugh simultaneously. With nods to the production’s original choreography (Anthony Van Laast), numbers such as “Gimme!, Gimme!, Gimme!,” and “Voulez-Vous,” fill the Benedum Center with passion and entertainment. The cast has a palpable connection, making them irresistible for audiences to love.
Each cast member’s vocal talents individually bring this revival to new heights. Wallace’s vibrato on “SOS” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” packs a refreshing and emotional punch. At the same time, Steele’s show-stopping “Does Your Mother Know” brings diva-level energy to the show. However, Sherrill’s talent carries the show as she brilliantly portrays a bewildered, exhausted, and frustrated single, middle-aged mother who still yearns for love. Her vocal prowess permits her to sing slightly above the iconic ABBA melodies in an effortless chest voice, offering a unique arrangement and stunning delivery on songs such as “The Winner Takes it All.”
Never losing energy or missing a beat through the final notes of the curtain call, Mamma Mia! cannot be resisted. Twenty-five years after its debut, Abba’s songs are still iconic, and the tale of muddling through the precarity of everyday life with regrets of the past while young love remains idyllic is timeless and relatable. So “dance, jive, and have the time of your life” to this nonstop, energetic, entertaining musical.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Broadway in Pittsburgh presentation of Mamma Mia! is at the Benedum Center through March 31, 2014. Tickets at: https://trustarts.org/production/86819/list_performances
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
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