The summer is drawing to an end, and with it, the series of local productions of Mamma Mia. By my count, Ashland Productions is the fourth group this summer to perform this show (though I could be under-counting). It's strangely common for the same show to pop up multiple times in short succession, but I think Mamma Mia's got to be one of the best shows to see repeatedly. Sure, the script doesn't always hold up, but the music is ridiculously catchy, and if nothing else, you can pretend for two hours that you're with the characters on stage, partying on the sunny Mediterranean coast.
I find it hard to believe any adult hasn't seen at least the film version of Mamma Mia (featuring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, among many other famous faces), but for the outliers: in this story, 20-year-old Sophie finds out she has three possible dads, and she secretly invites them all to her wedding. When they arrive, old feelings and new conflicts arise. Will Sophie and her fiancé make it to the altar, or will this tear them apart? Can Sophie's mother, Donna, forgive old heartbreak and let go of her pain? Can Sophie and Donna forgive each other?
Ashland Productions made an interesting choice in their Mamma Mia and double-cast most of the leads, including two pairings for Sophie and Sky and two sets of Dynamos. I assumed at first that the these castings were grouped together, with one Sophie always performing with one Donna, for example, but the mixing and matching is more complicated than that. In addition, there are designated performances for the understudies, so there are a lot of variations of who's performing with whom. This kind of thing is plenty common in professional theater, but it's rare to see this level of complication in a community theater cast. Personally, I have mixed feelings about doing a show this way. It's harder as an actor to perform a scene with different people from night to night, for one thing. And it's not as if it's necessary in community theater to have multiple people playing a role, compared to professional theater with its demanding performance schedule. On the other hand, I imagine that Ashland just wanted to showcase more talented performers, and there are enough performances over the run that each set of actors gets a reasonable number of times to play the role. I will say that in this situation, it would be helpful to have the information about who's playing what when to be in the program.
Christopher Teipner directed this production, and there were a lot of smart choices in how scenes were played that showed a real understanding of the relationships and the character's journeys, such as Sam's moment at the end of "Knowing Me, Knowing You." One of the scenes with particularly effective staging was "Slipping Through My Fingers," in which Donna and Sophie were separate physically in a way that mirrored the words Donna was singing. Under Madeline Huss' musical direction, all the leads sounded great, but in the ensemble numbers I wished for a little more oomph from the sopranos. This production used offstage vocals, which were sensibly subtle. Some of the background vocals weren't used, leaving certain numbers to just the soloists, which is a reasonable enough choice but may not be to everyone's preference. Nickie Kromminga Hill and Halle Audette's choreography made good choices about when to be more choreographed versus "natural," and I enjoyed the disco moves that were scattered throughout the show (without turning each number into a disco song). "Lay All Your Love on Me" was a particularly fun dance number.
In a very clever choice, Adam Oster's set design put the entrances to the three dads' hotel rooms on stage, so that they could appear and disappear smoothly. I also loved, when I noticed it, that Donna's bed disappeared into a wall and was part of the main set in the other scenes. Jacob Lee Hofer's lighting was appropriately colorful and fun. The sound design by Born Into Royalty did an excellent job at timing the recorded music with the singers onstage, which can be very tricky. As costume designer, Meredith Arbuckle brought the metallic space-age disco costumes of my dreams to "Super Trooper," with different disco costumes for the finale that were colorful and delightfully elaborate. The ensemble was very reasonably dressed for the island occasions, and the wedding outfits worked well together.
Emma Knapik was an excellent fit vocally for Sophie and sounded great on the songs while also delivering a grounded emotional performance throughout the show. Timothy Gravely as Sky made smart choices and brought nuance to the (somewhat under-written) character. Knapik and Gravely played well off each other through their characters' ups and downs.
Donna can be a difficult character, because she spends most of the story stressed and upset, while all the other characters talk about how fun and adventurous they know her to be. I enjoyed Julie Conzemius' take on the character; in her hands, Donna was spunky and assertive even while at her lowest and least in control. Conzemius is a very capable singer and she made Donna's songs her own with some intriguing choices. As Tanya, Jessica Halverson was cool and upper-class in a very modern way, which distracted me a little; it felt like it aged her down to have a bit of Kardashian in the character. But Halverson had some very funny character moments, and her performance of "Does Your Mother Know" was very entertaining. Kara Salava was engaging and funny as Rosie, and "Take a Chance on Me" was an audience favorite. The three women sounded great as a trio in songs like "Super Trooper."
Seth Tychon Steidl (Sam) has a stunning singing voice and showed in songs like "SOS" that he knows how to use it. Character-wise, I was struck by the moment at the end of "Knowing Me, Knowing You," when it was clear that Sophie's words were sinking in and changing Sam's perspective. This little moment clarified Sam's emotional journey, as his focus shifted from from bitterness about the past to hope for future happiness. Quinn Forrest Masterson's Harry started off very posh and a bit stuffy, growing more playful and relaxed over time, which was a fun journey to watch throughout the show. Craig Turino in particular impressed me with his take on Bill. Of the dads, Bill says the least about his feelings and motivations, and he has a pretty quick transition in "Take a Chance on Me" without a lot of explanation. Turino played Bill as a man for whom emotions are scary because he feels them deeply, a man who's more likely to run away than face his feelings (perhaps even motivating his life as a nomadic travel writer?). With this characterization throughout the show (as in the emotional "The Name of the Game"), the transition in "Take a Chance on Me" fell into place nicely and it was especially satisfying to see Bill's desire for Rosie overcome his resistance to opening up.
Lewis Youngren was very fun as the aggressively flirty Pepper, and his dynamic with Jessica Halverson's Tanya in "Does Your Mother Know" was a lot of fun. As Ali and Lisa, Lily Cornwell and Brooklyn Schwiesow were very energetic and together with Emma Knapik made a delightful trio in "Honey, Honey." In general, the ensemble brought some nice flavor into the crowd scenes without pulling focus, and the big song and dance numbers were very entertaining. What's more, the entire cast seemed really happy to be a part of this show, and that kind of joy is contagious.
While I have had plenty of exposure to Mamma Mia this summer and a part of me is glad to set it aside for a while, it's a show that leaves you in a really good mood. Even though some of the scenes are emotional and the characters go through difficulties, you can walk away singing any of the songs with a smile. Ashland's Production brought some new perspectives to the show while also delivering the entertainment value that makes the show worth coming back to over and over again.
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