Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! will welcome Brandi Burkhardt to the Broadway cast as bride-to-be "Sophie Sheridan" when she begins performances at the Winter Garden Theatre on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009. Allison Case will play her final performance in the role on Sunday, January 25th.
Burkhardt made her Broadway debut earlier this season when she created the role of "Lucie Manette" in the world premiere musical A Tale of Two Cities. She also starred as "Daisy Mae" in Lil' Abner for the Los Angeles Reprise series and as "Emma" in the international touring production of Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection.
She starred in NBC's long-running daytime drama Passions as "Siren," daytime television's first mermaid, recently appeared on "Boston Legal" and "Law & Order: SVU," and can be seen in the upcoming feature film Confessions of a Shopaholic. Brandi represented New York State in the Miss America Pageant in 2000.
On the concert stage, Brandi has performed with celebrated orchestras from the Atlanta Philharmonic to the Budapest Symphony. Last year she sang for the President for the National Theatre's concert version of The Civil War, and had the honor of being the only American alongside Europe's greatest singing stars for the recording of The Count of Monte Cristo as "Mercedes."
MAMMA MIA! stars two-time Tony Award® nominated Broadway favorite Carolee Carmello (Parade, Urinetown) as "Donna Sheridan" along with Judy McLane (Chess, Kiss of the Spiderwoman) as "Tanya" and Gina Ferrall (Beauty and the Beast, Big River) as "Rosie," Donna's best friends and former back-up band who reunite on a Greek island for the wedding of Donna's daughter, Sophie.
Chris Peluso (Assassins, Lestat) plays Sophie's fiancé "Sky." Sean Allan Krill ("Sam Carmichael"), Pearce Bunting ("Bill Austin") and Ben Livingston ("Harry Bright") star as the trio of men from Donna's past and Sophie's three possible dads. The cast also features Ben Gettinger as Sky's sidekick "Pepper," Samantha Eggers and Amina Robinson as Sophie's best friends "Lisa" and "Ali," and Raymond J. Lee as "Eddie."
The MAMMA MIA! ensemble features Brent Black, Timothy Booth, Allyson Carr, Lanene Charters, Meghan Dreyfuss, Matthew Farver, Lori Haley Fox, Heidi Godt, Jon-Erik Goldberg, Frankie James Grande, Corey Greenan, Bryan Scott Johnson, Monica Kapoor, Robin Levine, Corinne Melançon, Ian Paget, Courtney Reed, Ryan Sander, Collette Simmons, Traci Victoria and Leah Zepel.
