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Carmello, McCartney & McLane join Broadway's Mamma Mia! October 20
By: BWW News Desk Sep. 29, 2004
Tony Award ® nominated actress Carolee Carmello (Parade and recent star of Urinetown) will play Donna Sheridan. Liz McCartney (Taboo, Dance of the Vampires) and Judy McLane (recent star of off-Broadway's Johnny Guitar) are Donna's best friends and former back-up band, Rosie and Tanya, who reunite on a Greek island for the wedding of Donna's daughter, Sophie.
Tony Award ® nominated actor Daniel Mc Donald (Steel Pier, High Society), David Beach (Urinetown, Moon Over Buffalo) and Mark L. Montgomery (Shakespeare Theater's Rose Rage) play three men from Donna's past.
Sophie Sheridan will be played by Sara Kramer, who recently starred in the National tour of MAMMA MIA! Her fiancé, Sky, will be played by Aaron Staton, marking his Broadway debut. Ben Gettinger, also making his Broadway bow, plays Sky's sidekick Pepper. The cast also features Keisha T. Fraser (Lisa), Rebecca Kasper (Ali) and Albert Guerzon (Eddie).
Inspired by the story-telling magic of ABBA's timeless songs, writer Catherine Johnson's sunny, funny tale of family and friendship unfolds on a tiny Greek island. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings 3 men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago. Songs including "Dancing Queen"; "The Winner Takes It All"; "Money, Money, Money" and "Take A Chance on Me" are all featured in this feel-good night of fun and laughter. The Broadway production will celebrate its third anniversary on October 18th at the Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre.
There are currently 11 productions of MAMMA MIA! running around the world (8 resident productions and 3 tours). With a worldwide gross of over $1 Billion and audiences of more than 18 million people, MAMMA MIA! is acclaimed by the Associated Press as "quite simply, a phenomenon."
Produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal, the creative team responsible for bringing MAMMA MIA! to theatrical life includes some of the most gifted and celebrated talents of musical theatre and opera. With music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, MAMMA MIA! is written by Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Lloyd. MAMMA MIA! has choreography by Anthony Van Laast, production design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision, additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch.
BIOGRAPHIES
Carolee Carmello (Donna Sheridan). Broadway roles: "Lucille Frank" in Parade (Drama Desk Award, Tony nomination); "Kate" in Kiss Me Kate; "Marguerite" in The Scarlet Pimpernel; Abigail Adams in 1776; "Oolie" in City of Angels; "Cordelia" in Falsettos; and most recently, "Ms. Pennywise" in Urinetown. Off-Broadway: Elegies, A Class Act, john and jen, Das Barbecu, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Vagina Monologues, and Hello Again (OBIE Award). National Tours: Chess, Big River, Les Miserables, and Falsettos. Film and TV: "Maple LaMarsh" on AMC's original series "Remember W.E.N.N." (SAG Award Nomination), "Frasier," "Law and Order," "Law and Order SVU," and "Ed."
Judy McLane (Tanya) recently received critical acclaim for her performance as Vienna in the musical Johnny Guitar (Drama Desk Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, Drama League Honor for Distinguished Performance in the Theater). This year she also received a Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Actress in a musical for her role of Phyllis in Follies at the Signature Theater in DC. Other Broadway shows include Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Aspects of Love and Chess (cast album, and "Chess in Concert" at Carnegie Hall). National and international tours include Into the Woods (Baker's Wife), Big (Mrs.Baskin), Joseph… (Narrator, co-starring with Donny Osmond). Regional: the title role in Victor/Victoria, Eva Peron in Evita, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Nancy in Oliver!, Luisa in Nine, Florence in Chess, Lily in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Paper Mill Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO), The World Goes 'Round (Cape Playhouse), Kate in Kiss me Kate (Westchester Broadway Theater), Rebecca in Rags (AMT of SanJose), Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar (Sacramento Civic Light Opera), Grizabella in CATS, Millie in Seven Brides (Muny, St. Louis,). Ms. McLane frequently performs as a soloist with symphony orchestras. Some of these include the Bolshoi Orchestra in Moscow, the National Orchestra of Lyon, France, National Symphony of Canada, St.Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Baltimore Orchestras. TV: Darla on "Another World." She can be heard on the new CD releases of Johnny Guitar. www.JohnnyGuitarThe Musical.com and Sundown the Musical.
Liz McCartney (Rosie) most recently appeared on Broadway in the final cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie as the uptight, tap dancing head secretary Miss Flannery. In 2003 she originated the role of Sue Tilley in the Boy George musical Taboo and can be heard on the Broadway cast album. She also created the role of Rebecca in Dance Of The Vampires. Other Broadway performances include Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera, Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables and Carnival for the 2002 Encores series. Regional: Into The Woods (The Witch - Ordway / Sacramento), Fifty Million Frenchmen (May DeVere-Pittsburgh Public), Paint Your Wagon (Elizabeth-Goodspeed), A Vision (Maud Gonne-Playwrights Horizons/ A.C.T.). Other recordings: A Vision, 1999 and 2003 Carols for a Cure. TV: "Route 66," "The Prosecutors" and "Law and Order SVU." She has also performed her one-woman show aboard Rosie O'Donnell's R Family Cruises.
Sara Kramer (Sophie Sheridan), proud member of Actors' Equity Association, is thrilled to be back home in NY making her Broadway debut in Mamma Mia! Sara recently played Sophie in the National Tour, after starting the show in an ensemble role. Regional: Christine in Phantom and Cosette in the World Premiere of Les Miserables School Edition. She attended the drama and first-ever musical theatre programs at NHSI at Northwestern University, and looks forward to starting NYU.
Aaron Staton (Sky). Broadway debut. Appeared regionally in Jesus Christ Superstar and Oliver at West Virginia Public Theatre. 2004 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.
Daniel McDonald (Sam Carmichael) originated leading roles on Broadway in High Society and Steel Pier (for which he earned Tony Award and Drama Desk Nominations and a Theatre World Award). He played Michael Wiley in the Canadian Premier of Contact and followed that engagement with the US Tour. Other New York credits include Quartett at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, An Ideal Husband at Papermill Playhouse, First Night at the West Side Arts Theater and Chesterfield, his own creation that he developed at the Actors Studio, which played at the John Drew Theatre in East Hampton and the Court Theatre in West Hollywood. He has appeared in over two dozen film and television projects including guest starring roles in "CSI: Miami", "Law and Order", "Special Victims Unit", "Sex and the City", and "Tempting Adam".
DAVID BEACH (Harry Bright). Broadway: Urinetown, Moon Over Buffalo. Off-Broadway: Urinetown; Message to Michael (Rattlestick); Shkspr (Abridged) (Westside); Modigliani (Jewish Rep); I Love You, You're Perfect... (Coronet-L.A.); That's Life (Jewish Rep); Frankenstein, the Musical (Tiny Mythic); Hell's Kitchen Sink (Ensemble Studio). Regional: Adirondack Theatre Festival, Alabama Shakespeare, Walnut Street, Coconut Grove,Stamford Theatre Works, Virginia Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville. TV: "The Sopranos," "Ed," "Dharma & Greg," "Sex and the City," "Two Guys and a Girl," "Malcolm in the Middle," "Payne," "American Family," "Law & Order." Film: "Firetrap" (HBO) "Golden Dreams" (Disney) and the independent features "Neptune's Rocking Horse," "Par 6" and "Only Human." David is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
MARK L. MONTGOMERY (Bill Austin) makes his Broadway debut with Mamma Mia! Mark's New York stage debut comes just before with Chicago Shakespeare Theater's production of Edward Hall's Rose Rage at the Duke on 42nd St. Some Chicago credits include: The Time of Your Life (Steppenwolf), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Apple Tree), 12 productions with Chicago Shakespeare plus work with Northlight, About Face, Writers' Theatre, The Goodman and many others. For his portrayal of Jack Henry Abbott in In the Belly of the Beast, Mark received a Joseph Jefferson Nomination and After Dark Award for outstanding performance. Recently Mark worked on the independent feature films Under the City and Repetition.
BEN GETTINGER (Pepper). Broadway debut. Recently graduated from The Boston Conservatory. Regional credits include: Side Show, Evita, Fiddler on the Roof, "Danny" in Grease, "Joseph" in Joseph... and "Orsino" in Twelfth Night. TV: "Law and Order."
Schedule
MAMMA MIA! plays at the Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre (1654 Broadway) Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m.
Ticket Pricing and availability
$56.25-$100. Prices include a $1.25 Shubert facility fee, available by calling the MAMMA MIA! hotline at (212) 563-5544 and (800) 432-7250; or in person at the Winter Garden Box Office, and online at www.telecharge.com/mamma-mia and www.mamma-mia.com
The original cast recording of MAMMA MIA! is available on Decca Broadway and has gone Platinum in the US and Australia, Double Platinum in Canada, Double Gold in the UK and Gold in Germany, Sweden, Korea and New Zealand.
For more information about MAMMA MIA! around the world, go to www.mamma-mia.com
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