MAMMA MIA! Honored with Tony's DiNapoli 'Broadway Wall of Fame' Portrait 3/25

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' Broadway smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! will be honored with a Tony's DiNapoli "Broadway Wall of Fame" portrait to be unveiled on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at the Times Square restaurant (147 West 43rd Street at Broadway).

The unveiling ceremony and party will be hosted by restaurateur Bruce Dimpflmaier and emceed by media personality Valerie Smaldone. Prints made from the original oil painting by Dan May will be autographed by the cast and auctioned at a future event to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

MAMMA MIA! joins a gallery of portraits honoring hit Broadway musicals including Jersey Boys, Spring Awakening and Wicked as well as Broadway stars Daniel Radcliffe (Equus); Hugh Jackman (The Boy From Oz); Harry Connick; Jr. (The Pajama Game); Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera (Nine); Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti (Gypsy);Bob Saget (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu) among others.

MAMMA MIA! stars two-time Tony Award® nominee Carolee Carmello ("Donna Sheridan"), Judy McLane ("Tanya"), Gina Ferrall ("Rosie"), Brandi Burkhardt ("Sophie Sheridan"), Chris Peluso ("Sky"), Sean Allan Krill ("Sam Carmichael"), Pearce Bunting ("Bill Austin") and Ben Livingston ("Harry Bright").

The MAMMA MIA! company features Samantha Eggers, Amina Robinson, Raymond J. Lee, 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.

Seen by more than 32 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA!, is celebrating 7 sold-out years and over 3,000 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre (1535 Broadway), and is playing a record-breaking U.S. tour. The original West End production has played nearly 4,000 performances, an international tour has played in more than 40 foreign cities, and the blockbuster feature film adaptation of MAMMA MIA!, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, is the most successful movie musical of all time and continues to smash box office records around the world.

With a worldwide gross of over $2 Billion, MAMMA MIA! is acclaimed by the Associated Press as "quite simply, a phenomenon."

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.

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.

MAMMA MIA! plays on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) Tuesday through Saturday at 8p, Sunday at 7p, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2p.

Ticket prices range from $62.75 -$121.50, including a $1.50 Shubert facility fee. Tickets are available by calling the MAMMA MIA! hotline at (212) 563-5544/(800) 432-7250; in person at the Winter Garden Box Office or online at www.telecharge.com/mamma-mia and www.mamma-mia.com

For more information about MAMMA MIA! around the world visit: www.mamma-mia.com.

Photo by Joan Marcus