'Mamma Mia!' US Tour Hits 2500th Show Tonight

The North American tour of Mamma Mia! celebrated its 6th anniversary last night in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the Miller Auditorium, and plays its 2,500th performance tonight!

The U.S. tour opened in Providence, Rhode Island in 2002, and has since played more than 120 cities and grossed over $160,000,000 at the box office.

Seen by over 30 million people around the world, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical Mamma Mia! is celebrating 6 sold-out years at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, and is also playing a record-breaking engagement in Las Vegas.  The original West End production has played over 3,500 performances, an international tour has played in more than 30 foreign cities, and the feature film of Mamma Mia!, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, will be released in the summer of 2008.

Leading the U.S. tour cast is Mary Jayne Raleigh as "Donna Sheridan," the independent single mother whose carefree past catches up with her on the eve of her daughters wedding. Prior to Mamma Mia!, Raleigh's credits include the national tour of Les Miserables and the Sondheim Celebration at The Kennedy Center. "Sophie Sheridan," Donna's daughter, is played by Vicki Noon and her fiancé "Sky" is played by Timothy Ware.  Donna's best friends and former back-up band, "Rosie" and "Tanya," are played by Allison Briner and Christine Sherrill (respectively), who reunite on the island for Sophie's wedding. Sean Allan Krill ("Sam"), Milo Shandel ("Bill") and Ian Simpson ("Harry") are Sophie's 3 possible dads. The cast also features Nicole Laurenzi ("Lisa"), Rebecca Covington ("Ali"), Enrico Rodriguez ("Pepper") and Anthony Cefala ("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.

There are currently 10 productions of Mamma Mia! running around the world (8 resident productions and 2 tours). With three productions playing in North America alone, Mamma Mia! has more productions playing around the world than any other current Broadway musical and can be experienced in 4 different languages globally (English, German, Japanese and Russian). With a worldwide gross of over $2 Billion, 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.

The U.S. Tour of Mamma Mia! plays in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the Miller Auditorium Tuesday - Thursday and Sunday evenings at 7:30 PM, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2PM.

Tickets prices range from $27.50 - $52.50 and are available at www.mamma-mia.com/tickets. For more information about Mamma Mia! around the world:  www.mamma-mia.com