Review: Mamma Mia at Providence Performing Arts Center

Until last evening, I was a Mamma Mia virgin (No show, No movie, and No soundtrack).

To be clear, ABBA and I had been hooking up regularly for the past 30 years or so, but I had never succumbed to the wiles of the Broadway musical based on ABBA's songs.  This is, in part, because I am not very keen on Juke-Box musicals.  It was also because I have such great personal memories of listening to ABBA's music that I was afraid that those memories would be ruined, or at the very least, tainted.

I had nothing to worry about.

Mamma Mia is a charming Greek fable that tells the story of a young woman, Sophie (Rose Sezniak), who is about to get married to Eddie (Bradley Whitfield, in this performance). Sophie, in the search for the identity of her father, has read her mother Donna's (Susie McMonagle) 21-year-old journals and has secretly sent wedding invitations to three men, Harry Bright (Michael Aaron Linder), Bill Austin (Martin Kildare), and Sam Carmichael (John Hemphill), who might be her dad.

Donna is less than 100% behind her 20-year-old daughter's wedding. She has invited two of her old friends, and former band-mates Tanya (Michelle Dawson) and Rosie (Kittra Wynn Coomer) to the wedding, for moral support.

The production is filled with top-notch performers and performances.  The chemistry between Sophie and her bridesmaids Ali (Monette McKay) and Lisa (Nicole Laurenzi), as the play opens, was surprisingly real.  There are certainly moments of high camp, but it is done better and with more restraint than I expected.

Under Phyllida Lloyd's direction, each number is acted, as opposed to sung, which I appreciate. The music and story have been massaged to fit together seamlessly. 

The band swings under Susan Draus' musical direction. The musical numbers range from small introspective guitar solo laments to big Labelle-style production numbers.  The huge wall of sound that ABBA is known for is created on stage, not by mixing and remixing the audio, but by a large and capable ensemble.  Susie McMonagle can really belt out a tune, which I love.

All of your favorite ABBA songs make an appearance in Mamma Mia, along with a few lesser-known songs.  Each of the songs in the show works to further the narrative. The show is nearly a disco opera, as there is so much music that dialogue is thin.  That is not to say that the book, by Catherine Johnson, is lacking.  It isn't.  Johnson had to good sense to get the dialogue out of the way of the musical numbers.  

Because of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus's beautiful music, Mamma Mia is a trans-generational musical theater event.  The audience was filled with grandparents with their children and grandchildren; all having a great time.

Mamma Mia plays at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) through January 4^th.  Tickets range from $44-$71 and can be purchased by calling the PPAC Box office at (401) 421-ARTS or online at www.ppacri.org.  The Box office is located at 220 Weybosset St., Providence, RI and has extended holiday hours.

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