Review: MAMMA MIA! at Downtown Cabaret Theatre

On Sunday, September 22, 2019, I had the pleasure of seeing MAMMA MIA! at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT. This show is based on the music of 1970s Swedish pop group, Abba, songs written by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Stig Andersen, with the book by Catherine Johnson. Frank Root does a fine job as director.

The show opens with Sophie Sheridan (Julia Lennon), a twenty year old woman who is excited about her up and coming wedding to Sky (Robert Halliwell). Never having known her father, Sophie discovers her mother's old diary that contains information revealing the names of the three top suspects. Sophie manages to locate their addresses, and mails each one an invitation to her wedding, but under the guise that her mother had sent the invitations, the men without even the faintest hint that the bride-to-be was potentially their daughter.

I have seen this show multiple times before, and Julia Lennon is the best Sophie I have ever seen. Julia Lennon plays the character Sophie, as opposed to playing an actress playing Sophie. It seems as if the other Sophies I have seen were all modeling their performance after another actresses' performance of the role, while Julia Lennon provided a fresh and unique interpretation of Sophie, one that rings of more sincerity. Back in my own days of acting, I would never first watch how other actors performed the role, because I always wanted to make mine every role I played. It was great to see Julia Lennon do that with the role of Sophie.

We first see Sophie's interactions with her friends Ali and Lisa who were convincingly played by Mara Santilli and Casey Walsh respectively. These three actresses gel together so well, that you would think they have known each other all their lives, even though there is no clear indication that such is the case with their characters. Their rather comedic exaggerated excitement upon seeing each other instantly creates the likeability of all three characters. It is to Ali and Lisa that Sophie initially shares her plan to discover her father, with the assumption that she will likely know which suspect he is, when and if she sees him.

The other central female character is Sophie's mother, Donna Sheridan, who is skillfully played by Priscilla Squiers, whose talents particularly shine on the musical number, "The Winner Takes It All." Donna is a bit leery about her daughter getting married so young, but still supports her daughter's wishes, regarding the wedding. Donna owns a hotel, and is greeted by her friends Tanya and Rosie who are magnificently performed by Susan Kulp and Angela Jackson, respectively. It is amusing to see that Donna's exaggerated excitement with her friends, upon seeing each other is identical to that which was earlier shown with Sophie and her friends, reflecting a mother-daughter similarity.

The three potential fathers, upon all arriving, not realizing the set-up, all get along nicely with each other. Donna soon sees all three, together, much to her shock and horror. This provokes Donna to start singing the title song, "Mamma Mia." All three potential fathers, Sam (Bill Molnar), Bill (Chris Hetherington), and Harry (John Royse) are likeable in their own ways, none written or performed in a way designed to make the audience specifically hope for him, or hope against him. Rather, the audience is presented with an unbiased choice of who we would like to see be Sophie's true father, a choice that will likely vary among different audience members, for a myriad of reasons.

Downtown Cabaret Theatre favorite Jason Parry brings his A game to the role of Pepper, an eccentric friend of the groom and employee of Donna. I honestly don't even recall this character from any other time I have seen this show, but I will now after Jason Parry's memorable first-rate performance which is complemented well by Kyle Riedinger who provides a strong performance as Eddie, another friend of the groom and employee of Donna.

For those who know the music of Abba, only for their most enduring commercially successful song, "Dancing Queen," this show exposes Abba's other songs to a new and larger audience. For anyone assuming that "Dancing Queen" is all that Abba has ever done, you will be pleased to hear that many of their other songs, are better, including "Mamma Mia," "Gimme Gimme Gimme," "S.O.S.", "Take a Chance on Me," "Lay All Your Love On Me," and "I Have a Dream."

Jennifer Kaye provides excellent choreography all throughout the show, with talented dancing from the leads, as well as the ensemble that includes Kaylin Weller, Sara Winant, Jacquie Maclean, Alaina Mccarvill, Dany Rousseau, Rebecca Martowski, Marisa Curti, Carter Trembley, and Martin Garcia. Some highlights include a moment during "Money Money Money," where the ensemble is clustered together in the front of the stage and slowly maneuvering towards stage left with such synchronized precision that it appeared as if they were standing on a rotating platform on stage that was carrying them all towards stage left. Another highlight is the boys doing the Freddie during a moment of "Lay All Your Love On Me."

I highly recommend MAMMA MIA! which is scheduled to continue to run at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT through October 20, 2019. For times and tickets, please go to https://dtcab.com/show/mamma_mia/.

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