Review: MAMMA MIA! at Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre

FMCT brings Mamma Mia to life!

Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre continues to bring us top notch show after show and Mamma Mia is no exception.

For those who have never had the pleasure of seeing a live production or the movie here is a brief synopsis.

On the ever of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.

Set to the music of Abba, this show will have you dancing in your seats and singing along to the music. Speaking of the music, a huge shout out to the 14-member orchestra led by Jason Carlson.

Now to the standouts, and there were many.

Katie Spokely, as Sophie (the daughter), was fantastic! She has a very powerful voice that we luckily got to hear many times. Right off the bat we hear her on "I have a Dream" and right after that we are treated to "Honey, Honey" featuring Sophie, Ali (Megan Hovinen) & Lisa (Rachel Rebischke). The performance of "Thank you for the Music" By Harry, Bill, Sam & Sophie and a beautiful moment in the show. I could continue to mention every number that Sophie was in because they were all wonderful.

Next, we have Kellie Pifer as Donna (the mom). Kellie is another very powerful voice and she absolutely killed it on "Winner takes it all", this was easily the standout performance of Act II. We also get to hear her on "Money, Money, Money" and the title track "Mamma Mia" in Act I. One of the truly fun moments was "Super Trouper" featuring Donna, Tanya & Rosie.

Randall Taylor as Sky was a great cast choice. Randall definitely made the role his own. The on stage chemistry with Katie was perfect. The only bad thing is that we don't get to hear him solo enough, but he definitely got to shine on "Lay all your love on me" with Katie and this number even featured a hilarious dance number featuring cast members in wetsuits and flippers.

Sam, Harry and Bill played by Steve Borgen, Michael Spiese and Lee Klocke respectively all played their parts very well and each was able to have their moment's throughput the show. As already mentioned above "Thank You for the Music" was a beautiful song. Bill & Sophie were wonderful on "The Name of The Game". Sam and Donna on S.O.S. and Sam on "Knowing Me, Knowing You" were both standout performances. Bill & Rosie (Tanya Weets) doing "Take a Chance On Me" was hilarious and nicely performed. Since I mentioned Rosie, I have to be sure to mention Tanya (Jeanette Smith-Murphy) as her performance with Pepper (Benjamin Salazar) on "Does Your Mother Know" was another favorite.

The whole ensemble cast was great and I recognized many faces from previous performances. This is a great production that I think everyone will enjoy.

**Photo Credit Perry Rust

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