Avon Players Presents MAMMA MIA!

The end may be in sight for the summer travel season, but Avon Players' upcoming musical will whisk theatre-goers away to an idyllic setting for infectious pop tunes, sun-drenched romance, and nonstop fun with Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus' Mamma Mia!, running September 6-21.

On a small Greek island, Sophie (Mackenzie McIlroy) is soon to marry Sky (Salvatore Sbrocca). She dreams of a perfect wedding in which her father gives her away. Unfortunately, she doesn't know who her father is. Her independent mother Donna (Tracy Murray), a former pop singer who runs the local inn, refuses to talk about her own wild youth. Sneaking a peek into Donna's old diary, Sophie discovers three possible fathers: architect Sam Carmichael (Dan Romzek), travel writer Bill Austin (Bill Davenport), and rocker-turned-financier Harry Bright (Adam Wager). Unbeknownst to Donna, Sophie invites the three men to the wedding without revealing her true motives. When all three show up, Donna, with the help of her former bandmates-jet-setting divorcée Tanya (Johannah Steinbrecher-Booker) and free-spirited cookbook author Rosie (Pamela Plewa)-must face her past while preparing for the big day. Meanwhile, Sophie finds that her questions about paternity and matrimony are not so easily answered.

Mamma Mia! is a "jukebox musical" (a show created from existing songs) based on the music of the chart-topping Swedish pop group ABBA. ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus composed the show's music and lyrics. Besides the title song, the show includes such hits as "Dancing Queen," "Take a Chance on Me," "Super Trouper," "Voulez-Vous," and many more.

Mamma Mia! debuted in London in 1999 and is running there still, making it the seventh longest-running show in West End history. The musical's New York run began in 2001. When it closed in 2015, Mamma Mia! became the ninth-longest running Broadway show and the longest-running jukebox musical in Broadway history. The show has been an unqualified international success having been performed in more than 50 countries on six continents. The 2008 film adaptation starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan grossed $615 million and spawned the 2018 sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

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