MAMMA MIA! National Tour Coming to Merrill Auditorium, 5/13-14

Portland Ovations brings back Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' MAMMA MIA!, the smash hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, to Merrill Auditorium for only two shows on May 13th and 14th at 7:30pm.

Seen by over 54 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA!, is celebrating 5,000 performances on Broadway and is the 9th longest running show in Broadway history.The original West End production of MAMMA MIA! is now in its fifteenth year and has celebrated over 6,000 performances in London and the international tour has visited more than 74 foreign cities in 35 countries and been seen by over 4.3 million people. The blockbuster feature film adaptation of MAMMA MIA! is the most successful movie musical of all time grossing $600 million worldwide.

Seen in 38 productions in 14 different languages globally and with a worldwide gross of over $2 Billion, MAMMA MIA! is acclaimed by the Associated Press as "quite simply, a phenomenon."

An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna is about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends-practical and no-nonsense Rosie and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya - from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own.

On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities.

Sophie is played by Maine native and 2008 Windham High School graduate Chelsea Williams. After high school, Chelsea's roots spread to Boston where she earned a BFA from Emerson College, worked with the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, the Gloucester Stage Company, the Berkshire Theatre Group, and collaborated with the SITI Company on Café Variations, directed by Anne Bogart.

Inspired by the storytelling magic of ABBA's songs from "Dancing Queen" and "S.O.S." to "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me," MAMMA MIA! is a celebration of mothers and daughters, old friends and new family found.

Tickets for Mamma Mia! range from $40.50 to $63 for Ovations' Members and $45 to $70 for the general public. Mamma Mia! is sponsored locally by Dead River Company, IDEXX Laboratories and Headlight Audio Visual with media support provided by WGME 13 and Dispatch Magazine.

To purchase tickets, visit www.portlandovations.org, contact PortTix at 207-842-0800 or visit the box office window at Merrill Auditorium.

MAMMA MIA! is produced by Work Light Productions, whose other touring productions include American Idiot, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Chaplin.

The original production of MAMMA MIA! was 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.

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