Mama Mia! is a cute comedy
with a rockin' musical score
Reviewed by Joe Blenkle/Sacramento Stage & Theatre
Bethany Pagliolo, Kristie Marsden and Elana Ernst star in MAMMA MIA! playing at the Community Center Theatre through June 15 as part of California Musical Theatre's Broadway Series. Photo: Joan Marcus.
    Prior to seeing MAMMA MIA! which opened at Sacramento's Community Center Theatre June 4 and runs through the 15th, everything I'd seen in advance of the production mentioned its "thin" plot used only as a vehicle for the 22 featured ABBA songs.
    Well, thin is a relative term. MAMMA MIA! is one of the cutest and funniest musicals that has rolled through Sacramento in quite some time.
    The story centers around a 20-year old girl named Sophie Sheridan (Kristie Marsden) who is about to get married. She, along with her single mother Donna (Monique Lund), live on a Greek Island. Her mother, a former rock singer, is owner of the local hotel. Sophie desparetly wants to know who her father is and have him give her away at her wedding, but her mother has refused to tell her all these years. So, Sophie takes the initiative and reads her mother's diary from 21 years ago and discovers that three men could possibly be her father. Not sure what to do, she invites them all to the wedding - using her mother's name - and hopes she will be able to recognize the man who is her father when they arrive.
    You can probably imagine the rest as Donna is suddenly faced with a past she wants to forget and Sophie is suddenly stuck with three men who think that they are her father.
Ellen Harvey (Tanya), Monique Lund (Donna) and Robin Baxter (Rosie) belt out a final show stopping number in MAMMA MIA! Photo: Joan Marcus.
    MAMMA MIA! is not only funny, but uses its collection of ABBA songs to appeal to everyone in the audience. Such songs as "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and, of course, "Mamma Mia!" are only a few of the numbers that had the audience - young and old - literally up and dancing and singing along.
    There are truly a number of scenes that will leave you in stitches, but I won't give them away - it's best to see them in person.
    I will tell you, however, that one of the best parts of the show comes after the final scene when the cast retakes the stage. It seems Donna and her two backup singers Rosie (Robin Baxter) and Tanya (Ellen Harvey) have decided to come out of retirement for one final set of show stopping tunes!
    MAMMA MIA! runs through Sunday, June 15. Tickets are priced between $15-$67.50 and available at the Community Center box office, 1301 L Street; the Wells Fargo Pavilion box office, 1419 H Street, or by phone at (916) 557-1999. Tickets can also be purchased from tickets.com at (916) 776-2277. Curtain times are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. and matinees Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
    For more information on MAMMA MIA! - visit the official web site at: www.mamma-mia.com. For more information on the Broadway Series and Music Circus' new season which begins July 8 with CATS, visit CaliforniaMusicalTheatre.com.
2003-04 BROADWAY SERIES ANNOUNCED - The 2003-04 Broadway Series has been announced and will include the following. Oct. 1-12, 2003 - 42nd Street; Nov. 5-16, 2003 - Flower Drum Song; Dec. 27, 2003-Jan. 3, 2004 - Bob Becker's Defending the Caveman; Jan. 28-Feb. 8, 2004 - Dreamgirls; Mar. 10-21, 2004 - Starlight Express; May 5-16, 2004 - Thoroughly Modern Millie; June 9-July 4, 2004 - The Producers.
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