ABBA’s timeless and classic songs propel the enchanting tale of love, laughter, friendship and mystery as the Heidelberg University School of Music & Theatre closes its season with the lively and fun “Mamma Mia!” April 11-14 in Gundlach Theatre.
This ’70s jukebox musical romantic comedy combines a large cast with non-stop laughs, great singing and explosive dance numbers. Audiences will enjoy classic ABBA tunes such as “Dancing Queen,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” “The Winner Takes It All” and “Take a Chance on Me.” The director is Stephen Svoboda, assistant professor and director of theatre at Heidelberg. The music director is David Cotter, adjunct theatre instructor, and the choreographer is Karina Browne, adjunct instructor of dance and movement.
“Mamma Mia!” tells the story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father. The tale unfolds on a Greek island paradise on the eve of the wedding of Sophie (Kaylea Bowers) to Sky (Chad Walkins). The 20-year-old woman about to be married discovers that any one of three men could be her father. She invites all three – Sam Carmichael (Sam Stohlman), Bill Austin (Austin Buckhalter) and Harry Bright (Gavin Hubbard) – to the wedding without telling her mother, Donna (professional guest artist Aubry Ludlington-Panek), with the hope that her actual father will walk her down the aisle.
The cast also includes Tanya (Madison Swyers) and Rosie (Lo Jackson), former backup singers for Donna’s band, Donna and the Dynamos; bridesmaids Lisa (Kyrsten Lilly) and Ali (Caira Goldstein); Sky’s friends Pepper (Sam Buckey) and Eddie (Gavin Buurma); and wedding officiant Father Alexandrios (Will Sweeney).
Male chorus members include Eli Rousculp, Joe Boehler, Shane Souders, Adam Robinson, David Tchoukeu Tchad, James Ogle, Robert Futrell and Parker Topp. Female chorus members are Devyn Carder, Chenhui Zhang, Charlotte Sypula, Kenzie James, Hollie Dunn, Ashley Dawson, Riley Gibson, Erikka Breindenbach, Emma Baughman, Lizzie Bowman, Paige Hood, Rebecca Helt, Martina Dimiduk, Jasmine Ridler, Taylor Richardson, Haley Martin, April Hall, Ace Gutchall, McKenna Byrne, Jordan Kline, Abbie Reichart, Michelle Chen, Monica Brinkley, Lauren Simonski, Sarah Zapola and McCartney Betz.
Because of popular demand, a fifth performance – a Saturday matinee—has been added. Curtain times are as follows: Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be reserved at gundlachtheatre.org.