Wednesday, July 18, through Saturday, September 15
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Nominated for five 2001 Tony Awards and currently the ninth-longest-running Broadway production in history, the internationally beloved musical Mamma Mia! enjoys its first extended Quad Cities run at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse July 18 through September 15, the show's collection of timeless tunes from the Swedish pop group ABBA leading the New York Post to call the experience “one of those nights when you sit back and let a nutty kind of joy just sweep over you.”
Mamma Mia! takes place on a small Greek island where Sophie dreams of her perfect wedding – one that includes her father giving her away. The problem, however, is that Sophie doesn’t know who he is. Her mother, the former lead singer of a 1970s pop group, refuses to talk about the past, so Sophie decides to take matters into her own hands. Sneaking a peek in her mother’s old diaries, she discovers three possible fathers: Sam, Bill, and Harry. Sophie secretly invites all three to the wedding, convinced that she’ll know her father when she sees him, and what results in Mamma Mia! is a funny, touching, and thrilling musical-comedy smash boasting two dozen ABBA hits including “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo,” “SOS,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.”
Opening on Broadway in October 2001, Mamma Mia! went on to earn Tony nominations in categories including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical, and finally concluded its New York run in 2015 after 5,758 performances. In 2008, the show also inspired a Golden Globe-nominated movie starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried, with the long-awaited sequel – Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again – opening in theaters on the same day as Circa '21's July 20 opening performance of the stage sensation.
Making his Circa '21 directing debut with Mamma Mia! is Michael Ferrell, Lavender magazine's two-time Choreographer of the Year whose stage credits include the musicals Hairspray, The Drowsy Chaperone, Guys & Dolls, and Les Misérables. Venue favorite Ron May serves as the show's music director, with familiar faces in the cast including Circa '21 veterans Erin Churchill, Kenton Fridley, Jeff March, Jennifer Poarch, and Tom Walljasper. Rounding out Mamma Mia's cast are 11 additional song-and-dance talents: Jarrett Bennett, Aaron Heaps, Illy Kirven, Brooke Myers, Danielle Nelson, Michael Penick, Adam Sowards, Danielle Swink, Krysti Wiita, Andrew Wright, and debuting Circa '21 performer Courtney Groves as Sophie.
In addition to its preview performances on July 18 and 19, Mamma Mia! will be performed Fridays, Saturdays, and Wednesdays at 7:45 p.m.; Sundays at 5:45 p.m.; and Wednesday afternoons at 1:30 p.m. All shows will be preceded by meals and pre-show entertainment by the theatre's performing wait staff of Circa '21 Bootleggers, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 or visiting Circa21.com.
