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07/18/2019 12:01 AMMamma Mia is getting its second in-state production in one month, yet the two are totally different. The current production at Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday, July 28 gives us an intimate production that creates a true emotional reaction to the story.
These two productions are very different. The earlier production in June at the Connecticut Repertory Theater at UConn, was more a typical production with a larger cast and bigger stage.
I liked this production at Ivoryton more. I got more involved in the story and characters. Overall they were played more realistically and not as broadly.
So, in case you don’t remember the story, a young bride-to-be learns that her mother had brief encounters with three men the year before her birth. She sends each man an invitation to her wedding and amazingly they all arrive. They don’t know each other and the mother is not pleased to see them after 21 years. In addition to the three possible fathers, the mother’s two friends attend. The three were a musical group with the mother, Donna, as the lead singer.
It’s set on a Greek island; the music is drawn from the ABBA songbook. While it has been a huge hit—including two movies—let’s admit it is light entertainment. The plot is obvious—each man will decide he is the father, Donna will rekindle a romance with one of the men, etc. The lyrics are simplistic and often have minimal relevance to the story.
But—and it’s a huge but—it is fun, joyful, and entertaining.
Director JR Bruno has done a fine job with it, by focusing on the main characters: Donna; her daughter Sophia; the three men Sam, Bill, Harry; and Donna’s two friends, Rosie and Tanya. This allows the actors to create more fully realized characters rather than falling into shtick or stereotypes. For many numbers, we hear the ensemble, but they are hidden off stage; again this helps us focus on the main characters.
An addition that Bruno has made is more problematic. Various times during the show we see the “young” Donna as well as the “young” Bill, Harry and Sam. They don’t speak but do have some rather awkward dance moves. It doesn’t really work.
What does work is the overall excellent cast that Ivoryton has assembled, beginning with Laiona Michelle as Donna. She has a terrific voice and presence. Her Donna is practical and realistic and lonely. Her two friends, Tanya, played by Carly Callahan, and Rosie, played by Jessie Alagna, don’t exaggerate their character’s traits: Tanya, a multiple divorcee who favors wealthy men, and Rosie, the loner who has a wicked sense of humor. It would easy to overplay the lust of Tanya or the comic side of Rosie. In this production, Tanya’s flirtation with Pepper, a younger man who works at the tavern that Donna runs, is just that: a good natured flirtation.
The three men in Donna’s past are also very good: Sam, the American architect, has the largest role. Cooper Grodin projects the loneliness of a man who wants to go back in time and redo his past. Dane Agostinis plays Bill, the travel writer who is Australian. The accent sometimes comes and go and the costume is too obvious. As the British Harry, Billy Clark Taylor is very good, but again the accent is sporadic. Each carries their songs, though Sam is obviously the most important of three and has more solos.
This brings us to Sophia, the bride-to-me and her groom, Sky. The latter is a very bland character who is only sketched in; Jack Kay does not manage to give us more than the script provides, though he has a good singing voice. Stephanie Gomeréz is perky and young as Sophie with a sweet voice.
There were some missteps.
The set by Glenn Bassett has a semicircle protruding out, cutting down the playing area except when it is opened to reveal Donna’s bedroom. This seems awkward but also a way to bring the actors to the front of the stage, increasing the intimacy. It also prevents large-scale dance numbers. At first glance, the set seems not quite right in color for a Greek island, but with the effective lighting, I grew to like it.
The biggest misstep is a minor character who doesn't fit the tone that has been established and tends to draw our attention away from the others. Sophie has two friends on the island: Lisa and Ali. As performed by Cameron Khalil Sokes, Ali, who is supposed to be the more outgoing of the two friends, overdoes it becoming a distraction not only totally overshadowing Ana Yi Puig as Lisa but at times Sophie, Sky and even Donna.
Still, I had a good time. I am not a fan of Mamma Mia!, but if you are, you will enjoy this production. People were dancing in the aisle.
For tickets, visit ivorytonplayhouse.org or call 860-787-7318.
Editor’s Note: This review is a revised version of one that ran in Shore Publishing’s newspapers on Thursday, July 18.