Catch the five-time Tony Award nominee “Mamma Mia!” now through July 8 on stage at the Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Ave., Rock Island.
The ninth-longest-running Broadway musical of all time plays at Circa at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; 5:30 p.m. Sundays; and 1:15 p.m. Wednesdays. The show kicked off Friday, May 12.
Pre-show entertainment features Circa ‘21’s wait staff, the Bootleggers. Tickets — $60.55 for evening performances, $53.73 for Wednesday matinées — include dinner, the show and tax. For reservations, call 309-786-7733 ext. 2.
“Mamma Mia!” — last seen at Circa in 2018 — takes place on a small Greek island where Sophie (played by Caroline Portner at Circa) dreams of her perfect wedding, where her father gives her away, according to a news release from the dinner playhouse.
There’s just one problem: Sophie doesn’t know who he is.
Sophie’s mother, Donna (played by Kim VanDerGinst), is the former lead singer of a 1970s pop group, and she refuses to talk about the past. Taking matters into her own hands, Sophie reads her mother’s old diaries and discovers she has three possible fathers: Sam (Bobby Becher), Bill (Dan Hasty) and Harry (Thomas J. Besler). To solve the mystery, she secretly invites all three to the wedding, resulting in a funny, touching, musical-comedy smash, according to Circa ‘21.
The show features some two dozen Swedish-pop hits including ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo,” “S.O.S.,” “Take a Chance on Me” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.”
Helming his first Circa ’21 musical is Michael Brindisi, the longtime resident artistic director for Chanhassen Dinner Theatres in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Area favorite, Ron May, serves as music director, with choreographer Ashley Becher, scenic designer Kathleen Voecks, costume designer Bradley Robert Jensen, lighting designer Haley Brown, sound designer and engineer Ben Takitch, production manager Jeremy Littlejohn, stage manager and props designer Kendall McKasson, assistant stage manager and deck captain Emmett Boedeker, scenic artist Becky Meissen and spotlight operator Elsa Besler rounding out the creative team, according to Circa ‘21.
The cast features a blend of familiar and debuting area performers, according to Circa ‘21, including Emmett Boedeker, Abigail Graham, Sarah Hayes, Taylor Lynn, Tommy McCarthy, Molly McGuire, Anthony Milfelt, Caitie L. Moss, Sylvia Muchmore, Morgan Sexton, Jeremy Weinstein and Kyle DeFauw.
Coming off of a successful 45th season, Circa ’21’s staff is delighted to be continuing their 46th season this year with such an energetic, magical show, and hopes audience members have “the ABBA-salute time of (their) lives at ‘Mamma Mia!’”
For more information, visit circa21.com.
