Review: "Mamma Mia" - Music Theater Works, Chicago
Sometimes what you really need from a night at the theater is to sit back with a smile, enjoy old favorites and leave humming or singing the songs from the night.
It’s one reason why Mamma Mia is such a popular musical that can draw big crowds—as it did on the opening night of Music Theater Works production at their new venue, the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, north of Chicago.
The audience is immediately welcomed into the tropical paradise that is the Greek island where Sophie is about to get married and is trying to figure out who her dad is—something her mother, Donna, has told her she doesn’t know. Lighting Designer Andrew Myers and Set Designer Kristen Martino create a bright set with the sunset colors of pinks and oranges and a welcoming taverna with white hanging lights. Theirs is a skilled partnership that efficiently communicates transitions and moods.
Director Justin Brill and Music Director and Conductor Linda Madonia skip the usual overture to dive right into the story, a decision that makes a lot of sense in a musical that is already two and half hours long and in which the audience is (thankfully) required to stay masked the entire time.
Heather Banks enters the stage as Sophie, singing the heartfelt prologue. Banks, who has performed in a wide variety of popular musicals and television commercials, immediately shows off her vocal talents, radiating charm and a credible mix of innocence and strength. She and Alexis Armstrong, who plays Donna, have incredible chemistry, showing both warmth and tension in what is clearly a loving relationship, no matter what their differences might be.
Banks does a great job of alternating between sweet and sultry, with a commanding stage presence that always draws the eye. She generates empathy as she struggles to make tough decisions, whether it is about figuring out who her father is, understanding her mother’s choices, or knowing what she wants out of her impending marriage and the rest of her life. Her musical numbers were a highlight of the show as her full voice owned each number.
Armstrong gives the audience a strong Donna, one who easily intimidates her staff and the former men in her life while being able to fall completely apart in front of her besties. Her Donna is complex and entertaining—Armstrong has great comic timing both physically and vocally.
While Armstrong and Banks dominate the stage, much of the fun in Mamma Mia is in the ensemble—the hen party, the groom’s friends kidnapping him for a bachelor party, the taverna guests, and Sophie’s dream scene with her potential dads competing to walk her down the aisle. Everyone in the ensemble brings a character to the stage, contributing to the fun of the show. Some standouts include Veronica Garza as Rosie, Oliver Schilling as Pepper, Ahmad K. Simmons as Sky, and Andrew Fortman as Sam Carmichael.
Garza, who is new to Musical Theater Works but has performed throughout the region, has great moves that kept the audience laughing and portrayed an infectious happiness that bolstered both of her best friends and made her scenes with Bill (one of the potential fathers) especially entertaining. The two of them bring the house down with laughter during “Take a Chance On Me.”
Schilling is a choreographer as well as an actor and director and he had great moves, especially as he tried to seduce Tanya (Donna’s other best friend) during “Does Your Mother Know.” He stopped just short of being sleazy even if he expertly induced winces at his lame pick-up lines. But it doesn’t matter what he says—his dancing is what steals the scene.
Simmons is the perfect counterpoint to Armstrong. Whereas her character expresses anxiety and uncertainty, his Sky, Sophie’s fiancé, is steadfast and confident. The two of them turn up the heat with “Lay All Your Love on Me” and his all-around likeability raises the stakes surrounding the final outcome of the wedding.
Fortman always has the long view in mind. While a jukebox musical can often tempt an actor to ignore character arc in favor of a traditional presentation of a musical favorite, Fortman’s Sam (a potential father and one who has carried a torch for Donna) always keeps his character’s motivation to the forefront. He shows his uneasiness, his longing, his sense of loss. It makes the rather fantastical ending at least a teeny bit believable. He brought a haunting edginess to “Knowing Me, Knowing You.”
The other standout is Shanna VanDerwerker, a choreographer who comes to Musical Theater Works with an impressive array of credentials. Not that her resume matters so much as the absolutely high-energy choreography painted with character-driven storytelling. She pushes the performers and gets from them dance numbers that are as exciting and interesting as the songs are well-known and hummable. The numbers are creative and keeps the night on high-octane. She even puts the male ensemble in flippers for a dance number before they carry Sky off to his stag party.
Costumer Rueben Echoles created eye candy from start to finish. Whether it was the sequin-soaked 70s glam outfits for the girl-power band (and later their male counterparts), the island-casual to sexy short dress transformations, or the ghost-like, near-robotic dads of Sophie’s nightmare, Echoles draws from a wide palette of wedding whites, tropical oranges, and high-fashion blacks to keep the visual interest high.
Brill recognizes that his audience has been away from the theater for too long and that many are seeking a night free from the stress and anxieties that have accompanied the pandemic and the fears that it is entering a new and deadly phase. He invites the audience to this fictional Greek island and extends them a welcome to enjoy singing, dancing, and an ultimately silly premise. He encourages his actors to keep the stakes high but to also never lose sight that “Mamma Mia” is meant to be an easy night at the theater.
He might have done better to have the dads lose their accent in the first scene because they aren’t well maintained throughout the rest of the show and while the rest of the show is easy, that scene makes the audience strain to understand all that is being said.
As for the rest of the evening, the cast and crew create an oasis of indulgence in musical theater, one that delivers on the promise to entertain from start to finish. And sends the audience away with earworms that are sure to last for days.