Mamma Mia! Returns

Break out your best polyester, Mamma Mia! returns to Chicago and it is better than ever. After almost a decade since its West End premier, the ABBA based musical has been seen by over 32 million people worldwide and an average of 17,000 attend show every single night. With the film version also becoming one of the summers box office blockbusters (to this reviewer's dismay) Mamma Mia! is an infectious and delightful show that will reign as one of the best musicals of the last twenty years and shows no sign of slowing down.

This latest tour return is also a homecoming for several of the leads, Susan McMonagle (Donna) and Michael Aaron Linder (Harry Bright) both staples of Chicago musical theatre. McMonagle, who gave a star turn as Eva Peron and Michael Aaron Linder whose Jeff Award winning Sweeney Todd is still talked about at cocktail parties.

There has been some retooling for this tour. The set and the ensemble are scaled down from prior incarnations though this is hardly noticeable but for the huge expanse of the Auditorium Theatre. Scaling down aside, this is one of the funniest and tightest casts to ever perform the show. As Donna's best friends, Kittra Wynn Coomer (Rosie) and Michelle Elizabeth Dawson (Tanya) have perfect comic delivery and incredible on stage chemistry. ‘Chiquitita' and ‘Dancing Queen' have never been danced or sung better and the friendship between the three ladies has never been more believable.

Rose Sezniak is the perfect embodiment of Sophie and gives an emotionally charged rendition of ‘Name of The Game'. and has a spirited yet mature approach to playing the bride to be. Sezniak and McMonagle have some great moments together in the heart tugging ‘Slipping Through My Fingers'. It is only with the miscast Geoffrey Hemingway the some of the romance and idealism seem forced.

As the would-be fathers, John Hemphill (Sam Carmichael), Mr. Linder and Martin Kildare (Bill Austin) kick the show into high gear upon their entrance and each are giving their own Abba- licious numbers to show off their vocal and comic talents. It was a relief to the ears to hear Mr. Hemphill sing S.O.S. as since the film version, I have not been able to get the atonal screaming's of Pierce Brosnan out of my head.

The rest of ensemble is first rate and their dancing is quite energetic and inventive while the choral parts are precise and clear.

Then there is Susie. Ms. McMonagle gives her Donna Sheridan a depth and vulnerability which is a welcome departure from how most actresses have approached the character. When her big number comes, McMonagle's big alto belt goes into overdrive on her last note in ‘The Winner Takes It All' and her interpretation makes the number take on a whole new meaning and is almost life affirming.

It is hard to believe that it has been almost ten years since my best friend made me fly with him to London to catch a new show that was in its second week of previews. There was something in the air that night at the Prince Edward Theatre and that magic is still alive and well and living in every production of Mamma Mia!. In a time the world is in such a stressful state of affairs, we each owe it to ourselves to spend a few hours on a Greek island with Donna and her friends listening to the wonderful, hand clapping songs of one of the most beloved groups of all time.

Mamma Mia! runs through September 28, 2008 at the Auditorium Theatre. For show times and tickets please visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com or www.ticketmaster.com or www.mamma-mia.com

Photo: Susan McMonagle and Kittra Wynn Coomer perform Dancing Queen
Photo by: Joan Marcus