Mamma Mia: ABBA’s music soars into the Mediterranean sky.
Pierre Sirois as Pepper and Stefania Wheelhouse as Tanya
As the orchestra under the direction of Chris Santillán pumped out the first ringing notes , the first pounding beats of the overture performed by the electronic keyboards, acoustic instruments, percussions and other sounds of the time, Mamma Mía, left us with powerful memories of Orpheus Musical Theatre that will certainly carry us through the summer. It included a packed house at the Centrepointe, an audience barely able to contain itself, trembling with excitement and shrieking with joy after almost every musical number. It all exploded like a huge love in- style 1970s- of proportions that I have never seen before in that theatre.
Thanks to director Shaun Toohey , musical director Chris Santillán and the whole production team, this version of Mamma Mia captured the sound and the spirit of ABBA’s glorious music and singing so perfectly that they carried us far beyond that feel good fairy tale about Donna’s past love life and her daughter’s desire, 20 years later, to discover the identity of her real dad before she gets married . The music expressed a sense of wonderment and emotion that soared far beyond the stage. It had us hanging out on a Greek Island in the heat of the Mediterranean, where the temperature went up a good notch thanks to David Magladry’s sizzling red lighting and the collaboration of set designers Jenn Donnelly and Tony Walker. Linda Sabourin and Susan Cole produced fantasy- filled costumes that suggested ABBA performances transforming this staging into a show within a show! How interesting! Even Susie-Bregg-Krzyzanowski ‘s choreography that stretched from underwater parody of the boys in green wet suits to the wild dancing moments seemed to be calculated to make the sexual tension rise by creating a sense of exciting but perfectly ordered chaos that had the young dancers (and their characters) enjoying every minute of it .
The story is perfect escapism for all ages but the staging of the music went to a whole new level as all the best known ABBA songs rung out one after the other in perfect ABBA sound. Numbers such as “Dancing Queen”, “Knowing Me Knowing You”,” Take a chance on me”, “ Chiquitita” and the list went on, echoing the ABBA sounds backed up by beautiful solo voices and a strong chorus in the wings. They almost created the impression that they were all lip-synching , the ABBA illusion was so perfect.
Act II moved into a more delicate emotional situation as they are given the chance to explain their lives, their feelings , the reasons why their relationships came to an end. At that point, the lyrical quality of each interpretation placed more emphasis on the link between the depth of emotion and the words and a more refined expression through the music. The show appeared to be moving nearer to a work of light opera as strong individual vocal performances (such Donna the mother ( Nicole Milne ) soared to great heights. The trio of dads : Geoff B eck as Sam, Réjean Dinelle-Mayer as Harry , Michael Schilder as Bill were fine actors as well as singers and each one captured his character in all its differences and its anguish as this intriguing invitation to Sophie’s wedding has them returning to their past, rethinking some wonderful moments that they all shared with Donna. A glorious evening of musical and emotional nostalgia that became a beautiful tribute to the group whose music was well served by the whole team.
Mamma Mía continues until June 10 at Centrepointe Theatre.
Mamma Mía, lyrics by Benny Anderson and B jörn Ulvaeus . Book by Catherine Johnson, originally conceived by judy Cramer. With additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch.Ca. For tickets call 613-580-2700, Centrepointe Theatre.