Christina Myatt, Chris Castle, and Heather Herkelman in Quad City Music Guild's “Mamma Mia!” at the Prospect Park Auditorium --July 9 through 18.
Friday, July 9, through Sunday, July 18
Prospect Park Auditorium, 1584 34th Avenue, Moline IL
Nominated for five 2001 Tony Awards and currently the ninth-longest-running Broadway musical of all time, the internationally beloved Mamma Mia! – running at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium July 9 through 18 – becomes the first Quad City Music Guild production to enjoy live performances since 2019, with the show's collection of timeless ABBA tunes inspiring the New York Post to call the experience “one of those nights when you sit back and let a nutty kind of joy just sweep over you.”
Mamma Mia! takes place on a small Greek island where Sophie dreams of her perfect wedding – one that includes her father giving her away. The problem, however, is that Sophie doesn’t know who he is. Her mother Donna, the former lead singer of a 1970s pop group, refuses to talk about the past, so Sophie decides to take matters into her own hands. Sneaking a peek in her mother’s old diaries, she discovers three possible fathers: Sam, Bill, and Harry. Sophie secretly invites all three to the wedding, convinced that she’ll know her father when she sees him, and what results in Mamma Mia! is a funny, touching, and dance-tastic musical-comedy smash boasting two dozen Swedish-pop hits including ABBA's “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo,” “S.O.S.,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” After opening on Broadway in October of 2001, Mamma Mia! – the longest-running jukebox musical in Broadway history – went on to earn Tony nominations in categories including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical, and finally concluded its New York run in 2015 after 5,758 performances.
Directing Mamma Mia! for Music Guild is Colleen Houlihan, who also helmed the theatre's 2017 production of Into the Woods, with Bob Manasco serving as music director, Deb Swift as assistant music director, Sue Woodard as assistant director and stage manager, and Beth Marsoun as choreographer. The show's designers include Luke Vermeire (sets), Connie McGinn (costumes), Robert and Brittney Crist (lighting), Kayla Sierra-Lee (sound), and Matt Stoefen (props), while longtime Music Guild veteran Harold Truitt serves as producer.
Sophie is played by Olivia Lyman, a co-star in the Black Box Theatre's Next to Normal and the Spotlight Theatre's Matilda: The Musical, and her mother Donna is portrayed by Christina Myatt, whose previous Guild credits include directing 2019's 42nd Street and starring in 2017's Sunset Boulevard. The roles of Sam, Bill, and Harry are played, respectively, by David Miller, David Baxter, and Mark McGinn, with Mamma Mia's cast also boasting Alyssa Castro, Chris Castle, Aaron Deneckere, Joey Dryoel, Heather Herkelman, Lauren Larson, and John Whitson. And 13 local talents compose the musical's ensemble: Kailey Ackermann, Chelsea Crumbleholme, Drew Dowda, Sydney Heller, Kat Jecklin, Marcus King, Justin Lebo, Alex Minyard, Sheri Olson, Susie Carsell-Schaechter, Vaughn Vavrosky, Luke Vermeire, and Amelia “Mia” Ward.
Quad City Music Guild's Mamma Mia! runs at the Prospect Park Auditorium July 9 through 8, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $11-16, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-6610 and visiting QCMusicGuild.com.
