Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ is bright and breezy fun

There’s a reason that “Mamma Mia!” ran 14 years on Broadway (closing just last year) and is still running in London after 17 years. The show, a cleverly crafted jukebox musical of 22 vintage ABBA songs reworked into a frothy, romantic – even sexy – valentine, is just such bright and breezy fun.

And the version that opened Wednesday as Music Theatre Wichita’s 45th season finale sparked considerable laughter and even brought out spontaneous, boisterous cheers from audience members long before the standing ovation at curtain call.

Directed by Wayne Bryan, MTWichita’s longtime producing artistic director, this romp isn’t great art, but it does have enough emotional heart and poignancy to make you feel you’ve had an experience beyond just entertainment. Written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, there are subtle truths about second chances, deciding what you really want and discovering who you really are that resonate with virtually everyone who has gone through the throes of first love.

The genius of Johnson’s writing is that ABBA lyrics you may never have paid attention to before suddenly have new and exciting meaning when put into a cohesive story. It makes the songs fresh again, regardless of whether you are an ABBA fan.

Thanks to a gorgeous set by J Branson and colorful lighting by David Neville, this is a particularly pretty show. It’s set in a white stucco taverna with turquoise shutters on a sun-drenched Greek island straight out of a travel postcard.

Branson’s movable, variable and intricate set is considerably more detailed and substantial than the minimalist tour that came through Wichita years ago. And Neville’s lighting gives breathtaking vistas of intense blue skies, rosy sunsets and even some sparkling disco mirror balls and strobe lighting effects for party scenes.

Helping keep the pace brisk and frisky, choreographer Brian J. Marcum (who also did “Hello, Dolly!” here last year) provides some surprising moves, notably hilarious disco posing and a show-stopping, Busby Berkeley-like men’s chorus line in scuba gear complete with flippers.

Dixon Reynolds’ often lavish costumes capture both the gaudy disco era of the music and the exotic, casual pastels of the carefree Greek isles. And music director Thomas W. Douglas (also at the keyboards instead of just conducting) re-creates the synthesized ABBA sounds with his nine-member combo.

Broadway veteran and frequent guest artist Kim Huber is the heart of “Mamma Mia!” as a middle-aged single mom who once headlined a girl-power music group called Donna and the Dynamos. She had three short but passionate affairs during an idyllic summer 21 years before, and her daughter, the product of one of them, now wants to find the dad she never knew to walk her down the aisle. Unbeknownst to her mom, the girl invites the three old beaux to her wedding, hoping for a happily-ever-after. That’s the improbable plot.

But the strong performances and the sheer joy that the cast exudes is what you’ll remember. Huber (Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast,” original cast of “Sunset Boulevard”) is the spunky, independent, sometimes defiant core of the show. She seems to pitch herself lower than her usual Disney princess soprano to capture a more mature, sexier sound as Donna. Her “The Winner Takes It All” hurled at her ex-lover is a powerful, agonized anthem, and her “Slipping Through My Fingers” about her daughter’s leaving home can move you to tears.

Broadway’s Paula Leggett Chase as Tonya and local favorite Karen Robu as Rosie are Donna’s backup singers from their old girl-group heyday who have remained best friends. Chase is tall, blonde and elegant as the much-married Tonya. She is a delight as a cynical pseudo-sophisticate. Robu, with red hair and a bustling pace, is the joker of the trio who will say anything that comes to mind.

The three have an easy, affectionate, comic chemistry. Their “Dancing Queen” brought down the house opening night. And Chase’s “Does Your Mother Know,” sung to a boytoy who is infatuated with her, is sexy and hilarious, putting a whole different spin on the original song.

Vincent Corazza (previously MTWichita’s “Big Fish”) plays Sam, Thom Sesma (“The King and I,” “Catch Me If You Can”) is Harry, and Damon Kirsche (“My Fair Lady,” “Camelot”) is Bill – the three potential dads.

Corazza, who plays a divorced architect, has a sexy charm and a strong leading-man voice as Donna’s one-true-love who married someone else out of duty. Sesma, as a one-time self-proclaimed “head banger” who sold out to become an uptight British banker, and Kirsche, as a swaggering, commitment-phobic travel writer from Australia, are more comic relief. Their respective accents come on a bit cartoonishly strong, then mysteriously disappear during songs as each gets a telling duet with Donna.

Lexis Danca and Quinn Herron, both members of MTWichita’s summer troupe, stand out as Donna’s willful daughter, Sophie, and her handsome finance, Sky. Danca, previously singled out as Babette, the feather duster in “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” particularly, holds her own against the guest professionals’ vocals.

Danca’s lilting, sometimes winsome, soprano opens and closes the show with a hauntingly lovely “I Have a Dream,” providing just the right bookends for this warm-and-fuzzy tale.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ is bright and breezy fun."