Photo Credit: George Katsekes Jr.
The old, familiar music of Swedish pop group ABBA bounces across the big stage in Elm Grove as Sunset Playhouse presents the musical Mamma Mia! Scenic designer Matthew Carr and lighting designer Mike Van Dreser deliver a clean and spacious feeling to a romantic drama set on an idyllic Greek island. A couple of excellent leads and notable performances from around the edges of the ensemble lend heart and passion to a story animated by classic pop tunes.
Laura Monagle is wry and appealing as Donna, a hotel owner and manager thrust into a strange walk with her own past when three men arrive on her tiny, Greek isle. Monagle summons a tough assertiveness to the role of a harried small business owner. That toughness is balanced by the engaging emotional warmth and tenderness of someone at a reflective time in her life. Her daughter is, after all, getting married on the island.
The sudden arrival of Donna’s three former lovers is brought about courtesy of Sophie, Donna’s soon-to-be-wed daughter. Hope Riesterer glides gracefully between happiness and anxiety in the role. Her more energetic moments contrast against an impressively sophisticated emotional nuance as Sophie gets more complication than she had bargained for in the arrival of three potential fathers.
Monagle and Riesterer serve as the center of a big ensemble show with lots of quaint, little musical excursions away from the central plot. Not everything fits together perfectly, but Monagle and Riesterer do a good job of holding the emotional center of an entertaining show.
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Through Nov. 3 at Furlan Auditorium, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove.
