Por JEAN LOWERISON | Noticias de la zona alta<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re in the mood for a mini-vacation on a small, sunny Greek isle, brush up on your favorite ABBA tunes and grab a ticket to Coronado Playhouse\u2019s joyous, tuneful version of \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing through Dec. 15 and wonderfully cast (often against type) by director Jennie Gray Connard, this show will have you humming along and wanting to dance as you watch the wedding preparations for 20-year-old Sophie (Olivia Lucci), daughter of Donna (Chrissy Burns), and groom-to-be Sky (Connor Boyd).<\/p>\n
Donna, who seems to have had a colorful past, owns a successful hotel\/taverna on the island. The place was designed by one brief lover named Sam, an architect who in fact designed Donna\u2019s island digs. He\u2019s also the one she wanted to marry, but he had the effrontery to go off and marry someone else instead.<\/p>\n
At more or less the same time, Donna was playing around with a British banker named Harry and a writer named Bill.<\/p>\n
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Sophie wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. The problem is that no one, including Donna, knows which of the above-mentioned trio is Sophie\u2019s father. So the bride-to-be invited all three (in Donna\u2019s name) \u2014 without telling her. Sam is played by Barron Henzel; Harry by Thomas Fitzpatrick; and Bill by Steven Jensen. All are pitch-perfect.<\/p>\n
Also along for the ride are Donna\u2019s old band buddies Tanya (Dawn Marie Zuniga-Williams) and Rosie (Heather Deerfield). Back in those distant high school days, they were known as Donna and the Dynamos. Tanya has since married rich and dresses accordingly. Rosie has stayed single, but she\u2019s getting to the point where hooking up sounds like a good idea.<\/p>\n
Hooking up is part of what this show is about. There are lots of possibilities here, but the unexpected one (and my favorite) is Pepper (Tyler Kirk), who works at the taverna. He\u2019s young, tall and ripped, knows it, and decides to throw himself at middle-aged redhead Tanya, who sings a great song called \u201cDoes Your Mother Know?\u201d He\u2019s a stitch.<\/p>\n
And oh yes, the Dynamos get together again for a few well-chosen songs. Mostly, in fact, this show is about those toe-tapping ABBA ditties, which require at least eight good singers. Coronado\u2019s got \u2018em, along with a boffo six-man band led by Kirk Valles, and three extra \u201cpit singers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bravo to director Connard for against-type casting here. These folks don\u2019t all look like Meryl Streep or Pierce Brosnan, but that only makes their characters more real and much more relatable.<\/p>\n
Connard also tosses in amusing blocking touches. The serviceable, easily reconfigurable dual-level set (by Shaun Tuazon-Martin) has one large upstairs door and one smaller, closet door used to good effect when chorus chime-ins are required. I\u2019ll leave you to find out what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n
Bravo to Marcene Drysdale and the rest of the design team for the terrific costumes. Arly Christiaan Stroben’s design of those flashy skin-tight numbers for Donna and the Dynamos was of particular note. And to lighting designers designers Josh Olmstead and Anthony Zelig and sound designer Jack Connard.<\/p>\n
Love, lost and found on a Greek island. What a great idea for a musical. Maybe that\u2019s why \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d ran 14 years on Broadway. Here\u2019s your chance to see a particularly fine production of this delightful show.<\/p>\n