April 23, 2024

Tony-nominated ‘Mamma Mia!’ to make stop in Des Moines during farewell tour

By Jessica Lowe

“Mamma Mia!” will be making a six-day stop in Des Moines beginning Jan. 17. Tickets are still available for the Tony-nominated show at the Des Moines Civic Center. Pictured from left are cast members Cashelle Butler, Betsy Padamonsky and Sarah Smith. (Submitted Photo)

Dust off the old bellbottoms, grab a “Dancing Queen” and boogie on down to the Des Moines Civic Center for the upcoming production of “Mamma Mia!” The Tony-nominated musical, which is on its farewell tour, begins its six-day run in Iowa on Tuesday.

“Mamma Mia!” follows the story of Donna, a hotelier on a Greek island and former singer in a girl group, who is preparing for her daughter Sophie’s wedding. Unbeknownst to Donna, the bride-to-be has a plan of her own to learn the identity of her father. Sophie contacts three men she believes could be her dad — Sam, Bill and Harry — and invites them to her wedding where hilarity, mishaps, love and lots of singing ensues.

“The show has so much heart and comes to life right before the audiences’ eyes every night,” said Betsy Padamonsky, who plays Donna. “The part I love about the show is that it is so relatable. They truly can relate to the show with the stories of love found, love lost, mother-daughter, friendship. There’s all these relatable stories and they come with us on this journey every night and that is my favorite part.”

Not only is the story relatable, the music is well-known coming from the songbook of Swedish pop group ABBA. The hit jukebox musical features ABBA hits like “Super Trouper,” “Lay All Your Love on Me,” “Take a Chance on Me” and the ever popular “Dancing Queen.”

“I love all of the show. The show is great and I’m a huge ABBA fan,” Padamonsky said. “I really love singing ‘SOS.’ I love all the songs really because I was a massive ABBA fan long before the show.”

“Mamma Mia!” is the longest running jukebox musical in history and the eighth-longest running show in Broadway history. Padamonsky said the show has taken its place in Broadway history sparking the popularity of many other musicals using famous song books.

“(As far as jukebox musicals) there is ‘Jersey Boys’, there was ‘All Shook Up’ the Elvis one, ‘American Idiot,’ there’s a bunch of them that have kind of come along and some have been more successful than others but this one has stuck around and has been a huge part of musical theater culture for 16 years.”

The familiarity of the show’s music has helped make “Mamma Mia!” a draw for huge audiences around the world including for some audience members who may not have otherwise attended a musical.

“I think that it brings people who are not traditional musical theater lovers and they get into the audience and see the show and think ‘Oh my gosh! Why I have not come to a musical before?’ and they love it,” she said.

The familiar ABBA tunes will be performed by cast of “Mamma Mia!” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22. Tickets for the latest installment of the Willis Broadway series are available starting at $30 each at DesMoinesPerformingArts.org, the Civic Center Ticket office or by calling 800-745-3000.

Padamonsky said she hopes people will come, take a break from the cold Iowa winter and enjoy a few hours of entertainment.

“I feel people come expecting to be entertained and I think they leave feeling the love and joy we’ve tried to portray on stage.”