(Above: Jennifer Mandeville-Schulz as Tanya, Tracy Nygard as Donna, and Janet Rust as Rosie in Cottage Theatre’s production of Mamma Mia!)
By Randi Bjornstad
“Long time, no show!” Susan Goes, executive director of the Cottage Theatre exulted in a recent message announcing the opening of Mamma Mia, the theater’s first post-pandemic production since the shutdown of practically everything two years ago.
“We are finally reopening after two years’ closure,” Goes said, and it was Mamma Mia that was supposed to open on the Cottage Grove stage when everything all over Oregon, the country, and pretty much the world went dark.
Maybe the only silver lining in that dark, gloomy picture for the venerable Cottage Grove theater group was that it was headed for a massive reconstruction and remodel at the same time, and making all that mesh with a season’s worth of productions would have been challenging at best.
“Our remodel isn’t yet 100 percent complete (despite a contract that says it was done last September),” Goes said. “But we are 95 percent there, which is enough for us to welcome an audience again.”
The only things remaining on the to-do list are exterior painting and some lighting fixtures, she said, “but the auditorium is all done and ready to be occupied.”
Here’s the plot description for Mamma Mia!:
Left to right: Aislinn Wright Mirsch as Eddie, Kassi McGregor as Sophie, Eric Elligott as Sky, and Matt Arscott as Pepper
“Wanted: Father of the Bride. Must have visited the Greek island Kalokairi during the summer of 1979 and been intimate with the lead singer of Donna and the Dynamos.” Though Sophie does not resort to placing such an ad, she does snoop through her mother’s old diaries for clues to her father’s identity. Much to her surprise, the diaries reveal three possible dads! Undaunted, Sophie invites Sam, Bill, and Harry to her wedding, without telling either her mother or fiancé that she has done so. When the three unsuspecting men arrive on the island for the nuptials, chaos erupts and Sophie still doesn’t have a clue about who should rightfully walk her down the aisle. Told through a collection of ABBA’s greatest hits, Mamma Mia! is a worldwide musical phenomenon and an insanely wild ride to “I do, I do, I do!”
Mamma Mia! at the Cottage Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. on April 1-2, 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 (Sunday matinees are sold out; contact the theater at tickets@cottagetheatre.org or 541-942-8001 to inquire about the waiting list.)
Where: Cottage Theatre, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove
Tickets: $15-$27, available at cottagetheatre.org or 541-942-8001
Three possible dads for a soon-to-be-bride thicken the plot of Mamma Mia! Left to right: Joshua Carlton is Sam, John Wilson plays Bill, and Joshua Sayre is Harry in Cottage Theatre’s production.
