The Kelowna Actors Studio expects to break box office records this summer with the local production of the global hit musical Mama Mia!
“The exciting thing is that the Kelowna Community Theater is 60 years old and we are the longest running three-week show in its history,” said Randy Leslie, director of the Kelowna production.
Mama Mia! transports the audience to the fictional Greek island of Kalokari as preparations are made for a wedding. The Okanagan production stars musician and actress Anna Jacyszyn in the lead role of Donna Sheridan.
In the musical, Donna’s daughter Sophie, played by Joanne Ryan, gets her mother’s diaries from the year she was pregnant and quickly comes up with a plan to find out who her father is so he can walk her down the aisle . This is all about ABBA’s greatest hits.
“(Donna has) potentially three baby daddies, and it’s the eve of (Donna’s) daughter’s wedding and she, unbeknownst to me, invited all three of them to the island,” Jacyszyn said.
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In her overalls, Jacyszyn proves that she can do it all: she sings, dances, acts and controls the stage.
“I love her and I love the songs and they are so much fun,” Jacyszyn said. “I love that I have to sing in different ways.”
The cast has spent at least 80 hours a week learning the choreography over the past five weeks, under the direction of choreographer Gracelynn Sali to bring to life one of the most anticipated shows of the summer in the Okanagan.
“Everyone expects something because it’s ABBA and it is Mama Mia! and people come in with expectations,” Sali said.
“I tried to combine what people expect with a new twist to make it exciting for people.”
Audiences are invited to travel to Greece with the cast of the Okanagan production Mama Mia! at the Kelowna Community Theater from August 1 to August 17. Ticket information is available at www.theatre.kelowna.ca
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