‘Mamma Mia!’ will finally hit Chilliwack stage after several postponements

An ABBA-themed musical by a Chilliwack theatre company will finally be taking the stage after being postponed several times.

Mamma Mia! by Secondary Characters will be at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre Oct. 21 to Oct. 30.

It was cancelled more than once during the first two years of the pandemic, and then rescheduled for this past summer. Just days before opening night in August, they had to postpone again due to COVID illnesses.

Read the original and full story on Mamma Mia! here

Now, they’re ready to bring the musical to the stage.

Director Steffi Munshaw calls it a “party of a show” and a “celebration.”

The story was written by British playwright Catherine Johnson 20 years ago, decades after the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA stopped performing. It became a smash hit on Broadway and a movie, starring Meryl Streep, followed in 2008.

Mamma Mia! is a romantic comedy set in the late 1990s. It’s the story of bride-to-be Sophie, her mom Donna, and their closest friends and family members.

The musical is chock-full of ABBA’s greatest hits including Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie!; Super Trouper; I Have A Dream; Money, Money, Money; and Lay All Your Love on Me. All songs will be played by a live orchestra.

Those songs and others tell the hilarious story of Sophie’s search for her birth father, which unfolds on a Greek Island paradise. On the eve of her wedding, Sophie’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.

Secondary Characters presents Mamma Mia! Oct. 21 to Oct. 30 at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. Show times are: Oct. 21, 22, 28, 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 22, 23 and 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $29 for adults, $25 for students and seniors and $20 for youth aged 12 and under. Tickets available at the Cultural Centre, by calling 604-391-SHOW (7469) or online at tickets.chilliwackculturalcentre.ca.

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