by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
What: Mamma Mia
When: May 15-20
Where: T-U Center for the Performing Arts
Using ABBA’s catchy tunes, the musical Mamma Mia has won the hearts of thousands of audience members willing to come along on a girl’s quest to find her father on the eve of her wedding day. EU go the chance to catch up with one of the cast members, Sarah Katherine Mason, to ask her about her experiences with Mamma Mia and the theatre.
EU: How long have you been with the cast?
Mason: I’ve been with the cast since August, so I’m in my 9th month now.
EU: Tell us a bit about your character, Lisa, and how she relates to the show.
Mason: Basically, she’s one of the best friends of Sophie. She helps Sophie in trying to find her dad…[Lisa’s] very energetic and kind of flighty, sort of comic relief for the show.
EU: The show is known for a lot of different reasons, including the really unbelievable costumes…Do you have a favorite costume that you wear during the show?
Mason: All of the costumes are a little outrageous or over-the-top…I’ve grown to like them because I have to wear them everyday, but they’re definitely interesting…I’ve never actually seen people dress like that, but I think that it adds to the show and why people really like it. It’s just something different and interesting. You can’t do Mamma Mia without them.
EU: What do you think it is about ABBA’s music that catches people?
Mason: I think that each song has a story, and each story normal people of all ages can really relate to them. All the songs really talk about relationships, friendships, relationships between a husband [and wife] or a mom and a daughter…They’re things that people deal with on a regular basis. They’re also fun, upbeat and really catchy. When you have songs like that, people are able to remember them, and that’s also important in creating pieces of work that people really love and can relate to. [ABBA] really brings the songs to the people as opposed to the songs that are written today…[that are] not really about anything…so there’s no reason for people to love and remember them.
EU: Tell us about what you sing in the show.
Mason: I do Honey, Honey and Does Your Mother Know You’re Out along with others in the show.
EU: You’ve been involved in more than one tour, can you tell us about those experiences?
Mason: This is the 5th tour that I’ve done and it’s definitely the best…it’s been the most upbeat. Most of the shows I’ve done have been kind of depressing…I did Westside Story in Germany…
EU: Was that in English? How do they handle that?
Mason: Everything is in English and there’s subtitles for the experience so they know what’s going on…When I did a show in Russia, they wore earpieces that translated the show for them.
EU: What’s the most unusual place that you’ve toured to?
Mason: I think it would have to be Moscow. The Chechnyans attacked one of the theaters next to ours…We were evacuated, got bomb threats and what not…Boris Yeltsin was at our show…[At the other] theater the actors were held hostage for at least a week. We were all terrified…Everyone in New York thought it was us taken hostage and we didn’t have cell phones [that would dial from Russia], so no one could get a hold of anybody…In the end…it was one of the best experiences I ever had.
Mamma Mia will be in the Times-Union Center - Moran Theater Jacksonville from May 15-20, 2007. For Tickets call (904) 632-3373 or go to artistseries.fccj.org
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