MTC's 'Mamma Mia!' Is A Moorestown Family Affair

MOORESTOWN, NJ - “Sometimes teens don’t want to be around their parents, but then they realize it would be neat to have a moment with them,” Moorestown Theater Company Artistic Director Mark Morgan said during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon.

His group is providing teens with that opportunity, as MTC’s production of “Mamma Mia!” is a family affair. The show opens Thursday night at William Allen Middle School.

Yes, the cast for the story of the young woman who isn’t quite sure who her father is features six families in which at least one parent is performing with their child, as well as several husband-and-wife couples.

Morgan’s family is among those, as his wife Carol Ann Murray and their daughter Juliet play a mother and daughter in the show. One of the scenes they perform together is an emotional scene about the daughter growing up. At the end of the show, Morgan plays a priest, so all three perform on stage.

Channel 6 ABC anchor Rick Williams plays one of the leading male roles in the show, and his family is also involved.

Amy Barton’s daughter is a longtime performer with MTC, and she decided she wanted to perform on stage with her teen daughter before she graduates from high school.

“We pride ourselves on bringing families together,” Morgan said.

In all, there are 30 adults and 22 teens in the 52-member cast. It is billed as the return of MTC’s “Second Stage,” its adult musical. However, high school students are also involved in this production, MTC’s first “Second Stage” show since 2015.

It is the first time teens are involved in a “Second Stage” performance. MTC stopped performing the shows because fewer adults were coming out for them. With the rights to “Mamma Mia!” becoming available for the first time this year, and MTC being awarded the first production in Burlington County, Morgan saw it as the right time to bring the program back.

The show will also include a live orchestra, performing such memorable ABBA songs as “Honey, Honey,” “Thank You For The Music,” “Dancing Queen,” “Super Trouper,” “The Winner Takes It All,” “Take A Chance On Me” and the title song.

Set on a colorful Greek island, the plot of the "jukebox musical" serves as a background for a plethora of ABBA songs. A 20-year-old woman who is about to be married discovers that any one of three men could be her father. She invites all three to the wedding without telling her mother.

"Jukebox musicals" are shows in which the stories were created to fit a specific soundtrack, rather than songs being selected to fit a story. With 5,773 performances, "Mamma Mia!" is the longest running jukebox musical of all time, and one of the top 10 longest running Broadway shows of all time, according to Playbill.

Due to scheduling conflicts, it is also MTC’s first production that won’t feature night performances on Friday or Saturday. It opens on Thursday night, 7 p.m. From there, performances are set for Saturday, April 13, 2 p.m.; Sunday, April 14, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.; and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, and Thursday, April 18.

The show is double cast. All performances are at William Allen Middle School, 801 North Stanwick Road, Moorestown. Tickets are $20 and $15, and can be purchased online at www.MoorestownTheaterCompany.org or at the door 60 minutes before curtain time.

For more information, call MTC at 856-778-8357.