Oh Mamma — Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Rock Island, is back with the major musical hit, “Mamma Mia!,” opening this week and running through July 8, 2023.
It’s a dream come true for its lead actresses (who play mom and daughter), Kim VanDerGinst and Caroline Portner.
Last seen at the Rock Island theater in 2018, “Mamma Mia” is set on a small Greek island where Sophie (Portner) dreams of her perfect wedding – one that includes her father giving her away. The problem, however, is that Sophie doesn’t know who he is. Her mother Donna (VanDerGinst), the former lead singer of a 1970s pop group, refuses to talk about the past, so Sophie decides to take matters into her own hands. Sneaking a peek in her mother’s old diaries, she discovers three possible fathers: Sam, Bill and Harry.
Sophie secretly invites all three to the wedding, convinced that she’ll know her father when she sees him and the show includes two dozen pop hits including ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” “Waterloo,” “S.O.S.,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” After opening on Broadway in October 2001, it became the longest-running jukebox musical in Broadway history, earning Tony nominations in categories including Best Musical and finally ended its New York run in 2015 after 5,758 performances.
Portner said she started preparing for the show in January, soon after she finished her major role as one of the sisters in Circa’s “White Christmas” during the last holiday season.
“I was thrilled; there was no question I wanted to do it,” she said Wednesday. “I always wanted to do ‘Mamma Mia’; I saw they were doing it here. I had such an amazing experience with ‘White Christmas’ that I wanted to come back. I wasn’t expecting anything.”
Portner said her mom saw the show on Broadway. She was 10 when the movie came out and begged her parents to see it.
“We saw it when there was a tornado warning; me, my sisters and my family fell in love with it,” she said, noting they rented the DVD and watched it six times over one weekend.
“This has been a dream of mine for 15 years,” Portner said of playing Sophie. “I was so emotional when I got the offer, because I didn’t think I was ever gonna be able to play Sophie.”
“I was auditioning for the show constantly; I figured it would happen one day,” she said. “This fell in my lap at the perfect time and it’s really been a literal dream come true. My family is so excited about it.”
“My dream is, any role that Meryl Streep plays – if I can play the role, count me in,” VanDerGinst said of the 2008 film version. “She sings, but she’s not a great singer. She doesn’t dance – but she’s a great actress.”
“She’s so incredible,” Portner said of Streep, the most Oscar-nominated actor in history (21), winning three Academy Awards.
VanDerGinst was a bit apprehensive of handling the show’s dancing.
“I submitted, really thinking ‘No,’ and then Ron came and worked on music with me,” she said of Circa veteran music director Ron May.
“She’s the kind of musical theater person I like working with, that acting is first,” first-time Circa director Michael Brindisi said of VanDerGinst. “You get much more of the story told with an actress, versus somebody who’s a great dancer and singer. Her acting is really what I was looking for.”
He added Portner is perfect for the role, noting he’s directed “Mamma Mia” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres in Minnesota, in a year-long run (2018-19), where his wife played Tanya.
From Twin to Quad Cities
Helming his first musical for Circa ’21 is Brindisi, in his 35th year as resident artistic director for Chanhassen Dinner Theatres in Chanhassen, Minn. (hometown of Prince). He has more than 100 productions to his credit.
Brindisi has known Circa owner Denny Hitchcock for 30 years. His Chanhassen theater has runs of shows extending six to nine months, while Circa averages about two months per show.
“I want to meet some new people; this cast is fantastic,” Brindisi said Wednesday of “Mamma Mia.” “They’re really nice people. They’re all talented, but it’s been a real treat.”
When he checked in at the nearby Holiday Inn in downtown Rock Island, the clerk said: “Those guys do the best plays. I can’t believe what they do on that small stage.”
At Chanhassen, he usually rehearses each show four weeks, compared to just two weeks (all-day rehearsals) for Circa, where performers come in mostly memorized.
The former Kim Kurtenbach (who married attorney Dennis VanDerGinst in 2022 and had a lead role in the last Circa musical, “Grumpy Old Men”) has over 30 years experience in the entertainment industry including TV, radio, film and stage.
Kim has won Best Supporting Actress in 2020 with the Iowa Motion Picture Association and has worked on two Emmy-nominated documentaries as a casting director, executive producer and actress. She’s served as an adjunct professor of theater at St. Ambrose University, offers private coaching through her own conservatory program in acting, public speaking and personal and professional development.
Some of her favorite Circa roles include Anna in “The King And I,” Prudie in “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” Vicki in The Full Monty, and “Disenchanted” — in late 2021, where she played Snow White and where her real life “Prince” proposed to her on closing night.
“I am old enough to have grown up with the ABBA music,” VanDerGinst said this week. “For me, memorization – so much of that comes with the blocking. I memorize with where I’m going and moving.”
4 MORE
It was a challenge to balance “Mamma Mia” rehearsals while “Grumpy Old Men” was closing (its last performance was May 6, after opening in mid-March). She said it was exhausting, rehearsals during the day and shows at night, while dealing with her mother in a nursing home and husband recovering from surgery.
“You’re balancing life and show, and because it’s such a condensed rehearsal schedule – from 10 in the morning, last night it was ‘til midnight, so it’s a load,” VanDerGinst said Wednesday. “I’m really proud actually, when you get done, there’s a great feeling of fulfillment – because you didn’t think you could do this, and I did it!”
“She’s one of the most hard-working actors I’ve seen,” Portner said. “She’d come in every day absolutely exhausted and give 110 percent.”
VanDerGinst said the show choreographer Ashley Becher is outstanding. “She does a great job of storytelling through the choreography,” she said.
“I worked on her with ‘White Christmas,’ and it’s a completely different style of dance,” Portner said. “I thought it was going to be crazy, intense dancing, kind of like what we did for ‘White Christmas’ and she said, ‘It’s a party – it’s supposed to be organized chaos.”
“I love that it has this relaxed, casual vibe,” Portner said of “Mamma Mia.” “We’re on a beach. We’re not dancing for people; we’re dancing together, with each other, which I love.”
Fortunately for VanDerGinst, Donna has been away from the Dynamos for so long, “if she’s not perfect in her dance moves, it makes sense,” she said. “If all else fails, sell it and be funny.”
The ensemble also plays a “huge role in this story,” VanDerGinst said. She didn’t get to see the show at Circa in 2018.
Ideal for Mother’s Day
This is also a perfect show for Mother’s Day weekend, VanDerGinst said.
“I’m not a mother, but you can’t help but be emotional when I get to do some of the scenes I do with her,” she said of Portner, with whom she’s already very close. “The script is actually quite good, sweet and very much about that mother-daughter bond and that love. It’s a beautiful story – it’s sweet and funny and fun.”
Portner is a 24-year-old graduate of Syracuse University with a BFA in musical theater. Most recently, she performed as Judy Haynes in “White Christmas” (Circa ‘21). Off-Broadway, she was in “Friends! The Parody Musical” (Swing). Other regional credits include “Bring It On” (Muhlenberg Summer Theater), “Amadeus” (Syracuse Stage), “Beauty and the Beast” (Syracuse Stage), and the world premiere of “What A Wonderful World” (Timber Lake Playhouse).
Caroline said she didn’t know Kim before, but instantly bonded. “It’s great to have an amazing relationship, on and off stage,” she said.
VanDerGinst said she’s done other jukebox musicals, and said there’s a reason why “Mamma Mia” is so popular, because of the strength of the music and story.
“The fact they’ve taken the songs and made them work so beautifully with the book and story, and the characters, makes a huge difference,” she said.
VanDerGinst saw Circa’s Queen musical, “We Will Rock You,” and while she loves the music, she said she thought the story was bizarre and could not connect to it.
Jukebox musicals like “Jersey Boys,” “All Shook Up,” and the Carole King “Beautiful” lend themselves to musical theater because “they’re storytelling songs, which is incredible,” Portner said. “It’s not just there for show, it enhances it.”
The roles of possible dads Sam, Bill and Harry are played, respectively, by Bobby Becher, Dan Hasty and Thomas J. Besler, with rest of the cast featuring Emmett Boedeker, Abigail Graham, Sarah Hayes, Taylor Lynn, Tommy McCarthy, Molly McGuire, Anthony Milfelt, Caitie L. Moss, Sylvia Muchmore, Morgan Sexton, Jeremy Weinstein and Kyle DeFauw.
From real Prince to Prince Charming
Brindisi recalled a Prince tribute band concert in his Chanhassen theater (in a fateful year), attended by the actual Prince, who went on stage to play.
“They didn’t know he was going to play, they totally freaked out, and two weeks later is when he died,” Brindisi said. “It’s one of the last things that he did was come to our theater.”
Prince died April 21, 2016 at 57, from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen.
On Nov. 6, 2021, then-Kim Kurtenbach ended the run of her Circa musical “Disenchanted,” and got a surprise production number as a coda.
Still in her Snow White costume, Kim was placed on the show’s throne and treated to a brief video, narrated by her close friend (and “Disenchanted” director) Cory Johnson, in which Dennis VanDerGinst played Prince Charming.
He then came out on stage in costume and performed an original song with the “Disenchanted” cast, ending by getting down on one knee and asking Kurtenbach to marry him, offering a diamond engagement ring. They married last year, Sept. 10, 2022.
“Mamma Mia!” will be presented at Circa ’21 on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m., and Wednesday matinées at 1:15 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring the wait staff, the Bootleggers, also will precede all performances.
Tickets ($60.55 for the evening performances and $53.73 for the Wednesday matinées) include dinner, show and tax, and are available at the theater, 1828 3rd Ave., Rock Island, or by calling 309-786-7733 ext. 2.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sMHRqqyanJOewaqx0meaqKVfo7K4v46lppyZnGK7psPSaJirrKNirq%2BwjJyspaylp7Jwr8irmpqrXaOyuHnMmqSmmV2itqJ5wGaZop9dqbWztculZJ%2BnomK5pq3DrGY%3D