‘Mamma Mia’ opens Friday at Grays Harbor College

By Kat Bryant • July 18, 2018 7:00 pm

“Mamma Mia,” Brad Duffy’s final production for Grays Harbor College, opens Friday at the Bishop Center for the Performing Arts.

Duffy, who’s been a theater and speech instructor at GHC since 1992, is retiring at the end of this summer. But first, he’s directing this “jukebox musical” featuring numerous songs by ABBA.

“It’s a little sad that this is my last production,” he said. “After doing this for 26 years and really loving what I do, it’s going to be hard to walk away.”

This show is a new version of the Broadway hit that ran for 14 years. Set on the fictonal Greek island of Kalokairi, Sophie is preparing to marry her fiance, Sky. She wants her father to walk her down the aisle, but doesn’t know who he is.

She discovers her mother’s old diary and finds entries describing intimate dates with three men. Surely, she thinks, one of them is her father. On the day before her wedding, her mother, Donna, begins receiving guests at her taverna — and so the story begins.

Sophie is played by GHC student Miera Odell, who does Duffy proud in the lead role. The diverse cast of both students and community members also includes Patty Sundstrom as Sophie’s mom, Donna; and Gary Morean, Dan Jackson and David Quigg as the three potential dads.

The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Next week, showtimes are 7:30 Thursday through Saturday, closing with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee.

Advance tickets are available at the box office or online. Prices are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, $12 for students and $8 for children 12 and younger.

For tickets or more information, visit www.ghc.edu/bishop.

Donna and the Dynamos decide to get their girl band back together: from left, Tanya (Monica Ewing), Donna (Patty Sundstrom) and Rosie (Lisa Newhouse).