MAT sets auditions as 18-month delay on 'Mamma Mia!' ends

Montana Actors' Theater suffered some major setbacks to productions with the COVID-19 pandemic, but is back full-throttle.

After holding its summer youth camps and doing a semi-youth production version of the delayed "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," originally planned to be produced near the end of its regular season last year, the acting troupe premieres this weekend its highly anticipated production of "Mamma Mia!" and is holding auditions for another production the beginning of next week.

Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. auditions will be held in Montana State University-Northern's Little Theatre in Cowan - all for "Kiss of Death."

The play is described in a notice of auditions as "a series of psychological thrillers with staged physical violence, including dismemberment and death."

"Not for the faint of heart!" the notice added.

The play, directed by Valerie Guyant, has multiple adult roles for men and women, and no experience is necessary, the notice said.

Show dates for that play are Oct. 21-23 and 28-30.

The troupe found ways to continue including holding streaming readings from every Shakespeare play and some of the Bard's poems in a live event in April 2020, a "Shakespeare out of the Box" production in April of this year an "Intro to Classical Theatre, Shakespeare, and Stage Fighting," prior to peforming outdoor productions of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in June, then "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in July.

"Mamma Mia!" was canceled the week of its planned production in 2020 when a state of emergency was declared for Montana and the Office of Commissioner of Higher Education closed all Montana public university and college campuses, ordering the institutions to move to distanced learning for the rest of the year.

The set was built, the stage was ready and the lines were rehearsed - but the play was put on hold until its production this week.

MAT members said the delay even caused some roles to be recast as some of the original actors had to move away from the area or had other obligations.

But the production is set to start in Northern's Little Theatre Friday, with productions scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Sept. 16-18 and 23-25 with 2 p.m. matinées Sunday and Sept. 25. The doors and Backstage Lounge open 30 minutes before each production.

"Mamma Mia!" is a world-famous musical about a wedding, a daughter, a mother and three possible fathers.

The bride wants her father to walk her down the aisle, but doesn't know which of three men actually is her father - and invites them all to the wedding.

The play, originally conceived by Judy Craymer with the book written by Catherine Johnson, uses songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA, including the song used for the title of the play.

ABBA members and songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus helped develop the show and ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad has been financially involved.

Andersson and Ulveaus are credited with the music and lyrics with some songs by ABBA manager Stig Anderson.

The play premiered in London's West End and has been shown around the world, including a 14-year run on Broadway, and has been made into two movies, "Mamma Mia!" in 2008 and "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!" in 2018.

The popular films star an extensive well-known cast including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski and Colin Firth.

Tickets are listed as $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, students and military and free admission for Northern students with a current ID card.

Tickets are available at the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, The Computer Center, Bear Paw Meats and Company Apparel, and online at http://mtactors.com up to two hours before each performance.

People who purchased tickets in March 2020 are advised to check their emails for instructions on claiming their free tickets.