'Mia' tour packed with talent, music

MAMMA MIA!, Capitol Theatre, through Sunday (355-2787 or www.arttix.org), running time: 145 minutes (one intermission)

Midway through the second act of "Mamma Mia," as young Sophie Sheridan is about to get married, she is approached by one of her mother's former lovers, a man who could be her father. "I have 20 years of advice to cram into two minutes," he says, which segues into the ABBA song "Knowing Me, Knowing You."

"Mamma Mia!" is built around that approach — 22 familiar ABBA songs packed into 145 minutes, with their original lyrics cleverly fashioned into a contemporary romance about Donna Sheridan and her daughter Sophie, who are in the throes of putting together a wedding on a sun-washed Greek island. And Sophie has invited her three prospective fathers to the affair, without Donna's knowledge.

For its third stop in the Capitol Theatre, the high-energy national tour is not only packed with plenty of music, it is also filled with terrific talent.

Pretty much stealing the show are Mary Jayne Raleigh as struggling single mom Donna and Vicki Noon as Sophie. Christine Sherrill and understudy (on opening night) Mary Mossberg are Sheridan's long-ago former singing partners as a shimmering Spandex-attired trio, Donna and the Dynamos.

And dynamic they are as they soar through "Super Trouper" and "Dancing Queen."

The guys playing Sophie's potential dads — one (or all?) of whom could possibly walk her down the aisle — are played by Milo Shandel, who gives divorced architect Bill Austin a dramatically tender side; Sean Allan Krill as global adventurer Sam Carmichael; and Ian Simpson as London banker Harry Bright. Timothy Ware is also well cast as Sky, Sophie's fiance.

But this isn't Brecht or Shakespeare. There's only one big message here — that dancing in the aisles and pretending you're back in the head-banging '70s is OK. The real fun is hearing all those ABBA hits: "Does Your Mother Know," "Money, Money, Money," "Take a Chance on Me," "Mamma Mia" and others all neatly dovetailed into an entertaining story.

Sensitivity rating: An abundance of extremely sensual dance movements and gestures. Many may find this aspect uncomfortably offensive.

ivan@desnews.com