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Sunday, Jul 06, 2008
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Mamma Mia run ends Sunday at Paramount |
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| Mamma Mia run ends Sunday at Paramount | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer Mamma Mia Paramount Theatre Through March 23 The smash-hit Broadway show of Mamma Mia closes its Seattle run in a few days. You may already have seen it, but here are a few trivia facts to pique your interest. Did you know that both the Broadway cast and the U.S. tour have raised over $1,000,000 each for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids during their runs? They have raised more money in each fundraising campaign than any other touring company and generally raise more money than most Broadway shows. Mamma Mia Broadway is the 34th longest running Broadway show in history (and counting). Eight hours a week are spent sewing replacement beads by hand on costumes. Thirty-nine loads of machine laundry are done weekly to maintain costumes. Approximately 360 feet of spandex are used. Donna's Super Trouper costume (alone) is comprised of 24 different elements: main fabric, sleeve and leg frills, silver piping trim, rhinestone strip, eyelets, heavy weight zipper, belt beads (from Australia), belt backing and lining, perspex buckle (cut specially for the show), shoulder pads, lining, innerlining to support fronts, sheer flesh soufflé for front panel, silver Cord elastic for facing, thin Lycra to edge sleeve and leg frills, small star shaped rhinestone stones, large star shaped rhinestone stones, triangular iridescent stones, round iridescent stones, lozenge shaped glass stones, star shaped earrings, silver boots, bra, and rhinestone hair clips. There are approximately 30,000 rhinestones on the Super Troupers costumes, all sewn on by hand. This show boasts a new cast of the nine main characters. Kittra Wynn Coomer plays Rosie, the best friend of (the main character) Donna. Rosie is part of the Dynamos trio who get back together for Donna's daughter's wedding. Kittra is also a local-makes-Broadway story. I talked to her about her historic rise to her current Broadway-touring heights. "We lived in Kent and I went to Kentwood High School and graduated in 1989 and my parents live in Lake Tapps and they're bringing a huge contingent of friends and I can't wait to see them all. "This is my first time in Mamma Mia and my first Broadway tour. I went to an open call in Las Vegas, and they called me back and flew me out to New York and asked me to do the tour. I'd been working locally at ACT in Menopause the Musical and understudied two roles there, then went to Portland as a main role in Menopause for two years. It just happened that I fit perfectly with the other people they were casting [in Mamma Mia] and so, overnight, it took 20 years for this to happen. "I started when I was 12 years old. My mother got me into the NW Girls' Choir and she used to drive me to the U District three times a week to rehearsal from Kent. We did that for two or three years. In high school, I was Marian the Librarian in The Music Man at Kentwood High and Mame in Mame. I thought I was a big deal in Kentwood. I also did Grease at the Renton Civic Theater. That was my first professional gig. I think I got $100. Then I thought I was a really, really, really big deal. "I went to acting school in New York and got a scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College right on the Upper East Side. So, there I was at seventeen, and I did a ton of shows in college and got a BFA. I spent ten or eleven years in New York pounding the pavement. I sang in a country band called Connie and Cowgirls for a couple of years. "I came back home after awhile and the theater community in Seattle is incredible. I did work at Capital Playhouse in Olympia and Tacoma Little Theater. ACT was my big break into the union [Actors' Equity], Menopause was what got me my Equity card. "I never had an agent; I don't have an agent to this day. My dad is on the internet and makes sure I find the auditions and makes sure I show up. He found the Menopause the Musical auditions. If I didn't have the money, he'd send me. Technically, he's my agent, and I guess he's a good agent to have. He just hasn't asked for his ten percent [commission], yet. "My parents bought tickets to every single night in Seattle. I dedicate every show to them. They have absolutely supported me in any way I needed my whole life. "The producers decided to kind of freshen up the show and change the cast. A lot of the cast has been on tour for quite a while and they had family to get back to and people were ready to say a fond farewell. I rehearsed with [and perform with] the most talented, gracious people I've ever dealt with in my life. And that's why I think the show is so good, the people are genuine and real and brilliant in their own right. We were lucky to rehearse together for three weeks. That wasn't with the ensemble; they were out on the road with the cast we're stepping in for. We joined the tour a couple of weeks ago in Kalamazoo, MI and the ensemble would rehearse with us during the day and then do the show at night. They're like energizer bunnies, these kids. "Susie McMonagle [Donna, and a stalwart tour headliner veteran] is a dream to work with. By the end of the night when she sings 'The Winner Takes it All,' we get chills every night. "We opened in Omaha on March 4th. That was like ready-set-go. We did one dress rehearsal and then we were thrown to the wolves. It's almost too overwhelming to get your mind around. We joke to each other and call each other 'Big Time' and 'Big Deal' and a lot of them have Broadway credits, but this was so momentous we will never forget it. The only thing missing for me was that my parents couldn't be there." For more information, go to www.theparamount.com or call 206-292-ARTS (2787) |
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