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That '70s Show

ABBA-inspired Broadway hit 'Mamma Mia!"
coming to Detroit's Masonic Temple Theatre
enchants everyone from teens to Grandma Rose.

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heats up after Sophie secretly invites
three of her mother's old flames to the
Special to the Jewish News
wedding. With this move, the bride
hopes to learn the identity of her
n the years just before his bar
father.
mitzvah, Howard Kaye started
Dee Hory, who has been nominated
collecting recordings by the
for Tony Awards in The Will Rogers
Swedish singing group ABBA.
Follies and Footloose, plays Donna.
He still has a cabinet with their CDs,
Michelle Aravena, who has starred in
including the songs "Dancing Queen,"
regional productions of Man of La
"The Winner Takes All" and "Take a
and Guys and Dolls, plays
Mancha
Chance on Me."
Sophie.
Since bursting into popularity in the
The group ABBA became well
1970s, the pop quartet has sold more
known
in 1974, after winning the
than 350 million records worldwide.
Eurovision Song
Of all the songs ABBA
Contest with their
has written and per-
debut number,
formed, Kaye could very
"Waterloo." The name
well consider "Mamma
ABBA
emerged from -
Mia" his favorite. It cer-
the
first
letter of each
tainly has impacted his
member's
first name —
theater career.
Agnetha
Faltskog,
For almost two years,
Benny Andersson, Bjorn
the former resident of
Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid
Cincinnati has been por-
Lyngstad, who for a
traying the priest, Father
time were two married
Alexandrios, in the tour-
couples.
ing company of the play
Over the next eight
Mamma Nli a!, which tells Howard Kaye: For almost
years,
ABBA had many
a romantic tale wound
two years, the Jewish
hit
singles,
platinum
around 22 ABBA hits.
actor has been portraying
albums,
sold-out
con-
The show runs Dec. 27-
the priest in the touring
cert
tours
and
even
a
Feb. 9 at the Masonic
company of 'Mamma
film, ABBA
Temple Theatre.
Mia!"

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"My Grandma Rose
has seen the musical and
approved of my playing a priest, so
everything is OK," says Kaye, 38, who
also works out of a sound booth back-
stage to be part of the live background
vocals that accompany the songs.

More Than A Job

"This job is truly special because I can
look out at a theater of people all hav-
ing a good time. They get the energy
of the production, and it's a great
exchange between actors and audience.
People easily get up and move to the
music. Many, from teens to those in
their 70s, can be seen standing, wav-
ing and going `whoo, whoo, whoo.'"
Set on a mythical Greek island,
Mamma Mia! tells the story of Donna,
a single mom, and Sophie, her about-
to-be-married daughter. The drama —
along with the comedy — quickly

The Movie.
Although the group
disbanded in 1982 after the couples
divorced, their music continued
through tribute bands and was includ-
ed in the films Muriel's Wedding and
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The song-writing partnership of
Andersson and Ulvaeus tried new dis-
ciplines. Their first musical, Chess, was
written with Tim Rice. Another work,
Kristina Fran Duvemida, an epic story
of Swedish immigrants, remains the
most successful musical ever to pre-
miere in Sweden.

Creating The Musical

Judy Craymer, the executive producer
of Chess in London, suggested a musi-
cal with existing ABBA songs and
scouted a playwright, Catherine
Johnson, to piece it all together. The

'70S SHOW on page 66