arts & entertainment
Mamma Mia! North American tour cast
Just-wed stage performers Jennifer Weingarten and Vince Wingerter appear
together in Mamma Mia! at Detroit's Fisher Theatre.
I
Suzanne Chessler
"Touring with Vince is
everything I could ask
for," says Weingarten, a
Grosse Pointe native.
Contributing Writer
T
wo performers in the new North
American touring production of
Mamma Mia! have recent and
real-life experience with the centerpiece of
the musical — a wedding.
Only theirs was Jewish and anchored in
Michigan.
Jennifer Weingarten and Vince
Wingerter, ensemble singers and dancers,
enhance the show about a bride-to-be try-
ing to learn the identity of her father in
the days just before the wedding.
As the actual newlyweds experience the
production, they can look back on their
September nuptials celebrated with family
at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester. Rabbi
Keren Alpert of Temple Beth El officiated.
Deepening the connection to the play,
with a Greek Isle setting, is the place
where the couple met: a cruise ship travel-
ing the Mediterranean.
The musical, filled with songs intro-
duced and popularized by Swedish pop
group ABBA, will be staged Nov. 5-10 at
the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.
"The first thing Vince and I performed
together after we met was a duet that com-
bined 'Embraceable You' and 'Someone to
Watch Over Me;" says Weingarten, 29, in a
phone conversation from the road.
"The first six months of our dating
ended up having a honeymoon atmo-
sphere because we were on that ship going
all the way up to the Arctic Circle, and it
was very romantic.
"Mamma Mia! has been so much fun
to do, especially with the two of us in the
same show. It's like a party every day. As
part of the ensemble, I'm in every single
song whether on stage or off. We're back-
stage singing if we're not onstage dancing"
Weingarten, who grew up in Grosse
Pointe and soon will be changing her last
Jennifer Weingarten and Vince Wingerter
name to her husband's, is the daughter of
Janet and Dr. Jeffrey Weingarten, found-
ing members of the Grosse Pointe Jewish
Council.
"I have wanted to tour something to
Detroit for so long, and I'm so excited that
my family and friends are going to see it at
the Fisher Theatre, which I love she says.
"My favorite song in the show is
`Knowing Me, Knowing You: It's sung by
one of the potential dads and has a nice
groove to it with a very interesting mes-
sage. It makes me think about decisions
and the importance of making the right
decisions"
The show went into rehearsals in
August and is the first expansive tour for
Weingarten.
"I started dancing before I turned 3 and
was in my first musical at 5" says the per-
former, who was just 7 when she appeared
with Kenny Rogers at the Fox Theatre,
rollerblading and pretending to ice-skate.
"I performed with theater groups in
Grosse Pointe and all the way through
high school at Grosse Pointe North. I
studied summers at Interlochen and at
Stagedoor Manor in the Catskills:'
Weingarten, who took dance lessons
at the Turning Pointe Dance Studio in St.
Clair Shores, found stage work almost
immediately after earning a theater degree
from New York University.
The actress-singer-dancer, who had her
bat mitzvah in Grosse Pointe and explored
her religious heritage through Taglit-
Birthright Israel, landed her first theater
job in a melodrama produced in Colorado.
Roles in regional theater have placed her
in Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes and
The Producers, among many other shows.
She had a small part — of a dancer — in
an episode of Law 6 Order: Criminal
Intent.
"Touring with Vince is everything I
could ask for" she says. "We're based out
of New York, where I've lived for the past
11 years"
Wingerter, 34, who divided his time
between New York and Seattle before
meeting his wife, divides his work time
between the stage and an Internet adver-
tising business he launched for attorneys
and law firms. Traveling with a computer
allows his business initiative to continue.
He explains that he and his wife have
similar skill sets in theater. Although
they're both proud of their tap dancing,
there's no tap in their current production.
"Mamma Mia! is built around energy,
and it feels a little bit like a rock concert"
he says about the show that includes
the hit songs "Dancing Queen" "Honey,
Honey" and "S.O.S." as well as the title
number.
"The storyline is good, and it keeps
moving. The show is built so well that it
turns into a megamix with members of the
audience on their feet for the last two or
three songs"
Wingerter, who followed his older sis-
ter into theater and dance classes, began
performing when he was 6 years old. The
Sound of Music and Oliver! were his first
productions.
"When we were kids, my younger broth-
er and I would perform at charity events"
recalls the actor-singer-dancer, also the
understudy for two of the dads. "I did
some commercials, television pilots and
more theater and kept at it ever since:'
With some time away from the stage,
Wingerter studied psychology and com-
puter science at Seattle University and
Seattle Pacific University.
"It's pretty exciting touring as a married
man:' he says. "Jennifer and I played oppo-
site each other in Singin' in the Rain, Me
and My Girl and White Christmas:'
Although being raised in the Catholic
faith helped set the mood for Wingerter's
role in the Christmas show, he is excited to
be entering into Jewish traditions.
"I consider myself nondenominational
now" he says. "I've always been a spiritual
person. Prayer and God always have been
part of my life.
"I find the Jewish culture very interesting,
and Jennifer's family has been so accepting. It
wasn't hard marrying into the Jewish faith"
While sharing the goal of finding more
parts that let them travel in and out of the
country, the couple also can bring favorite
work experiences to their private lives.
"We sing and dance offstage just for
fun" he says. "Songs get stuck in our
heads, and we have to express them"
❑
Mamma Mia! takes the stage Nov.
5-10 at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Tuesday-
Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and
2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $30-$76.
(313) 879-5433; broadwayindetroit.
com .
JN
October 24 • 2013
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