‘Mamma Mia!’ changes cast, but not show’s high quality

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | 8:26 a.m.

Most of the original cast is gone and the acting could use a little directing in spots, but "Mamma Mia!" is still one of my favorite productions in Las Vegas.

Since its premiere in February 2003 the lighthearted musical has relied on the songs of ABBA to carry the show, and judging by the numbers it has been carried very well -- according to a spokesman, about 1 million fans have attended performances at Mandalay Bay.

Here's a refresher course of the plot:

Donna Sheridan falls in love with Sam Carmichael on a tiny Greek island. When he returns home to his fiancee, a heartbroken Donna has two quick affairs, one with an Australian adventurer/author, Bill Austin, and one with an English businessman, Harry Bright.

She later discovers she is pregnant, but doesn't know which of the three men is the father.

Proud and independent, she raises her daughter, Sophie, on a Greek island where she builds a resort.

Twenty years later Sophie is planning to get married. Three months before the event she discovers the names of the three men in her mother's diary. Hoping she can learn which one is her father, she secretly invites each of them to her wedding, signing Donna's name.

The clever story was written by Catherine Johnson, who used 22 ABBA hits of the '70s and '80s to tell the tale,including "Thank You for the Music," "Mamma Mia!" "Dancing Queen," "SuperTrouper," "S.O.S." and "The Winner Takes It All."

There seems to be a revolving-door policy with the production. Most of the ensemble and major cast members who were with the show in the beginning have gone.

Only Michael Piontek, of the four male leads, is still with the show. Piontek plays Harry, a headbanger-turned-banker.

He is fun to watch and does as much as he can with his part, but all four men are subservient to the show's cast of women.

Joining the cast as Sky (Sophie's fiance) is Joshua Campbell, a smooth-skinned, wholesome-appearing performer from Minnesota who is a sharp contrast to the swarthy actors who had the role before him.

Lewis Cleale is Sam Carmichael, the true love interest of Donna.

Cleale joined the cast last year and has been renewed for another season. While he has an extensive theatrical background, he still needs to loosen up onstage. He is much too rigid as he goes through his blocking, very robotic in his motions.

Patrick Gallo has replaced Michael Pemberton as Bill, an Australian adventurer.

During the course of the story Bill develops a relationship with Donna's friend Rosie -- who was played extremely well the first two years by Jennifer Perry.

Perry has been replaced this year by Kristine Zbornik, whose credits include "Forbidden Broadway," "Man of La Mancha" and various other productions.

I miss Perry, who seemed a natural for the role, but I'm sure, given time, Zbornik will have as much fun with the part as her predecessor.

The budding relationship between Zbornik and Gallo does not have the ring of truth I felt in watching the romance develop between Pemberton and Perry.

The biggest name on the marquee to disappear is Tina Walsh, who played Donna for the first two years. She reportedly left the show in January because of throat problems and to pursue other opportunities, which is too bad, because I felt she reached an excellent balance between independence and vulnerability in the character she portrayed.

Her replacement is Jacquelyn Holland, who was an understudy last year.

Holland also brings a lot of experience to the stage, including a stint as the principal singer of "Jubilee!" (another show with an exclamation point in its title) and performing with Rick Springfield in "EFX" at the MGM Grand.

She has an entirely different persona in her interpretation of Donna's character -- I didn't get a sense of vulnerability, but rather a lot of bitterness and anger, which are overplayed.

Suzie Jacobsen Balser (who was Sophie last year) has been temporarily replaced by Elizabeth Share. Balser also has throat problems, but when they are taken care of she will be back onstage -- probably in March.

One of my favorite characters in the cast is Tanya, played by Reyna Von Vett, who joined the show last year.

Tanya is a happy-go-lucky gold digger who views life as a party, and Vett has captured her essence perfectly. She has a lot of fun with her role, almost as much fun as the audience has humming along with the songs of ABBA.