'Mamma Mia!' leads Croswell's Broadway lineup

ADRIAN — Mamma Mia!, the long-running hit Broadway musical based on the songs of the Swedish band ABBA, is one of seven shows in the Croswell Opera House’s 2018 Broadway Season.

The Croswell Opera House in Adrian has a big-name lineup of Broadway hits planned for the upcoming season.

Jere Righter, the Croswell’s artistic director, had been working to obtain the rights to present the musical.

“I think finally I just wore them down, and they agreed to let us do the show,” she said. “It’s just such a huge show; it’s got such audience appeal.”

The musical will be presented for three weekends in June.

The storyline of Mamma Mia! centers on Sophie, the daughter of a Greek islands hotel operator who is soon to be married and hopes to have her father walk her down the aisle. But first she has to find out which of three men in her mother’s past he could be, so she invites each of them.

The show’s songs, written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, include “Super Trouper,” “Dancing Queen,” and “Money, Money, Money.”

The new season will open in May with West Side Story in Concert, a tribute to the 50th anniversary of an important moment in the Croswell’s history. An Adrian High School production of West Side Story in 1968, shortly after the theater was saved from demolition, became the first live theater event presented on the Croswell’s stage in many years.

The concert-style performance, presented one weekend only, will include a 30-piece orchestra playing Leonard Bernstein’s score.

She Loves Me, a traditional musical comedy that debuted in 1963, will be presented at the Croswell in July. The story, about two co-workers who think they dislike each other but don’t know they are actually anonymous romantic pen pals, was the inspiration for the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was last performed at the Croswell in 2007.

Coming to the Croswell stage in August is Barnum, based on the life of circus showman P.T. Barnum. The show blends traditional musical theater with the scenic spectacle of the circus.

Ragtime, to be staged in September, is based on the best-selling 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow. The story, set in the early 20th century, looks at American life through the eyes of an upper-middle-class family living in suburban New York, a group of Jewish immigrants who recently arrived from Eastern Europe, and a young African-American musician in Harlem. The music includes marches, cakewalks, gospel, and ragtime.

Coming in October is Next to Normal, a rock musical that won a 2009 Tony Award for Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama. The story centers on a mother’s worsening bipolar disorder and how it affects her family.

The Wizard of Oz, presented at the Croswell in November and December, is based on L.Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, telling the story of the adventures of Dorothy in the land of Oz.

Season tickets for the 2018 Broadway Season are on sale now at the Croswell, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian, 517-264-7469. Tickets to individual shows will go on sale Feb. 1.

Internships

The Croswell Opera House is hiring college students as interns for the 2018 summer season.

Available positions include costuming, technical, and box office and arts management. Details of responsibilities, requirements, and how to apply are available at croswell.org/internships.

Croswell summer internships are full-time, paid positions; evening and weekend hours are expected. Interns must either be enrolled in college as of fall 2018 or have graduated no earlier than December, 2017, and must be 18 years old as of the internship’s start date. Internships will run 13 weeks from May through August.

Rep Ed improv

Registration is open for the Toledo Repertoire Theatre’s winter session of Rep Ed classes in improv.

Classes in this family-friendly session will run from Jan. 6 through Feb. 24.

Students will learn the fundamentals of improv through games and exercises that help to develop strong ensemble and character work. Students will develop stage presence, self-confidence, communication skills, and respect for other performers and their creativity. The session culminates with a showcase demonstration performance.

More information is available at toledorep.org or 419-243-9277.

Contact Sue Brickey at: sbrickey@theblade.com.