Mamma Mia! celebrates 4,000th performance

Mamma Mia! celebrates 4,000th performance The Broadway musical Mamma Mia!, in its 10th Anniversary year, celebrates 4,000 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre tonight on 31 May 2011. The entire audience at the 4000th performance will be provided with a custom made Magnolia Bakery cupcake as a sweet toast to mark the benchmark performance. Mamma Mia! opened at Winter Garden on 18 Oct 2001, following previews from 5 Oct 2001, where it is currently booking through to 13 Nov 2011. Mamma Mia! is inspired by the story-telling magic of ABBA's timeless songs, Tony Award nominated writer Catherine Johnson's sunny, funny tale of family and friendship unfolds on a tiny Greek island. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited twenty years ago. Songs including "Dancing Queen"; "The Winner Takes It All"; "Money, Money, Money" and "Take A Chance on Me" are all featured. Mamma Mia! currently features Lisa Brescia (Donna Sheridan), John Dossett (Sam Carmichael), Jennifer Perry (Rosie), Judy McLane (Tanya), Liana Hunt (Sophie Sheridan), Corey Greenan (Sky), Clarke Thorell (Harry Bright) and Patrick Boll (Bill Austin). Mamma Mia! has music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with book by Catherine Johnson. The musical is directed by Phyllida Lloyd and has choreography by Anthony Van Laast, set design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision, additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch. The show is produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal. Seen by over 45 million people around the world. The current North American Tour has played over 3,600 performances in over 135 cities with 145 repeat visits. The original West End production of Mamma Mia! is now in its twelfth year and has celebrated over 5,000 performances in London and the international tour has visited more than 50 foreign cities and been seen by 3.7 million people, and has a worldwide gross of over $2 billion. The blockbuster feature film adaptation of Mamma Mia!, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, is the most successful movie musical of all time grossing $600 million worldwide.