Road commission’s Lamoreaux is a ‘dancing queen’ in Civic’s ‘Mamma Mia!’

Maura Lamoreaux as Tanya in “Mamma Mia!”

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

As the communications manager for the Kent County Road Commission, “Here We Go Again” could be an anthem for Maura Lamoreaux.

“You know it’s kind of funny but you are right about the connection,” Lamoreaux said with a laugh during a recent interview.

But the weather or the roads are not the reasons why Lamoreaux is singing the famous ABBA song, but rather it is because she plays Tanya in the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s production of “Mamma Mia!,” which opens Friday at the theater located at 30 N. Division Ave.

“I moved to Grand Rapids with my husband about eight years ago,” said Lamoreaux who has performed in theaters in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. “Mamma Mia!” will be her first stage appearance with Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. “With family and work, I just had not found the right time or opportunity to get involved in theater here.

It all changed when Lamoreaux saw the audition notice for “Mamma Mia!” with a storyline based on the music of mega super group ABBA.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I would love to be a part of that show,’” Lamoreaux said, “and so auditioned partly for my daughter to show her that you just have to go for it and if you don’t get it, that’s OK.”

She landed the part of Tanya, one of two friends, who come to help a third, Donna, plan her daughter’s wedding, which takes place at Donna’s hotel on a Greek island. What Donna does not know is that her daughter, Sophie, has invited three men to the event in hopes of determine which one is her father. What transpires is a trip through memory lane, sprinkled with some antics all guided by the songs of ABBA.

According to Maura Lamoreaux fun is the name of the game in Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s production of “Mamma Mia!”

“So not only is it a fun story, which it is; and the the cast is talented, which there is an immense amount of talent, but there is an immediate connection that much of the audience will already have to the music,” Lamoreaux said.

The musical, which opened in New York in 2001, was followed by the 2008 film of the same name starring Meryl Streep as Donna and Christine Baranski as Tanya, with “Mamma Mia! 2” released last year. The show features a number of iconic ABBA songs such as “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes It All,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “Knowing You, Knowing Me,” and according to Billboard magazine, the group’s most famous song “Dancing Queen.”

“‘Dancing Queen’” is a celebration of three friends and the wonderful memories that they had together,” Lamoreaux said adding that it is one of her favorites in the show. (Her other is “Does Your Mother Know,” a song that her character Tanya performs.) “It connects me to dancing with my friends and my own memories and I bring all of that to what we are doing on stage.”

And ABBA’s music continues to be the soundtrack for many.

“There are people in the show who are in high school and I’m in my forties, yet we can all enjoy this music together,” Lamoreuax said.

It’s positive story of friendship and the relationship of a mother and daughter along with the music has made “Mamma Mia!” a much sought after production with tickets for the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre show being snatched up. The show runs through Mar. 17. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays – Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. For tickets, which are $17-$39, visit the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre website, grct.org or call the box office at 616-222-6650.