The Toronto Star
Tina
to bite the Big Apple
Mamma Mia!'s first Sophie joining Canadians on Broadway
Richard Ouzounian
THEATRE CRITIC
July 2001
They're bringing the whole Canadian family to Broadway.
The Star has learned that Tina Maddigan, who originated the role of daughter Sophie in the Toronto production of Mamma Mia!, will be joining fellow Canucks Louise Pitre (mama Donna) and David Keeley (papa Sam) when the ABBA spectacular opens in New York on Oct. 18.
It's one more leap in the meteoric career of this 25-year-old from St. John's, Nfld., who graduated from the Sheridan College Musical Theatre program only three years ago.
The
doe-eyed actress was unavailable for comment, but Joan Mathers, Pitre's manager
and a close friend of Maddigan's, verified that she was offered the role by director
Phyllida Lloyd on Wednesday night. "She's in a state of total shock,"
Mathers said in a phone interview, "because three days ago she thought she
was totally out of the running for the part. I remember how disappointed she sounded,
but I told her not to be discouraged because things have a way of happening for
Tina."
That's an understatement when you consider that only four years ago, Maddigan was so far down the showbiz ladder that she paid another actor $100 to get his place in line at an audition for Les Misérables.
Although she didn't get the role, Maddigan's choice of material — the ABBA ballad "Someone Else's Story" — might be regarded as prophetic.
The determined young performer kept trying to break into the theatre, honing her craft in summer stock while auditioning for the big-ticket shows like Rent. She even applied unsuccessfully for a job as an usher at the Royal Alexandra Theatre where she finally opened in triumph last May in Mamma Mia!
And now, after a year of playing to rave reviews and record-breaking audiences in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, she's off to the Big Apple with Pitre and Keeley. When she stands alone on the stage of the Winter Garden Theatre Oct. 18 and begins the show by singing the words "I have a dream," Maddigan will also undoubtedly be thinking about how sometimes those dreams do come true.