Pemberton is temporarily stepping in for Pearce Bunting, while the latter plays the title role in Oedipus at FDR at Philadelphia's Live Arts Festival. According to a production spokesperson, Pemberton is scheduled to stay with the long-running musical at the Winter Garden Theatre through Sept. 7.
Pemberton joins a cast that currently includes Carolee Carmello as Donna, Carrie Manolakos as Sophie, Judy McLane as Tanya, Gina Ferrall as Rosie, Andy Kelso as Sky, Ben Livingston as Harry and Christopher Shyer as Sam.
On Broadway Michael Pemberton has been seen in The Farnsworth Invention, I'm Not Rappaport, Not About Nightingales, Picnic and Hedda Gabler. His Off-Broadway credits include Outward Bound (Drama Desk nom.), Dinner With Friends, Saturday Night, You Never Can Tell and Bingo. Among his screen credits are "Damages" (recurring role), "New Amsterdam," "Kidnapped," "The Sopranos," "Brooklyn's Finest," "The Family Stone," "The Devil You Know" and "The Pack."
Mamma Mia! employs the hit songs of famed pop group ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan, a young girl who hopes to discover the identity of her father. On the eve of her wedding, she brings three men from her mother Donna's past back to the Greek island they visited over two decades ago.
Mamma Mia! features music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, a book by Catherine Johnson, direction by Phyllida Lloyd and choreography by Anthony Van Laast. The musical plays the Winter Garden Theatre, which is located in New York City at 1634 Broadway. Mamma Mia! became the 17th longest-running production in Broadway history May 16 when it surpassed My Fair Lady.
A film version of Mamma Mia! — starring Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan – was recently released in the U.S.
Mamma Mia! and the music of ABBA recently scored a triple play: The soundtrack to the film, the original cast recording of Mamma Mia! and the "ABBA Gold" compilation all reached the #1 spot on their respective charts (soundtrack chart, Broadway chart and Catalogue chart) the week of July 28.
For more information visit www.mamma-mia.com.
