Laura McCulloch, Peggy Taphorn and Lisamarie Harrison in "Mamma Mia!" at Broadway Rose. (Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer)

It makes no sense.



Contemporary lovers, mothers, daughters, friends and (possible) fathers trapped in a paternity plot on a Greek island belting out disco-era hits by Swedish supergroup ABBA?



Gimme gimme gimme a break.



In "Mamma Mia!," the summer season-opener from Broadway Rose Theatre Company, the logic tethering tunes-to-story is stretchier than a polyester jumpsuit even by the loose narrative standards of jukebox musicals. And that's counting the poor scribe who had to weave "Uptown Girl" into a convincing Vietnam War saga for the Billy Joel jukebox musical "Movin' Out." (Yes, that was the actual plot.)



And yet.



Who cares?



"S.O.S.," "Chiquitita," "Dancing Queen" and other electronic earworms are so warmly embraced and realized by the 24-member cast and 15-person orchestra, rationality is drowned like an ouzo shot tossed into the Aegean Sea.



Director Lyn Cramer also skippered what could be clumsy dance sequences into effortless comedic choreography. The actors move comfortably, whether kick-stepping in scuba gear and swim fins or working '70s semaphoric maneuvers in heavy sequins. The show wraps up with three encores. When they hit, you're itching to bust your own moves. In fact, after a week, a month, 18 months of tough headlines, this sun-kissed fairy tale is the summer beach party you can't wait to attend. Consider "Mamma Mia!" a musical mental health night.



That's not surprising. "Mamma Mia!" was the first blockbuster Broadway musical after 9/11, proving that even bubblegum pop can be comfort food. About 60 million Super Troupers have seen the show live, and the 2008 movie version amassed over a half-billion dollars at the box office. (The sequel, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" opens July 20.)



Producing Artistic Director Sharon Maroney said the show logged the highest pre-sale in Broadway Rose Theatre's 27 seasons. The company stages the show very much like the touring, Broadway and Vegas iterations, with a rotating set piece, dazzling backdrop at the finale and nonstop costume changes.

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Sophie Moshofsky (Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer)

The key to "Mamma Mia!" is mother Donna and daughter Sophie, and recent Drammy winner Peggy Taphorn and Sophie Moshofsky are both exceptional here. As bride-to-be Sophie tries to ferret out which of her mother's former beaus is her father, Moshofsky is bubblier than a Walmart greeter on bath salts. But in the good way. As the fire-haired, fiercely independent mom, Taphorn is the convincing counterbalance and the grounding force in this quasi-Shakespearean farce.



The dads — Matthew H. Curl, Joey Klei and Andrew Maldarelli — are hilarious hunks. Given only a few funny and tender moments, the three manage to delineate characters not wholly fleshed out in the script.



Portraying Sam, the sensitive architect who wants to fix everything and everybody, Maldarelli deserves special props. He's redeeming a role ruined on the big screen by Pierce Brosnan — who straightened moviegoers' Twizzlers with his toneless, knives-on-a-chalkboard attempt at singing – generally accepted as one of the all-time worst movie musical performances. Maldarelli's silvery toned versions of "S.O.S" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" soothe like aloe and cocoa butter on a sunburned soul.

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Peggy Taphorn (Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer)

Strengths: Musical director Alan D. Lytle and sound designer Brian K. Moen labored hard to recreate ABBA's recognizable synth melodies and layered digital harmonies, including four keyboardists and six pit singers in the orchestra. The result is sonically stunning.



Regional performing rights for the show became available after the 2016-17 "Farewell Tour," so around the country , "Mamma Mia!" superfans have the chance to see the musical in smaller theaters like the 600-seat Deb Fennell Auditorium. (Typically, national tours stop at venues with around 2,000 seats. On Broadway and in Las Vegas, "Mamma Mia!" never played a theater with under 1,000 seats.) The smaller space now enhances the story's familial bonds and puts you closer to Allison Dawe's dynamite costumes.



Weaknesses: Ballads bog down the second act. Only die-hard Super Troupers would miss Donna crooning "One of Us" if it were snipped. The character shines enough in a solo version of "The Winner Takes It All."

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Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer

Memorable Moments: For "Does Your Mother Know," randy island guys shake their board shorts and crank out air-splits all to impress glamorous cougar Tanya. (Lisamarie Harrison seems to be savoring this role the same way her character savors a perfectly mixed martini.)



Take-away: Is the real world just too real right now? Spring out of your sunken place into a romantic musical escapade in the Mediterranean (via Tigard).



— Lee Williams for The Oregonian/OregonLive

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Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer

'Mamma Mia!'

Where: Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 S.W. Durham Road, Tigard



When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (except Wednesday, July 4), 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday through July 22



Tickets: $20-$60, broadwayrose.org or 503-620-5262

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