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Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Mamma Mia! show wins big praise

By Daniel O'Mahony
Rotorua Daily Post·
2 Mar, 2015 06:52 PM2 mins to read

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Natasha Benfell, life member Barry Jenkins and Gae Wheeler.

Natasha Benfell, life member Barry Jenkins and Gae Wheeler.

Rotorua Musical Theatre's recent run of Mamma Mia! has been hailed a tremendous success by its president.

The final curtain went down on Saturday night on a two-week, 12-show stretch.

President Natasha Benfell said the show's achievements were not just financial - but although there were still some sums to do, she was hopeful it had made a profit.

"This show has been so successful. We know that we are going to cover our costs, and hopefully have a couple of thousand in the bank for our next show."

"We haven't had a show that has done this well since Les Miserables, and that was in 2001 - I just hope it's not another 14 years until the next one!"

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Mrs Benfell said more than 6000 people saw the production, and expressed her gratitude for all the support the theatre received.

"To have the support of the community and the local businesses was amazing ...

"You always take a risk when you do these shows - it's a burden to take on, to cover all costs."

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But it's a risk that appears to have paid off.

As production manager for the show, which was directed by Dean McKerras, Mrs Benfell was off-stage and on-hand to hear the reactions from audience members.

She said there had been some amazing responses, including one from an Australian-based patron of the theatre who thought the show could go to Melbourne "and be right at home".

"I even had people who had seen the show in London who thought ours was just as good, if not better," she said.

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Nearly 150 people were involved in the production, including cast, crew, and other volunteers.

Steve Holmes, who played Sam Carmichael, said the whole process had been hard work.

"The whole experience has been wonderful, getting to work with good people and a cool director and musical director. "The highlight was the amazing audience that we had.

"Just to be part of a successful show that everyone loved, everyone making a noise - it was a real privilege."

Mrs Benfell hoped the success of Mamma Mia! had demonstrated the value voluntary theatre organisations provided the community.

-Rotorua Musical Theatre's next production is Nunsense, which runs from June 26 to July 11.

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