BWW Interviews: MAMMA MIA!'s Mark A. Harmon

I have very fond memories from weekends during high school driving by the lake in my hometown in my best friend's car rocking out whatever pop music was on the radio at the time (probably the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls or something like that). On occasion we would blast the RENT movie soundtrack (I always sang the role of Mimi... terribly I might add) with the windows down, but there was one particular cast recording that we couldn't get enough of... MAMMA MIA!

My precious friend and I actually became friends when she sat behind me in 8th grade Louisiana History class and I was enthralled by the fact that she travelled with her parents all over the place. I think there was a surfboard key chain from Hawaii involved. They took this one trip to New York City and she went to see MAMMA MIA! on Broadway. She even brought me back a playbill that I still have. "Dancing Queen" became our song (because all best friends have a song), and every time I hear it I think of her.

I am finally getting to see MAMMA MIA! live because the tour is in New Orleans this week! I cannot wait to see the story unfold, and I'm sure I will be dancing along to all of the music in my seat. Of course, I am hardly the only musical theatre fan who is excited about seeing MAMMA MIA! This past weekend I had a chat with Mark A. Harmon who plays Harry in the touring production, and he told me that a lot of the fans he meets are "repeat customers" (meaning they've seen the show several times). Keep on reading to learn about Mark's journey to MAMMA MIA!, and why he thinks this show is just so darned special!

So here's the thing, Mark. I like to be informed about people before I speak with them and know a little about their lives and careers. But when I Googled you, there's this other Mark Harmon guy who took over all of my searches!
I've never heard of him! I don't know who you're talking about! You mean he stole my career?!

I'm sure you guys don't get confused because you have very, very different careers, but Google doesn't know the difference. So tell me about yourself... where are you from, where'd you grow up?
I grew up in a very small town in Pennsylvania, and I started doing theatre when I was about thirteen there in mostly community theatre, which was all that there was where I lived. Then I moved to New York to study, which I did for about a year, and then I gave it up for... wow... about eighteen years. I moved down to Florida and just as a fluke, I was looking for a part time job to get me through the holidays, and an actor friend said, "Hey, I know these guys. They're opening a theatre, they're having trouble finding guys for their show. Why don't you audition?" And I did, and here I am.

What made you give it up for so long?
Well... I was... How old was I at that time? Nineteen years old? I was 6 feet tall, about 135 pounds, and I'm not a dancer by any stretch of the imagination. So it was kind of like... you know there's really just nothing out there for someone like myself. It was that, it was... you know I was very shy. I just didn't really have that chutzpah that you need. And, you know, I just gave it up, and I hate to say this but I was perfectly fine. And then I got back in it, and it was like "Oh, yeah. Yeah. This is what I'm supposed to be doing." So I've been doing regional theatre down in south Florida for the last 12-13 years. This is my second tour. I actually was the very last Wilbur in the last tour of HAIRSPRAY in 2010. So that's my story in a nutshell.

You mentioned being shy, and that's something that with so many actors I've talked to it seems to be a common thread. What do you think it is about theatre that allows people who may be shy to really thrive?
Right. Because it's not you up there on that stage. That's what it is. I have a really hard time... I can't even do karaoke. Karaoke terrifies me. If I'm in a piano bar and I'm singing with a pianist, it's not quite so bad. But me being me in front of a group of people is terrifying. Me being somebody else in front of a group of people... no problem! No problem whatsoever.

Are you a person who small audiences also terrify you?
No. No, not really. Not really, no. The thing about doing shows is when you're in the scene, you're in the scene. You know? You're not just you in front of an audience. You know what I mean? You are somebody in a scene, and you're doing that scene, so I think that's what really helps shy actors. I think that's why a lot of people... a lot of shy actors act. I love the work, and I'm never nervous in doing a show.

Well, Mark, one thing that I did find out about you that I found amusing is that you played The Professor in a regional production of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND THE MUSICAL. I had no idea this existed, and I got really excited because I grew up watching Gilligan's Island, and I loved it!
Well, yeah!

I can only imagine a musical version was a kick in the pants!
It was a lot of fun! It starred Barry Williams, who was the original Greg Brady [The Brady Bunch], and Dawn Wells, who was the original Mary Ann in Gilligan's Island. They played the Howells, and they were just absolutely charming. It was written by Sherwood Schwartz's son and daughter, and it was sort of a mash-up of a lot of Gilligan's Island shows. You know, there was kind of a scene from this episode, a scene from that episode. And let's face it, every episode is them trying to get off the island. And, I played The Professor, which is the best part in the show. I mean he has the best, he has the best songs in the show. It was just really charming, just really charming. You know? Not gonna change your life, but just very nostalgic and a lot of fun. Really a lot of fun to do.

Do you have a favorite Gilligan's Island episode?
No, I don't. I have to admit it's been so many decades since I've watched it. I'm sure I saw them way before you did!

Well getting into MAMMA MIA!, you play Harry who is one of Sophie's potential dads. There's three of you. Can you set up the show for me through Harry's eyes? What's going on when he comes into the story because he kind of walks into a little bit of a mess.
Yes. Yes, well he's... at least the way I'm playing him... he's not really there in the beginning for the wedding. He's basically there to prove his partner wrong, because his partner thinks that he's un-spontaneous and a stick in the mud. And, in my mind, his partner has almost dared him to go, and he's going there to prove him wrong. In doing so, and reuniting with Donna, he... it sounds so cliché... but, he kind of finds himself, and finds his spontaneity, and finds his sense of adventure, and gets a little more in touch with his youthful side that he has since lost.

So all three of the dad figures have super different personalities. How is Harry different from the other two?
I love Harry because, and again, they way they are allowing me to play him is... he is... he's one of those people that pretends to be something and... I think of John Cleese. John Cleese used to play these very stiff upper lip British people, and you laugh at his pretentiousness and his snobbery. That's what's fun about playing Harry. I love those characters. I love those characters that you're not quite sure if you like them at first, and then you start laughing at them, and then by the end of the show you just love them.

Harry is the second... Well you had mentioned playing Wilbur in HAIRSPRAY... So this is kind of the second father figure to our leading lady that you've played. Is this a type of character that you're particularly drawn to?
It's because I'm old! Old...er. I'm not really quite old yet.

Don't they say you're only as old as you feel?
Oh, don't say that! But yeah, I mean I've gotten to be the age, you know, where I play the dad. And that's fine! That's fine because a lot of times they're the fun characters. I loved Wilbur! You know, people think it's odd for me to say, but I miss the guy. He was so much fun, and I would play that part again in a heartbeat.

Do you see any similarities between Harry and Wilbur? I know they're from two different shows, but you've played them both.
No, they couldn't be more opposite. They couldn't be more opposite. Wilbur doesn't care what anybody thinks about him, and Harry is all about what people think about him... at least in the beginning.

Is there another type of role that you would like to play? Any dream roles?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, my absolute dream role would be Sweeny Todd.

Ooh, that's a good one!
Yeah. I saw that show... I saw the show on Broadway back in '82, I think, and just fell in love with it! It's one of those rare meaty roles for guys in musical theatre. There's not a lot of them. That and Cervantes [Miguel de Cervantes] in MAN OF LA MANCHA.

What is it that makes you want to play these characters?
Well, Sweeny Todd because I love the darkness of him, and I'm also a huge [Stephen] Sondheim fanatic. And, as far as MAN OF LA MANCHA goes... I actually had never seen it up until... I want to say probably about maybe 11 years ago. And, I was just flipping the channels on the TV and I saw that it was on and I thought, "You know, I've never seen this." I grew up with the music, you know, I was born in the 60s, and I heard Sammy Davis, Jr. and you know all of those kinds of people singing the music. And I, you know, of course as a kid thought it was the schmaltziest stuff in the world. And then when I saw it within the context I went, "Oh my God, this is amazing! This is beautiful." It's about redemption. It's about staring death in the face, and saying, "Hey, I've gotta do something before I die." And it's just beautiful. I guess, you know, the older I got I could relate to it more.

Well that's something that everyone will have to think about at some point. We know everyone dies, but I think everyone will have that moment when they look back at their life and ask, "What have I done?" Well, let's get back into MAMMA MIA! Let's talk about the music. I've heard it over, and over, and over. It's fantastic. Do you have a favorite song or number in the show that you do?
Ummm... No, I really don't. I really don't have a favorite.

It's all great music, isn't it?
Oh, absolutely. Sure, sure. And of course I grew up listening to it on the radio and dancing to it in the discos. And I mean discos, because that's what they were called!

So this show has been around for a while. I think it's been on Broadway for around thirteen years now, and now you guys are on tour. What do you think has kept MAMMA MIA! running for this long?
Oh, we get people that come to see the show any time it's anywhere near them. I've had some people tell me they've seen the show seven times. I've met older couples in a hotel in New York and then we'll show up at hotels in Ohio months later and there they are. They said, "You know, it was just five hours away so we decided to come and see it again!" I would say that a lot of our audience are, you know, "repeat customers," and it's just a show that just makes you feel good when you leave. I think that's what people are drawn to. It's a good time, it really is.

Have you ever met audience members on the road who have never heard the music before?
Very few. Usually the younger people... and when I say younger, I mean, we get little children... 5 years old, 6 years old, 7 years old... and they mainly know the movie, and most of the times it's their favorite movie. They've watched it a hundred times. I've rarely met... I mean I'm sure there are... but I've rarely met anybody who... I don't think I've ever actually met anybody who didn't know the music beforehand.

The songs are everywhere! They still come on the radio, they're on commercials, so probably even if you don't know that you've heard the music, you've heard it.
Oh, you can't get away from them! I'll go out to a restaurant or I'll go out to a bar or something and it's like, "Oh... it's MAMMA MIA!... It's ABBA!"

Well I'm certainly excited to have you guys in New Orleans this week. I've seen the movie, but I've never seen the show live. I can't wait to see!
I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I really have to sit down and watch the movie because I get asked about it all the time. I've never seen the movie! People ask me, "How have you never seen the movie?!" It's like, "Because I do the show every night!"

I can tell you that most people that I know who have seen both the movie and the show think that the live show is better, but I find that's true with a lot of movie-musicals. It's hard to beat a live production.
Well I mean you can't... how can I put this? You can't replace the energy, the actual, physical energy that the actors give off. And it works both ways. People go, "How do you do the same show night after night?" And I go, "It's the audience." Trust me, there are nights when you're standing in the wings and you're going, "Shoot me. Somebody please shoot me. I'm exhausted, and I don't know how I'm going to do the show. I don't know, I'm so tired." And then you get out on that stage and by the time you're done with your scene you're like, "What's next?!" You're raring to go because of that energy. It works both ways, you know? No matter how good a movie-musical is, you just never get that physical energy. I think that's probably why most people like the live show over the movie, whether they know it or not.

Do you have anything else you'd like to add about the show?
It's just been such a great experience to meet the fans of the show. And sometimes they're just really heartbreaking stories... the mother who's been battling cancer for a while and her favorite thing to do with her young daughter is to sit and watch the movie and they sing along with it, and the elderly woman who just got out of the hospital and told her friends, "If you don't take me to the show I'm gonna kill you!" That's why we do it! That's why we do live theatre.

Come out to the Saenger Theatre this week and experience the thrilling energy of live theatre with this touring cast of MAMMA MIA! For tickets and more information, visit www.saengernola.com.

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