Brandi Burkhardt Is The New 'Sophie' In 'MAMMA MIA!'

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! will welcome Brandi Burkhardt to the Broadway cast as bride-to-be "Sophie Sheridan" when she begins performances at the Winter Garden Theatre on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009. Allison Case will play her final performance in the role on Sunday, January 25th.

Burkhardt made her Broadway debut earlier this season when she created the role of "Lucie Manette" in the world premiere musical A Tale of Two Cities. She also starred as "Daisy Mae" in Lil' Abner for the Los Angeles Reprise series and as "Emma" in the international touring production of Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection.

She starred in NBC's long-running daytime drama Passions as "Siren," daytime television's first mermaid, recently appeared on "Boston Legal" and "Law & Order: SVU," and can be seen in the upcoming feature film Confessions of a Shopaholic. Brandi represented New York State in the Miss America Pageant in 2000.

On the concert stage, Brandi has performed with celebrated orchestras from the Atlanta Philharmonic to the Budapest Symphony. Last year she sang for the President for the National Theatre's concert version of The Civil War, and had the honor of being the only American alongside Europe's greatest singing stars for the recording of The Count of Monte Cristo as "Mercedes."

MAMMA MIA! stars two-time Tony Award® nominated Broadway favorite Carolee Carmello (Parade, Urinetown) as "Donna Sheridan" along with Judy McLane (Chess, Kiss of the Spiderwoman) as "Tanya" and Gina Ferrall (Beauty and the Beast, Big River) as "Rosie," Donna's best friends and former back-up band who reunite on a Greek island for the wedding of Donna's daughter, Sophie.

Chris Peluso (Assassins, Lestat) plays Sophie's fiancé "Sky." Sean Allan Krill ("Sam Carmichael"), Pearce Bunting ("Bill Austin") and Ben Livingston ("Harry Bright") star as the trio of men from Donna's past and Sophie's three possible dads. The cast also features Ben Gettinger as Sky's sidekick "Pepper," Samantha Eggers and Amina Robinson as Sophie's best friends "Lisa" and "Ali," and Raymond J. Lee as "Eddie."

The MAMMA MIA! ensemble features Brent Black, Timothy Booth, Allyson Carr, Lanene Charters, Meghan Dreyfuss, Matthew Farver, Lori Haley Fox, Heidi Godt, Jon-Erik Goldberg, Frankie James Grande, Corey Greenan, Bryan Scott Johnson, Monica Kapoor, Robin Levine, Corinne Melançon, Ian Paget, Courtney Reed, Ryan Sander, Collette Simmons, Traci Victoria and Leah Zepel.

Seen by more than 32 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA!, is celebrating 7 sold-out years and over 3,000 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, and is playing a record-breaking U.S. national tour. The original West End production has played nearly 4,000 performances, an international tour has played in more than 40 foreign cities, and the blockbuster feature film adaptation of MAMMA MIA!, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, is the most successful movie musical of all time and continues to smash box office records around the world.

There are currently 8 productions of MAMMA MIA! running globally (six resident productions, two tours). With a worldwide gross of over $2 Billion, MAMMA MIA! has more productions playing around the world than any other current Broadway musical, and is acclaimed by the Associated Press as "quite simply, a phenomenon."

Inspired by the story-telling magic of ABBA's timeless songs, writer Catherine Johnson's sunny, funny tale of family and friendship unfolds on a tiny Greek island. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings 3 men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago. Songs including "Dancing Queen"; "The Winner Takes It All"; "Money, Money, Money" and "Take A Chance on Me" are all featured in this feel-good night of fun and laughter.

Produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal, the creative team responsible for bringing MAMMA MIA! to theatrical life includes some of the most gifted and celebrated talents of musical theatre and opera. With music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, MAMMA MIA! is written by Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Lloyd. MAMMA MIA! has choreography by Anthony Van Laast, production design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision, additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch.

MAMMA MIA! plays on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) Tuesday through Saturday at 8p, Sunday at 7p, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2p.

Ticket prices range from $62.75 -$121.50, including a $1.50 Shubert facility fee. Tickets are available by calling the MAMMA MIA! hotline at (212) 563-5544/(800) 432-7250; in person at the Winter Garden Box Office or online at www.telecharge.com/mamma-mia and www.mamma-mia.com

For more information about MAMMA MIA! around the world visit: www.mamma-mia.com