Director Tapped for MAMMA MIA!'s U.S. Regional Premiere

Paul Russell-director, casting director, and author of ACTING: Make It Your Business-is tapped to helm the U.S. regional premiere of MAMMA MIA! for the TONY-honored Barter Theatre. He steps aside from his casting projects which have included casting for HBO, 20th Century Fox, New York and regional theater. With his directing career Russell is experienced with regional firsts. He directed the regional premiere of John Guare's A FREE MAN OF COLOR in which Mr. Guare participated.

Celebrating its 83rd Season in 2016, Barter is among a select handful of regional theaters permitted to produce MAMMA MIA! in the U.S. With that special distinction the licensing agreement requires Barter's production be a fresh imagining and not resemble the ABBA-inspired musical's Broadway and National Tour predecessors. For Barter's MAMMA MIA! Russell along with set designer C. Murdock Lucas, costume designer Howard Tsvi Kaplan, and choreographer Amanda Aldridge are developing an approach that Russell states, "will have a modern, whimsical nod to Greek mythology. There'll be surprises, and magic."

MAMMA MIA! plays at Barter Theatre May 27th to August 13th, 2016. Ticket information and performance dates can be found at BarterTheatre.com. Casting for MAMMA MIA! is set but Paul Russell Casting, via PaulRussell.net, will announce in January 2016 auditions for potential replacements in Barter's 2016 Season.