THE BEAT
Mahaney embraces his beefcake role in Mamma Mia!
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CAPA and Broadway in Columbus present Mamma Mia! through Dec. 18 at the Palace Theatre. Tickets are $88-$28. Visit columbus.broadway.com.
In a show centered on its female characters, Happy Mahaney provides the beefcake.
Of course, Mamma Mia!, the musical constructed around the hit songs of ’70s pop group ABBA, is not simply a show by women, about women and for women. But Mahaney plays the forefront character in the show’s group of young men, and, as such, bears (bares?) some physical responsibility.
“There was definitely some pressure to get into the gym” after landing the part of Sky in the touring production, Mahaney told The Beat, admitting that, even now, “if there was a pickup game of shirts and skins, I’d want to be shirts.
“I just try to block it out and just go do it,” he said of scenes that require levels of hunkiness.
Mahaney reinforced the idea that it’s an oversimplification to call Mamma Mia!, a chick show, though. The show is driven by two groups of women and two groups of men, and the relationships within and between the groups.
“All of these relationships — friendships, lovers — push the show forward, and it ends up being one big party,” he explained.
Allowing that the show has obvious “women power” elements, Mahaney said Mamma Mia!, is really a sing-along show in which the audience is along for the ride.
He joked that his character is finding a traditional male place in male-female relationships.
“Sophie sets it all motion and chaos ensues,” he said. “I’m caught up in all of this and I have no idea what’s going on.”
