If you're in New York City and attend a performance of the hit musical Mamma Mia! (based on the songs of ABBA) at the Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre, you'll be seeing a native from the Scranton area performing the role of Tania.
Broadway actress Judy McLane was born in Olyphant, PA, though she proudly states in interviews that she was "raised near Scranton, Pennsylvania."
Coincidentally, Mamma Mia! is not McLane's first Broadway experience with a show written by ABBA founders Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus - in 1988, she understudied the role of Florence in their short-lived Broadway production of Chess.
An article about McLane's neighbors visiting the actress backstage after a performance of Mamma Mia! in New York City ("My, My, Backstage At the Show, Again") was published in the Namedropper section of the Scranton Times on Friday, June 30, 2006 (page C2) . You can read the full article online at the Scranton Times website by clicking here.
If you can't get to New York to see Mamma Mia! on Broadway, the official tour will be returning to the Scranton Cultural Center from October 24th through the 29th.
Thank again to endless fountain Judi K. for another great reference.
