Jim has been waiting years for the opportunity to present Mamma Mia! to the people of Kittitas County (and beyond), and to have the opportunity to direct the show is a dream come true. In addition to directing shows for Valley Musical Theatre (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Best Christmas Pageant Ever) and the Ellensburg High School Fall Play (Almost, Maine; Clue), Jim regularly appears on-stage in Ellensburg and Yakima (Harold Hill in Music Man; Gomez Addams in Addams Family; Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie; and various other musicals and plays). When not in the theatre Jim is practicing attorney in Ellensburg with the BPE Law Group, but he tells us he only does that work to pay for this theater habit. Jim wants to thank his wife, Christina, and his two daughters, Samantha and Katherine, for their unwavering support while he pursues life on the stage.

Adrienne Zimny has been involved in theatre since middle school. She came to Ellensburg to attend CWU, met her husband here, and often says “we just got lucky enough to stay after graduation”. She was thrilled to find Ellensburg Children’s Musical Theatre for her daughter in 2003 and rejoin the theatre community. Her favorite “job” is being a mom and she has been blessed with three amazing children who love the performing arts giving her great opportunities to be a dance and theatre mom! She works for Central Washington University’s Central Access program managing alternative media production (Braille, tactile graphics, and audio formats) for students with print-related disabilities at CWU and colleges and universities around the country. She has been a Valley Musical Theatre board member since 2012 and has produce several shows. She also serves on the Ellensburg Dance Ensemble board, Ellensburg’s Children’s Musical Theatre, Laughing Horse Arts Foundation, works with the Ellensburg High School’s Fall Play and Winter Musical and helped her son start the Ellensburg High School’s International Thespian Society. She has worked with this show’s director, Jim Denison, for years and was happy to agree to produce his favorite show, Mamma Mia. She is incredibly proud of this amazing cast and crew and thankful for all their hard work to bring you the best Mamma Mia you will ever see!

Alexandra Roth is so excited to welcome you to VMT’s Mamma Mia the Musical! This is her first time working on a production since moving to Ellensburg, but she has been involved in theatre for nearly 12 years both in and behind the scenes. When she’s not doing something on a stage, Alex loves reading, hiking, and drinking as many smoothies as she can. Alex is incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with this very talented team, and hopes you enjoy the show!

Elise Vikari Rhodes, hailing from North Bend Washington, earned a master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan. Throughout her career, Elise has performed in numerous roles in both the opera and musical theatre world including Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Mother in Dog Days, Jack’s Mother in Into the Woods, Madame Dubonnet in The Boyfriend, and a member of the ensemble in Anything Goes and Oklahoma. Elise has also performed as the Soprano Soloist in multiple performances of Handel’s Messiah across the west. Elise was a District Winner and Northwest Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions in 2018. In 2019, she made her Directorial Debut as the Music Director and Conductor for Jerry Herman’s Hello Dolly!, then again for Rogers and Hammerstein’s State Fair in 2020, both with Ellensburg High School. Elise runs a private music studio out of her home and teaching in all varieties is truly her passion. She is grateful to her wonderful family, Mitchell and Millie, for all their love and support in helping her to pursue this love of theater. This is Elise’s first production with Valley Musical Theater and hopes to have many more opportunities to grow as a music director, performer and teacher

Erin is excited to be stage managing again after a couple years off due to covid. Erin has previously stage managed VMT shows including The Music Man, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Oliver! And many more. Erin would like to thank Jim for inviting her to be part of the crazy ride that is Mamma Mia! She would also like to thank her mom and Josh for their support during this production. Here we go!

Olivia is very excited to be joining crew for the first time this year as the assistant stage manager. She has been in many prior VMT shows, such as Music Man and Guys and Dolls. You may also know her from the musical Little Mermaid where she starred as Ursula. Olivia will be moving to California to pursue a degree in forensic science

After retiring as an interior design professional, including six years teaching the design program at CWU, Cami appreciates the opportunity to serve as the show’s costumer. It’s especially rewarding for her because it’s an outlet for her creative energy that ties in her love of musical theater. It’s also exciting because, for the first time in over a decade, she’s costuming her daughter, Katie Odiaga and watching her dance again on stage. Cami’s been part of the creative team for many other local productions. She designed the sets for several musicals for Ellensburg High School including Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods and My Fair Lady. She later transitioned to be the costumer for several more high school productions, most recently Legally Blonde. Before this show, Cami costumed The Music Man and assisted with several other VMT productions. Cami would especially like to thank her team of amazing volunteers for their dedication and many hours of help with fittings, alterations and sewing! Without their assistance, large productions like Mamma Mia would be impossible!

Kathleen has designed sets for opera, dance, and musical theatre productions for over two decades. She loves to paint, and loves to collaborate with other creative people. Kathleen hopes you enjoy your time in the little Greek taverna she and JD Zimny created for VMT's Mamma Mia!

JD started set construction as a “theatre dad" on one of his son's many shows 11 years ago and just kept building! He has done sets for Valley Musical Theatre, Children’s Musical Theatre, and the Ellensburg High School’s Fall Plays and Winter Musicals as well as helped build puppets with Blue Bear Puppet Studio for parades in Ellensburg. JD has enjoyed following his three children in their passion for the arts. He enjoys meeting and working with cast and crew members. He is the forever the “fix-it”, “go get this, that or the other thing”, and “backup band" for his wife the producer. He hopes you enjoy the show and continue to support the arts!

This is Chris’s 4 th VMT show having procured props for Oliver!, The Music Man and assisting with quick-changes for Greater Tuna. She is a Drama Mamma to a theatre performance major son and can be found helping with the EHS Fall Plays, Winter Musicals and the EHS Troupe #8814 of the International Thespian Society. She loves handing these talented artists a wand and watching them make magic!

After a hiatus of several years, Mary K has returned to enjoying Hair & Makeup with theatre productions. She jumped in this spring with EHS's Legally Blonde and as a result that production received recognition from the Fifth Avenue Theatre for its Hair & Makeup. Mary K has worked for 30 + years in the public schools in Special Education as a teacher, an SLP, and an Assistive Technology Specialist. She loves to read, go to the theatre, and travel. Many thanks to her family (love you) for their ongoing support.

Mike began performing for audiences at age nine when he began a ten-year stint as a competitive dancer. His first foray onto the stage was as a dancer and ensemble member of the musical Family Farm, a musical written by a CWU MFA student. He next was given the opportunity to be a spotlight operator for several EHS and VMT shows. After several years in that role, he had opportunities to call several shows for EHS and assistant stage manage for VMT's Guys and Dolls. VMT's You're a Good Man Charlie Brown led Mike to his first experience operating a light board. Mike's only acting role was as Reverend Hopkins in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. In 2017, when the Morgan Performing Arts Center reopened, Mike attended all the trainings on rigging, sound, and lights. This led to the position of MPAC manager. Since reopening, Mike has done lights for every concert, lecture, ceremony, play, opera, and musical in the MPAC. He also created the MPAC Usher Corps program. He is so excited to be a part of the Mamma Mia team. Thanks to Jim Denison for his faith and support of me, and to Adrienne and JD Zimny for teaching me so much about all things theatre!

Noah is very excited to be a part of Mamma Mia at Valley Musical Theatre. He most recently was a part of the summer musical of the Music man in 2019. Noah’s education in Musical Theatre started in his senior year of High School with The Drowsy Chaperone in 2017 and has since then been a part of VMT.

Brock is an Ellensburg High School alumni and current theatre performance major at Seattle Pacific University. A 2020 EHS graduate, Brock performed in all eight possible shows -with a bonus performance as an alum in 2020. He joined VMT in 2018 performing in Oliver!, and The Music Man (2019), before running lights for Greater Tuna (2021). Brock is excited to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts this fall. COVID-related setbacks and scheduling conflicts have kept him from dancing in flippers, however, he is happy to help move this show forward in any capacity that he can serve.

Gillian is thrilled to be back this year with VMT after a two-year hiatus. This is her second year working with VMT and her fifth year being involved in the theatre. She has performed onstage and worked behind the scenes for multiple shows including Ellensburg High School's The Drowsy Chaperone, Beauty and the Beast, Hello Dolly, and State Fair and Valley Musical Theatre's The Music Man. Currently Gillian studies at Central Washington University with a major in psychology and a minor in theatre arts. In the future, she hopes to go into school psychology. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, and listening to music.

Sandi Cok is thrilled to be participating in her first show with the Valley Musical Theatre. She has worked behind the scenes for many shows at the Warehouse Theatre and the Akin Center Theatre in Yakima. She started in 1995 as prop mistress for “Big River”. Since then she has stage managed and produced multiple plays. She has even appeared onstage occasionally, but her main interest is in lighting design. Her favorite show was running music, sound, and lights for “Les Miserables” at the Akin Center Theatre. When Sandi is not involved in theatre, she is a veterinarian in Yakima.

Miles is a huge fan of ABBA and Mamma Mia is his all time favorite musical. He is going into his junior year of high school and hasn’t been apart of theater since 4th grade, when he was part of VMT’s “Little Mermaid”. His interest in theater was sparked again when he learned Mamma Mia was being put on, and has so enjoyed operating a spotlight for the show. Miles can’t wait for you to see Mamma Mia!

Melanie has been doing crew for shows since Sophomore year in high school, and most recently, she has helped with sound crew for shows. Melanie has just graduated from Ellensburg High School and will be headed off to Western Washington University in the fall.

Saud is happy to be part of the production of Mamma Mia! at Valley Musical Theatre. He took theatre arts classes in high school and teaches math at CWU. Those math skills were put to good use in helping to design the beautiful arches you see in the sets. Saud wants to thank Kathleen and JD for their patience in designing and constructing the sets.

Anna is thrilled to be working on props for another musical, and the first time with Valley Musical Theatre! She has been on crew for Ellensburg High School's performances of State Fair (props), Working (stage crew), Clue (props), and Legally Blonde (props lead). She will be a senior next year at EHS.

Susi Lundquist sewed her first dress at age 9 and fell in love with making her own clothes. In high school she costumed her and her partners matching roller skating outfits for competition. Susi has costumed for Ballet, High School Fall Play and Valley Musical Theatre. In this show she was part of the fittings, alterations and sewing team. This show has been especially fun as 3 of her children are also part of the production.

Anita attended The Art Institute of Seattle, and studied sound engineering, music appreciation, theatre operations, and other music centric courses. In the past, she worked at YVCC where she coordinated and supported all of the drama and music productions; as well as designed posters, programs, and tickets for numerous events. She loves musical theatre and Mamma Mia is one of her most favorite. She is very impressed by all of the talented performers in this production, and she enjoys watching every single performance. Anita would like to thank Jessica, Adrienne, Cami, and Jim for her first opportunity to work with the Valley Musical Theatre, and she is delighted to be a part of this amazing cast and crew.

Kay has been working backstage in musicals since VMT’s “Oliver!” When She was 11/12 as well as “The Music Man” in 2019. Even while in middle school Kay helped with set building and errands for the high school’s past shows. When she finally became a high schooler she’s been involved with shows more than ever. Kay was onstage during the filmed fall play “The Monologue Show From Hell”, later that year she was in the sound booth listening for cues over the headset and putting microphones on the actors for EHS’s “Working” this school year she was the assistant stage manager for “Clue” as well as putting on microphones for the actors. Lastly Kay was on stage crew worrying about set pieces and if the actors all have their mic’s put on correctly during the hit show “Legally Blond.” We could count her performance in her 5th grade show “The wizard of oz” but considering she developed an atrocious British accent halfway through her lines in front of every parent from Mt. Stuart Elementary, let’s forget that ever happened.

Bonnie Joy Stoutamyer has always loved sharing art, whether it be singing, composing, or visual arts. Since her first musical in middle school to more recent opera productions, Bonnie has always loved being involved with hair and makeup design. Bonnie Joy is a small business owner who runs her private voice studio while performing in the PNW. She is also the voice instructor for Make Music Ellensburg. Bonnie Joy graduated with her B.A. in Vocal Performance from Central Washington University in 2017. Her primary voice teacher was Dr. Gayla Blaisdell. In 2019 she received her M. M. in Voice Performance from West Virginia University. Her most recent operatic roles have included Pamina and Papagena from “Die Zauberflöte.” Bonnie is thrilled to be learning with professionals like Mary Kay and Cami in the hair, makeup, and costume crew! Thank you for all of your amazing work!