Jordan De Leon and Grant Reynolds are two of the 25 actors making their Broadway debuts in Mamma Mia!, now back at its original NYC venue of the Winter Garden Theatre. They and many of their castmates joined the show's national tour in 2023, which led to their Broadway debuts as the tour stops in NYC through February 1.
Mamma Mia!'s return to the Winter Garden is also a homecoming for De Leon. On opening night, he left a handwritten note for the person in the seat where he watched Rocky the Musical years before, wishing to someday be on the stage. He now appears in the Mamma Mia! ensemble, and Reynolds stars as Sky, the fiancé of main character Sophie in the ABBA-scored musical. Comedy and chaos ensue when Sophie, not knowing who her dad is, invites all three possibilities to her Greek-island wedding.
With a beloved movie adaptation and a lineup of widely recognizable ABBA hits, like "Dancing Queen" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," Mamma Mia! is a joyous show for first-timers — both on and off the stage. De Leon and Reynolds reflected on going from first-time Broadway-goers to first-time Broadway actors, and they shared tips and recommendations for today's rookie theatregoers.
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What was the first Broadway show you ever saw?
Grant Reynolds: Kinky Boots with Billy Porter. I also saw Newsies the next day, and Matilda.
Jordan De Leon: The revival of Cinderella at the Broadway Theatre. It's just musical theatre magic, old-school Rodgers and Hammerstein.
The first show I saw when I moved to New York after college was Rocky The Musical at the Winter Garden. [...] Cut to 11 years later, and we made our Broadway debuts on the Winter Garden stage.
So on the day of our debut, I wanted to commemorate that [with the handwritten letter]. I wanted someone out there to know you're literally watching someone's biggest dream in life come true. I had my family and I had my friends out there who knew that, but I wanted someone who maybe doesn't know me directly to know.
Tell me more about the day of your first Broadway performance. How were you feeling? How did you prepare?
Reynolds: I was so overwhelmed. Not nervous — it wasn't a bad feeling. Maybe it wasn't even overwhelmed. It was this over-filling feeling of every single emotion.
There were so many pinch-me moments, seeing people who have been a part of the legacy of our show be there. [...] For us to be able to take that moment in and be uplifted like that — by not just the fans of Mamma Mia!, but it felt like New York City was riding for us. That feeling is still present every night.
De Leon: A lot of times when people make their Broadway debuts [...] there's also a lot in their head: "I need to make sure I'm in the right place. I need to make sure I know my choreography." Because Grant and I specifically had done this for two years already — we've been with the show since September of 2023 — it's in our bones.
Because the guesswork of the show was out of the way, I actually remember that day so vividly and clearly. I woke up at seven. I had just moved into my apartment, so the movers were dropping things off at 10 a.m., and then I was picking up my tour trunk from FedEx with my little brother. We had a last-minute rehearsal [...] and then I went off to Whole Foods, and then we had our debut.
What makes Mamma Mia! a good show for a first-time Broadway-goer?
Reynolds: There is this really true and relatable storyline with Mamma Mia!, which is about unconventional family dynamics and your identity and owning who you are.
It's multi-generational — I love coming to the stage door and seeing women in their 50s celebrating a birthday, and then there's a bachelorette, and then it's this 10-year-old's birthday. The diversity in age, color, gender is amazing.
And it's also fun! You have a chance to escape for a good two hours. Enjoy great music, see beautiful costumes, and see some amazing performances. We're putting on wetsuits and flippers for you, and spandex, so just enjoy it.
De Leon: It is very reminiscent of a great sitcom or a great ensemble-cast movie, and there is so much heart in it. [...] You can see yourself in at least one character on this stage.
And it's ABBA! There is at least one ABBA banger that everyone loves; it gets people on their feet. That is why people, against all better judgment, are scream-singing along with us during the curtain call.
It's the original jukebox musical. There's a reason it's like the Rosetta Stone of jukebox musicals. And there's a reason it's back 25 years later, updated in many ways and, in other ways, still very true to what people saw in 2001 when it opened.
