Photo by Cindy Votruba Bob Schwoch and Julie Walker go through a scene from “Mama Mia!” during rehearsal. The Marshall Area Stage Company is presenting the first showing of the musical production Sunday in the Southwest Minnesota State University Fine Arts Theatre.

MARSHALL — Ever since she saw “Mamma Mia!” on stage, Maureen Keimig knew she wanted to direct it.

And this year, she got the chance to bring the musical filled with ABBA (1970s-80s pop group) songs to the stage in Marshall.

The Marshall Area Stage Company will present “Mamma Mia!” at 2 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday, and 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, June 27-29, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 30, in the Southwest Minnesota State University Fine Arts Theatre.

According to the Music Theatre International website: “ABBA’s hits tell the hilarious story of a young woman’s search for her birth father. This sunny and funny tale unfolds on a Greek island paradise. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.”

Keimig said that not only does the show have the ABBA songs she remembers dancing to as a teenager, she loved the bond between Sophie, the daughter, and her mother, Donna.

“It reminds me of watching my own daughter growing up,” Keimig said.

Morgan Benson and Crystal Enga portray the mother-daughter team of Donna and Sophie.

Enga said when she’s doing Sophie-Donna scenes for the show, she thinks about interacting with her own mother.

“Morgan’s awesome, so it’s easy to act with her,” Enga said.

Sophie is young and excited to get married, Enga said, and she’s very hopeful.

“She’s trying to find herself throughout the show,” Enga said about her character.

In creating the role of Donna, Benson said she tried to think about her own mother, recreating the mannerisms into her own. “My mother would do anything for me as Donna would do for Sophie,” Benson said.

Benson said her character has “lived through a lot.”

“She’s carrying off the character of Donna so well that I forget she’s only in her 20s,” Keimig said of Benson.

Julie Walker plays Rosie, one of Donna’s friends.

“I’m the one who has an absolute devastating crush on Bill,” Walker said of her character.

Kurtis Parlin portrays Harry, one of the three men who could be Sophie’s father. Since Harry is from England, Parlin had to develop a British accent.

“It did a bit of watching YouTube videos– mostly focusing on vowels,” Parlin said.

Learning an accent is just like learning the music and choreography for a show, Parlin said, which is doing things over and over again.

“Just to get the muscle memory down,” Parlin said. He noted that there is a lot of music in “Mamma Mia!” — about 28 songs.

Walker said being part of the summer musical gives her a chance to work together on a show with people she doesn’t always see on a regular basis.

“Every summer we have a month to ‘play’ together,” Walker said.

Enga said “Mama Mia!” resembles life and how you go through it, adding that the show is relatable.

“There’s a lot of moments that touch your heart and make you laugh,” Enga said.

Plus, you’ll know the music because it’s ABBA, Enga said.

“It’s ‘Mama Mia!’ I mean, who doesn’t love ABBA?” Walker added. “It’s a feel-good show. You have a fun time watching it, you have a fun time playing in it.”

“It’s got a lot of energy in it,” Benson said. “I think that comes from the music.”