Birmingham’s Jim Newman to star in “Mamma Mia!” 25th anniversary tour

Birmingham’s Jim Newman will be hitting the road in October as one of the stars of the 25^th anniversary tour of “Mamma Mia!”

The musical, featuring the songs of ABBA, premiered in London in 1999 and on Broadway in 2001, and it was made into a movie (and sequel) starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried.

Newman will play Bill, one of the three possible fathers of Sophie Sheridan. The crux of the show is Sophie inviting the three men to Greece to try to discover her father’s identity. Newman’s character is featured in songs such as “Thank You for the Music,” “The Name of the Game” and “Take a Chance On Me.”

Newman graduated from Erwin High School and Birmingham-Southern College. Since then, he’s had a busy career, appearing on Broadway in shows like “The Who’s Tommy,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Curtains,” “Steel Pier,” “Minnelli on Minnelli” and “Hands on a Hardbody.” He’s also appeared in several TV series (most recently “Succession” and “And Just Like That”) and toured extensively as the Cowboy in the Village People.

The ”Mamma Mia!” tour kicks off Oct. 26 in Elmira, New York, and continues to Colorado, California, Utah, Michigan, Ohio and many other locations. Right now, the closest it will get to Birmingham is Memphis, where it will be July 16-21, 2024.