APPLETON, Wis. — After taking 10 years off from theater, Jim Newman found himself taking any audition he could get. After so much time away from the Great White Way, he admitted he found himself nervous to audition, though.
During the height of the COVID pandemic, most shows were doing virtual auditions, accepting tapes from actors vying for a part in a show. But when things started to return to normal, Newman had to head to live auditions again.
“I had to start going to live auditions again and I forgot how to not be nervous at auditions,” he explained. “So my agent said, ‘We’re just gonna send you on a bunch of auditions. It doesn’t matter whether you want the job or not, just get your feet wet.’ And ‘Mamma Mia!’ was one of those auditions.”
Newman said he wasn’t interested in touring at the time, but took his agent’s advice and went to the audition. Because he wasn’t thinking he would take the job, his nerves seemed to evaporate.
Then, he got a callback.
Maybe, he thought, this show was a good fit for him after all. He’s been with the tour since the beginning, when they started rehearsals last fall.
Newman was then cast as Bill Austin in “Mamma Mia!” one of Sophie’s potential dads. It turns out this show was just what he needed in his life.
In the show, after reading her mother’s, Donna Sheridan, old diary, Sophie Sheridan invites three men to her wedding who could be her father, hoping to finally meet her dad and have him walk her down the aisle.
Along the way, Newman’s character falls in love with one of Donna’s friends, Rosie, played by Carly Sakolove.
Newman said this show, and the tour, has been nothing but a “joyful experience.”
“If you’re gonna go on a tour, go on a tour with a happy show because it makes your life so much easier,” he said.
“This show is a phenomenon, so the audience comes in loving it — and there’s a little concert at the end, a mini concert, and they’re standing up and dancing and screaming. And [Carly and I] just sort grab each other’s shoulder and no matter how hard that day was, or you didn’t think you had it in you, you just can’t take that for granted — that kind of joy coming at you and making that many people happy all at once,” he added.
Despite how iconic it is, Newman said he’s been able to make Bill his own.
“Bill could be sort of one-dimensional. He’s like this adventure guy. He could be this hyper-macho, kind of a little bit of a [jerk] maybe. And I am not that guy,” Newman said. “What I do have in common with [Bill] is I am commitment-phobic; I have been hurt, like a lot of guys, and that’s really what’s underneath all of the commitment-phobic. So I’m very much a free spirit … There are a lot of similarities to us. I’m also a good-natured, happy guy. Bill’s sort of a party guy. He came just to have a good time.”
But when Bill comes to the island, he learns he may have a daughter and starts to think he may be ready for that. He starts to think, Newman said, that he may actually want a child.
Newman said he didn’t want kids himself, but then became a stepdad to twin boys.
"I was like, ‘I’m enjoying this.’ I thought I would be terrified by it and I didn’t want it but I actually really enjoyed it,” Newman said. “So there are a lot of similarities to us in that sense.”
And just like in the show, Newman said he is very close with the other “dads” in the show: Rob Marnell who plays Harry Bright and Sam Carmichael played by Victor Wallace. They sometimes even share dressing rooms backstage.
The touring cast, Newman said, has become a second family, offering a unique bond for one another and unwavering support and love.
That, after all, is what “Mamma Mia!” is all about.
“Our show has a lot of themes of motherhood and sisterhood and bonding. But the underlying theme is just about being there for each other. In the play, they don’t find out which one’s the dad. We all claim her as our daughter … That’s a bigger message, right? It doesn’t matter who belongs to who. We’re all in this the same. We can all be parents. We can all be part of the community that supports each other,” Newman shared.
While “Mamma Mia!” doesn’t get into extremely heavy topics, Newman reiterated he believes in spreading joy to others — that happy entertainment is just as valuable.
“When you’re making 3,500 people forget their rough week and just have a great time, that is a gift. That is a service that is needed.
“It’s sort of like an adrenaline injection of joy,” he said.
“Mamma Mia!” runs at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wis., from Dec. 17 to 22. Find ticket information, here.
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