When Madison Deadman returns to the Wharton Center Jan. 16-21, it will no longer be as a wide-eyed girl taking in such wonders as the parade of animals in a Disney spectacle.

Rather, she will be on the stage with the cast of “Mamma Mia,” performing in the ensemble and understudying Sophie, part of a show that has been omnipresent in her musical theater career.

“Mamma Mia” is a 1999 jukebox musical written by Catherine Johnson using the songs of ABBA and composed by the group’s members Benny Andersson and Bjȍrn Ulvaeus. In addition to the title song, the musical features such tunes as “Souper Trouper,” “Dancing Queen” and “Lay All Your Love on Me.”

The story follows a young woman, Sophie, who is about to marry Sky and wants her father to walk her down the aisle — except she doesn’t know who he is. After reading the diary of her mother, Donna, she identifies three possible candidates and sends them invitations to her Greek island wedding.

Deadman, a Michigan native who graduated from Howell High School, remembers seeing a handful of shows at the Wharton Center starting with “The Lion King” when she was a small child.

“To go to a theater in Michigan that I grew up seeing shows and dreaming about performing in is just a dream come true,” Deadman said. “I’m really, really excited to be there.”

Her professional musical career started early. At age 12, she auditioned for Dexter’s Encore Musical Theatre’s “Evita.” The artistic director, Dan Cooney, asked her what her favorite show was. Her answer: “Mamma Mia.”

“I’ve always loved it,” Deadman said. “It’s something I’ve shared with my mom. We’re Greek and we love ABBA. I have been dreaming of doing the show for a very long time.”

She’d go on to do many shows at the Encore, including one of her favorite roles — Eponine in “Les Miserables.”

Years later, Cooney performed the role of Bill, one of the three potential fathers, in “Mamma Mia” on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre. Deadman went to see him and received a personal tour.

“It was the first Broadway stage I ever stepped foot on and it was for this show,” Deadman said. “Now I’m doing it on the road and I’m traveling the country and it’s just one of the most joyful shows I’ve ever seen and I’ve ever been a part of.”

As a member of the ensemble, Deadman gets to be a constant presence in a show that requires big vocals to make the pop music of the show successful. She talked about the importance of the ensemble in a production like “Mamma Mia.”

“It’s kind of like a Greek chorus, especially since it takes place in Greece,” Deadman said. “This story can’t be told without the ensemble. The dancing informs everything and we sing about every song in the show in the background. It really pushes the show forward and creates the stakes for all the problems and situations happening. It’s just a big energy boost for the principals.”

She said the ensemble is already a tight-knit group with the tour having started in September. She said they work well together and she praised the principals as creating an incredible cast.

While the musical itself has remained unchanged since its 1999 inception, each cast brings its own interpretation to it and one thing that Deadman said makes this tour special is its intergenerational nature. There are people on the creative team who have been involved with “Mamma Mia” for 25 years and others, like herself, who are doing the show for the first time but who have always had the musical as part of their lives.

“I think I bring a totally new fresh perspective to it, along with a lot of my other classmates,” Deadman said. “But to have all those different people with different experiences and perspectives and multi-generations is really special and it gives a really well-rounded feel to the show.”

Deadman is one of two understudies for the role of Sophie, being played by Alisa Melendez. They go on only when Melendez is ill or takes a day off. Deadman said she is able to identify with the character of Sophie in many ways and looks forward to performing the part.

“I love her wonder,” Deadman said of Sophie. “She is full of questions and light and sunshine. There’s just this wide-eyed, bushy tailed aspect to her and I am very much like that. I’m super curious. I always have been. It’s a show full of really strong women with Donna, Sophie, Tanya and Rosie and the relationships they all have. Sophie just brings this bright spirit to the whole show and I really resonate with that.”

Deadman earned her BFA in musical theater from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, graduating in 2020 into a world where musical theater had shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was able to do a virtual senior showcase with her college that got her an agent, but it wasn’t until 2023 that in-person auditions really resumed and she found herself tapped for the tour of “Mamma Mia.”

While the show is now a quarter-century old, Deadman said there is no better time to come out and see it.

“It’s something the world really needs right now,” Deadman said. “And I’m grateful to be in a show that is a catalyst for such joy and happiness and dancing and singing. Everybody is just having a blast on stage and in the audience.”