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"Mamma Mia!" has been the dancing queen on Broadway for the last eight years, getting the audience on their feet nightly to the sounds of ABBA. Recently, this well-oiled musical machine welcomed some new leads -- Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel and Broadway newbie Alyse Alan Louis -- to play the main roles of mother and daughter.

Such a practice of replacing roles is called in the theater industry a "put-in." Resident director Martha Banta was at the helm of this special rehearsal process.

"It's literally putting new people into the show. Every year a different amount of people come and go when their contracts are up and this year it's quite a few. All of the principals except for one are leaving," says Banta. "So it's really like starting all over with a whole new cast, which is in fact the best way to do it, because you're creating the whole story from scratch with everyone."

On average, when a musical is about to open on Broadway, actors have a five- or six-week rehearsal period, followed by approximately four weeks of previews before opening night. For a "put in," it's anywhere from one to four weeks before they perform for Broadway audiences.

Leavel and Louis were given the maximum amount of weeks to rehearse, and caught up with NY1 on their second week of rehearsals.

"I'm so glad with being a replacement for 'Mamma Mia!' It's a shared open experience. This will be a new 'Mamma Mia!' going in," said Leavel at that time. "And the creative team has pushed us and encouraged us to bring what we bring to this show, to the characters Donna and Sophie. That's a real gift."

Over the course of the four weeks, the actresses learned music, choreography and blocked scenes together. The entire cast joined the "Mamma Mia!" actresses for their last two days of rehearsal and then it was showtime.

"Beth Leavel and Alyse were absolutely incredible!" says producer Judy Craymer.

While the result is a success, both actresses say that they will continue to develop their characters, only now in front of an audience.

"Even now with it being opening night, it's still a process," says Louis. "After a couple of weeks and a few shows, we'll feel even more comfortable with our characters and our parts."

You can catch Leavel and Louis as the mother-and-daughter team in "Mamma Mia!" at The Winter Garden Theatre.