Theater: Mamma Mia

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Mamma Mia! Theatre Schedule

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Mamma Mia!

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Mamma Mia! is the very definition of a guilty pleasure: brazen fluff that holds attention and entertains well and harmlessly enough for its two hours. Which is not to say that, even by the relatively relaxed standards of commercial theatre, it's a well-made show. Beneath the AbbA novelty lies an underchoreographed musical with a feeble book that shoehorns the pop icons' songs in to fit its premise.

Sophie (a lovely Tina Maddigan) invites three men with whom her mother (Pitre) has had affairs to her wedding to Sky (the underused Adam Brazier). One of them, she thinks, must be her father. The plot device allows playwright Catherine Johnson to make dramatic nods toward changing sexual mores, feminism and male anxieties. The Abba songs are usually used to comment on situations, rarely to advance or explain them.

That the audience bursts out laughing at the first line of each song -- even when it's a dramatic tearjerker, as in Pitre's powerful tilt at "The Winner Takes It All" -- is a sure sign the songs have been awkwardly introduced. And for a musical, that's fatal.

Almost as fatal as the tendency in Canadian musicals to cast comic actors -- usually perfectly capable ones -- whose singing leaves much to be desired. Here, the result is that the (relatively coarse) comedy in Mamma Mia! supercedes and comes at the expense of musical numbers.

But this show is not really about musical theatre. It's a kitschy spectacle with built-in appeal to middle-aged suburban folks and downtown queens -- people who have more in common than they'd ever wish to acknowledge. On that level, Mamma Mia! does well.

People all around the world have fallen in love with the characters, the story, and the music that make MAMMA MIA! the ultimate feel-good show.

A mother confronts her past as three men return to the Greek island they?ve not visited for 21 years just as her 20 year old daughter is about to be married?.

The story-telling magic of ABBA?s timeless songs propels this enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship, and every night everyone?s having the time of their lives! Producer Judy Craymer, who previously worked with Benny Andersson, Bj?Ulvaeus and Tim Rice as Executive Producer of CHESS, was convinced that there was a musical to be created featuring ABBA songs. Naturally the greatest challenge was finding a story strong enough to carry it off.

Ultimately, it was to be the award-winning British playwright Catherine Johnson who created the story that captured the imaginations of Craymer and her producing partners Richard East and Bj?Ulvaeus. The lyrics to each chosen ABBA song glided effortlessly into Johnson's funny and poignant tale of family and friendship set on a mythical Greek island.

When Director Phyllida Lloyd, renowned for her work at England's Royal National Theatre and international opera productions, came on board the project gathered further momentum. A superb creative team was then assembled - Mark Thompson (design), Howard Harrison (lighting), Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken (sound) Martin Koch (musical supervisor, additional material and arrangements) and Anthony Van Laast - to bring MAMMA MIA! to theatrical life.

Besides its home shows in New York's Winter Garden Theatre and at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, the production of Mamma Mia may be travelling to a city near you.