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Mamma Mia

8/17/2011

 
Picture
Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus' smash hit Mamma Mia opened at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre this week.
Based on the book by Catherine Johnson, Mamma Mia takes us on the exciting journey of Sophie Sheridan through the build up to and celebration of her wedding day.
Once upon a time her free-spirited mother Donna had three chance romances around the same period of time resulting in the birth Sophie, but fate, fortune, and friction would have it that all three men would move in different directions leaving Donna on her own on a Greek island to raise her daughter.

Sophie has long pined for the knowledge of who her father might be and now, twenty years later and her wedding day fast approaching, the longings are acute. She accidentally stumbles across her mother's diary one day, which reveals the identities of her potential fathers, and she takes a huge chance and invites them all to her wedding: only problem is, she's signed the invitations with her mother's name.
All mayhem ensues as the men all arrive on the same boat, and a game of cat and mouse begins.

Mamma Mia is a story written around the music of the iconic 70s, Swedish pop band ABBA.
Some of the stand-out songs in the show are Chiquitita, Take a Chance On Me, The Winner Takes It All, and Voulez-Vous all which were huge crowd pleasers.

There were a few lovely quieter moments that stood out as well such as Slipping Through My Fingers, and The Name of the Game. In the case of the latter, it was a nice change of pace to hear a well known song with such a pleasant reconfiguration.

The cast was a lot of fun. Donna's two girlfriends from the mainland are hilarious. Their comedic timing is great and they stole most of the scenes they were in.
The flipper dance was hilarious and some of the choreography was clever and very entertaining.

Some of the voices were lovely but could only be heard clearly when they hit their perfect range which was a real shame because they were clearly working very hard.
The show was a little slow in parts and some of Donna's dialogue was missed during one heated scene (perhaps because it was too fast) but they made up for it in spades after the closing of the final act, with an array of some of the most colorful, upbeat and flashy ABBA songs.

Mamma Mia is a show the whole family will enjoy.
Check out The Queen Elizabeth Theatre for tickets and times.
F Scott
8/22/2011 07:43:22 am

nice article. can't wait to see the show


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