MAMMA MIA! • LONDON NOVELLO THEATRE
★★★★★☆
Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg
REVIEW MAMMA MIA!: STILL GOING STRONG
If only everything held up as well as ABBA’s music. I’ve just revisited the West End production of the Mamma Mia! musical, which has been running in London for 27 years, and I’m blown away by all the energy and musical joy filling the theater.
From today’s perspective, the staging is perhaps on the simple side, with a few white set pieces that paint a picturesque picture of the cliché of Greek island romance without much fanfare. In an updated production, one might wish for a bit more flair in the stagecraft and a more advanced production design—just because you can.
Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg
But the story is and remains a brilliantly crafted romantic comedy that holds up throughout, aided by excellent singers/performers, vibrant choreography, visual flair, and a stellar live band delivering maximum impact with an amazingly rich sound. The cast is on their toes and vocally well-equipped, with an outstanding Sara Poyzer in the role of the bride’s mother, Donna, who ends up as the central figure of the plot in the finale’s irresistibly moving rendition of “The Winner Takes It All.”
The production shamelessly plays directly to a predominantly female, party-ready audience with a lively ensemble of handsome young guys with six-packs in form-fitting Lycra swimsuits that are constantly being put on and taken off. Enjoy.
Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg
Mamma Mia! is a musical that feels so natural today that you forget how frivolous and risky the idea sounded when it was first presented. A romantic comedy based on ABBA songs? A Greek island, three potential fathers, and a wedding? Come on!
Several producers rejected the project because they thought it was too frivolous, too pop-oriented, too lightweight. A decision they’ve probably regretted ever since.
Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg
The musical premiered in the West End in 1999 and moved to Broadway the following year, where it opened at the Winter Garden Theatre—the same theater where the new Broadway production of Mamma Mia! has just returned. The story of Donna, Sophie, and the three potential fathers is told with a warmth and humor that make it impossible not to love. Mamma Mia! is not just a success—it is a global cultural phenomenon that redefined the jukebox musical and cemented Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as some of the most influential musical theater creators of modern times.
Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg
ABBA’s music elevates the production from a charming comedy to pure audience delight. Songs like “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “Gimme Gimme Gimme,” “Voulez-Vous,” and “SOS” take on new dramatic life because they are suddenly sung by characters in the midst of life crises, romantic entanglements, and difficult questions.
It’s pop music and über-banal one-liners that turn out to work much better as dialogue than anyone could have imagined.
Mamma Mia! has become one of the highest-grossing musicals in theater history. It has been performed in over 50 countries, translated into more than 20 languages, and sold over 65 million tickets worldwide. It is one of the few musicals that functions as a party, a story, and an emotional outlet—a work that makes the audience laugh, cry, and dance in their seats. The 2008 film adaptation was a massive success, grossing over $600 million and making ABBA’s music the soundtrack for a new generation. The 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again from 2018 cemented the phenomenon.
Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg
What makes Mamma Mia! special is that it never tries to be anything other than what it is: A tribute to music, to community, and to the kind of stories that make us believe that life, after all, is full of possibilities. Benny and Björn have said themselves that they never imagined their songs would work in a dramatic context, but the musical reveals just how powerful their melodic and emotional craftsmanship really is.
Five stars for Mamma Mia! revisited in London from GOT TO SEE THIS.
