Karen Mason, Louise Pitre and Judy Kaye in Mamma Mia!.

Photo by Joan Marcus

This is a feel good evening whose time has definitely come. A scant two years after its London opening the show has a string of successful productions which spread like lightning all over the English speaking world. When primary producer, Judy Craymer, approached relatively unknown TV/theater writer Catherine Johnson to do the book she was somewhat incredulous but, a big fan of ABBA, she was eager to comply and is still surprised by its success. Later on Director Phyllida Lloyd, whose main experience was with opera, jumped on board with the theory that this would not be a star driven vehicle, but rather draw on the enthusiasm of an untested cast chosen from each country in which the production is mounted.

The star of the show is the score by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of the famous '70's Swedish pop group, ABBA and, if you already know and love songs like "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money", "The Winner Takes All", "Mamma Mia" and eighteen others, you need know nothing more. The upbeat music is
accessible even to those previously unacquainted with it.

Johnson's slim story, shoe horned between the songs, seems lifted from the movie "Buena Sera, Mrs. Campbell". Sophie (Tina Maddigan) is getting married on an idyllic Greek isle but wants her father to give her away. However, her mother, Donna (Louise Pitre) had three lovers (Dean Nolan, Ken Marks, David
W Keeley) in the heyday of the swinging sixties and no one, including Donna, knows which is Sophie's real father. Sophie secretly invites them all to the wedding shocking everyone including her fiance, Sky (Joe Machota), Donna's old friends and former band mates Tanya and Rosie (marvelous Broadway
veterans Karen Mason and Judy Kaye).

The first act's preoccupation with introducing the characters and situation affords many opportunities to slip in the songs, but as emotion mounts in the second half, and relationships develop, the intimate moments between Sophie and her "fathers" and Donna and her former lovers the music simply does not work. Andersson and Ulvaeus have insisted the arrangements, under Martin Koch's watchful eye, remain unchanged and so, when there is an emotional duet between Donna & Sam, he starts appropriately singing solo. Suddenly there is an unseen chorus accompanying him and the intimate moment dissolves into a
full blown orchestration.

These songs are not written for musical theater and Bruce & Aitken's all out, nonspecific amplification cannot adapt to the subtleties of the book. Furthermore the songs are listed in alphabetical order in the program so the savvy audience tries to guess which song is about to be heard, and laughs in delighted recognition destroying any coherent response to the charming if familiar story. Mark Thompson's set designs and Anthony Van Laast's choreography register "cute", no more dimensional than the characters. Howard Harrison's lighting gets a chance to shine only after the play ends. Both the story and the music are recycled offering questionable value for money spent ( a CD is cheaper and will last longer than your memories of the show).

At the curtain calls the show gives up all pretense of a play and reverts into a full scale pop concert...and that's exactly how it should be.

Mamma Mia, good theater? No! Good Fun? Yes!