Mamma Mia

My wife and I have both been big ABBA fans since the mid-70s when we first met and have most of their vinyl albums as well as the two greatest hits CDs. When I first heard in 1999 that Catherine Johnson was proposing to write a musical called Mamma Mia, the title of ABBA’s 1975 chart-topper, and using over a dozen of their songs, I was at first sceptical. But then I thought, even if the storyline is not up to much, with such great songs as "Super Trouper", "Lay All Your Love on Me", "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Take a Chance on Me", "Thank You for the Music", "Money, Money, Money", “One of Us”, "The Winner Takes It All", "Voulez-Vous", "SOS" and the title track, how can it fail? And of course it didn’t! For not only has the show these great musical numbers but it also has a very funny yet at times poignant storyline. Over 60 million people have now seen the show, which has grossed $2 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut and at last it is on tour for the first time in the UK.

Set on the Greek island paradise of Kalokairi, 20-year-old Sophie is preparing to marry her fiancé, Sky. She wants her father to walk her down the aisle but does not know who he is. Sophie discovers her mother's old diary and finds entries which describe intimate dates with three men (Sam Carmichael, Bill Austin, and Harry Bright). Sophie believes one of these men is her father and, three months prior to the wedding, sends each an invitation to her wedding, writing in the name of her mother, Donna, without letting the unsuspecting mother know. This brings her mother face to face with three men from her distant romantic past on the eve of a wedding none of them will ever forget.

The show is produced by Judy Craymer, the creator from Catherine Johnson’s script, Richard East & Björn Ulvaeus, one of the two writers of all the ABBA songs and a member of the group itself. And what a fantastic production it is. Bright, colourful, full of humour and with some brilliant acting, singing and choreography.

There are some superb performances by both the principals and the rest of the ensemble. Helen Hobson as Donna was the outstanding performer as far as I was concerned. Her singing and acting was superb and her rendition of firstly “Slipping Through My Fingers” and then “The Winner Takes It All” were the highlight of the show for me. The latter received a standing ovation from the capacity audience. Helen was well supported by Gillian Hardie as Rosie and Emma Clifford as Tanya, Donna’s best friends and her “Dynamos” backing singers from her past. Their harmonies on “Super Trouper” and “Dancing Queen” were absolutely spot on! They also provided some great humour as well.

Lucy May Baker as Sophie was another star of the show – a great singing voice who also harmonised well with both Helen and also with Philip Ryan playing the part of Sky, her fiancé. The three “Dads” Jon Boydon as Sam, Jamie Hogarth as Harry and Christopher Hollis as Bill were also excellent in their roles and I thought the duet between Jamie and Helen of “Our Last Summer” was another highlight of the show.

Plaudits must also go to Louis Stockil as Pepper and Brad Veitch as Eddie, Sky’s friends. They too added much of the humour to the show and their dance with the rest of the male chorus to “Voulez Vous” was excellent.

This was a great chorus number as was Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) but the best was reserved for the final curtain calls with a reprise of "Mamma Mia" followed by another reprise of "Dancing Queen" during which Donna, Tanya, Rosie appeared on stage wearing brightly coloured ABBA inspired costumes. The show ended with the Eurovision winning song "Waterloo", during which Sam, Bill, and Harry joined the rest of the cast onstage in brightly coloured costumes that matched the leading ladies. During these final two numbers the whole of the audience at the Grand were on their feet, singing, dancing and clapping along to these superb ABBA numbers.

The music provided by Richard Weeden the Musical Director and his band was outstanding, and so true to Bjorn and Benny’s original scores. The production opened last week at The Grand Theatre in Leeds and runs for a further five weeks until Saturday 8 July. Tickets for Friday and Saturday performances are now limited but there is still good availability for performances during the week. Contact https://www.leedsgrandtheatre.com or ring 08448482700.