One of the world's most popular musicals, MAMMA MIA! has audiences dancing in the aisles at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Seen by over 40 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA!, is celebrating over 3,400 performances in its ninth smash hit year at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre and remains one of Broadway's top selling musicals. The current North American Tour has played over 3,000 performances in over 130 cities with 125 repeat visits.
The original West End production of MAMMA MIA! is celebrating 10 years and over 4,000 performances in London, an international tour has visited more than 40 foreign cities, and the blockbuster feature film adaptation is the most successful movie musical of all time grossing over $600 million worldwide.
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and inspired by the story-telling magic of ABBA's timeless songs, MAMMA MIA! is Judy Craymer's vision of staging writer Catherine Johnson's sunny, funny tale of family and friendship unfolding on a tiny Greek island. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the island they had last visited 20 years ago. Songs including "Dancing Queen," "The Winner Takes It All," "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me" are all featured in this feel-good musical.
'Mamma Mia!' flies as tuneful as a lark and as smart as a cuckoo. It offers one of those nights when you sit back and let a nutty kind of joy just sweep over you... The true hero is British playwright Catherine Johnson, who took all these songs and cobbled a cohesive book around them. Genius. Phyllida Lloyd's staging gets the very last ounce of fun and sentiment out of the show - it's dazzlingly fast and breathtakingly simple - while Anthony Van Laast's choreography supports it at every turn.
For if you take apart 'Mamma, Mia!' ingredient by ingredient, you can only wince. It has a sitcom script about generations in conflict that might as well be called 'My Three Dads.' The matching acting, perky and italicized, often brings to mind the house style of 'The Brady Bunch.' The choreography is mostly stuff you could try, accident-free, in your own backyard. And the score consists entirely of songs made famous in the disco era by the Swedish pop group Abba, music that people seldom admit to having danced to, much less sung in their showers. Yet these elements have been combined, with alchemical magic, into the theatrical equivalent of comfort food.
2000 | Toronto |
Toronto Production Toronto |
2001 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2002 | US Tour |
2nd National Tour US Tour |
2003 | Las Vegas |
Las Vegas Production Las Vegas |
2014 | Las Vegas |
Las Vegas Production Las Vegas |
2017 | Los Angeles |
Hollywood Bowl Production Los Angeles |
2021 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
2021 | West End |
London Immersive Production West End |
2023 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
2024 | West End |
West End |
2030 | West End |
London Immersive Production West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Theatre World Awards | Performance | Louise Pitre |
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