'Mamma Mia!' Revisits Segerstrom Hall with a Welcome Reception
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| Mamma Mia! Through June 26, 2011 Segerstrom Hall Segerstrom Center for the Arts 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa Tickets start at $23.75 :: scfta.org |
Back in the ‘80’s, my best college friend was a Swedish man who grew up listening to ABBA, his homeland’s most popular band. We always included “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo” on our mixed tapes for our dorm room dance parties, and the songs always filled the dance floor at many an LA club when I was younger. The music of ABBA has great longevity, partly for its infectious musicality, yet more so for the band's campy and fun persona. A few years later, in 2001, same Swede and I journeyed to the Avenue of the Stars in Century City to The Shubert Theatre to attend the first North American tour of Mamma Mia!, a blockbuster show in the relatively new genre of musicals – the Jukebox Musical. We knew we were in for an original theater experience, as neither one of us had been to a show quite like it.
Although The Shubert Theatre did not survive (it was demolished in 2002), Mamma Mia! certainly did, with worldwide success and a cult following. Many theatergoers dress up, donning glam boots and boas – if you forget your feathers, I believe you can buy them at the show’s souvenir kiosk – and it is an extremely popular show to see with your BFFs.
Mamma Mia! is a record-breaking musical blockbuster... here are some fun facts: According to Wikipedia, “On any given day, there are at least seven performances of Mamma Mia! being performed around the globe. On May 15, 2005, it surpassed the original Broadway runs of The Sound of Music, The King and I and Damn Yankees with 1,500 performances. As of August 19, 2009, it is the 11th longest running Broadway musical of all time with 3,560 performances. As of January 2008, Mamma Mia! became the longest daily running show in the history of Russian theater. In the United States, Mamma Mia! played in Las Vegas, opening at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in February 2003 and closing on January 4, 2009. In June 2005, it played its 1000th performance in Las Vegas, becoming the longest running West End/Broadway musical in Las Vegas.”
A little background on the show: Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, and was composed by ABBA band members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The story centers around a young girl's upcoming wedding on a Greek Isle. Like most of the formulaic jukebox musicals, it is a fictional story woven with pop song hits, and this show is full of all of our favorites from ABBA, such as "Super Trouper," "Lay All Your Love On Me," "Dancing Queen," "Take a Chance On Me," "Thank You for the Music," "Money, Money, Money," "The Winner Takes It All," and "SOS." The success of this musical gave opportunity for a film adaptation in 2008, which starred Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, and Julie Walters.
For just a short time, you can get your ABBA on at Segerstrom Center for the Arts and experience this “smash hit musical.” It could be your first time, as it was for my enthusiastic companion on the June 21 show, or it could be your fourth, as it was mine. My BFF had the film soundtrack burned into her brain, but was in for a treat, as, unlike in the film version, the stage touring company can really sing. (Those of you who have seen the film know what I am talking about!) Featuring Southern California native Chloe Tucker as Sophie, the young bride to be, and Australian singer Kaye Tuckerman as Donna, Sophie’s single mother, the show is full of girl power, as well as male bonding, all centered around the top charting songs of the Swedish super group.
Kitschy ensemble numbers featuring bare-chested men in masks and swim fins, fog machine- and day glow-filled dream sequences and girls bonding at Chloe’s bachelorette party give the audience two hours of fun-filled enjoyment, and as I witnessed at a packed house at Segerstrom Hall, the crowd was in ABBA bliss. The patrons varied in age, from the older set to cool mamas with their daughters. There is something for everyone in this show, and it is powerful when you experience a large venue of people full of delight and laughter.
As Mamma Mia! enters its 11th year of production, it shows no sign of slowing down. It seems fitting, as ABBA remains the world’s second largest record-selling band, only surpassed by The Beatles. And as most jukebox musicals, the show’s goal is to entertain through its infectious songs. And for that, we theatergoers can say “thank you for the music” and for Mamma Mia!, a pop culture and musical theater phenomenon, and most of all, for the ABBA-solute fun!
