Mamma Mia!
Prince of Wales Theatre
Synopsis
For many around the world, 2008 was the first time that people got a taste of the phenomenon that is Mamma Mia!, when its movie adaptation broke box office records and became an international success story. However, the show had already won over London theatre audiences almost ten years earlier when it opened on the stage of the Prince Edward Theatre in 1999.
The jukebox musical, which uses the songs of ABBA to tell a compelling original story, has become a defining force in the West End, raking in more than £155 million from UK box office totals and proving the unbeatable power of Theatreland musicals.
But then the movie came along and shattered everyone’s expectations. It starred Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julia Walters and Colin Firth and by the end of its worldwide run it had made over $600 million, with its UK totals beating out even “The Dark Knight” as the highest grossing movie of 2008. It brought the story to a new audience and has allowed the London stage show, now at the Prince of Wales Theatre, to flourish as audiences travel to see where it all began.
The origins of Mamma Mia! lie of course with ABBA, but it is two of its members that have been part of the creative force of the project, with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson working alongside British playwright Catherine Johnson and producer Judy Craymer.
Together they came up with a plot that would bring new life to the songs, as we are introduced to Sophie Sheridan, who lives on a Greek island with her mother Donna. Sophie has become engaged to her boyfriend Sky and whilst she looks forward her wedding, there is a father-shaped hole in Sophie’s heart that needs filling before the big day. She has never known her father and if she wants him to walk her down the aisle she is going to have to get creative and maybe the answer lies in her mother’s old diary.
Piecing together her mother’s past, Sophie is able to narrow it down to three men, promptly inviting all of them to the island and hoping that in her heart she will know who it is when she sees him. But Donna is horrified to find three old flames on the island and as the story progresses it seems obvious that Sophie’s idea is not going to go according to plan.
But it would not be an ABBA musical without their signature songs and as the story develops there are plenty of opportunities for the cast to break out into everyone’s favourite numbers. These include “Money, Money, Money”, “Dancing Queen”, “Thank You For The Music”, “Chiquita”, “S O S”, “Super Trouper”, “Waterloo” and of course, the title track Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! continues at the Prince of Wales Theatre and is currently taking bookings until 2011.
Venue Information
Prince of Wales Theatre
31 Coventry Street
London
W1D 6AS
View Map
Directions
Take the Bakerloo or Piccadilly line to Piccadilly Circus. The theatre is a 5 minute walk.
