MAMMA MIA!

★★★★★

_REVIEW.   it’s about _THEATRE.   words _KYLE PEDLEY.   at _BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME.   tickets _OFFICIAL SITE.   booking until _14th MAY.

May 4, 2022

images © Brinkhoff/Moegenburg.

In case you missed the bulletin, ABBA are back. 2021 saw the release of the Swedish super-groups’s first album in four decades, and later this month their innovative (see: slightly bonkers) Voyage concert, named after said recent album, will bring holograms, digital avatars (or ‘ABBA-tars’, naturally) and even a custom-built arena to London for a completely unique musical residency experience.

With their exhaustive catalogue of hits still proving absolute wedding/birthday party tentpoles, and the group’s recent return stoking up the never-quite-dimmed embers of Swede-pop mania, it’s worth recognising one pillar of the ABBA oeuvre that never really went away, and indeed remained  something of the group’s standard bearer for at least half of their semi retirement.

Currently the sixth longest-running show in West End history, Mamma Mia! has been a London staple since opening at the turn of the millennium, and has boasted an impressive number of highly successful UK and International tours since.

What’s slightly remarkable about it, then, as the latest touring production arrives in Birmingham for a two-week residency, is that, much like the monolithic pop staples that form the bulk of its soundtrack, Mamma Mia! shows no signs of losing its sparkle. 

It isn’t difficult to see why – it’s a gloriously sunny, funny and uplifting tonic of a show, a story and stage experience built on good ‘bones’, even before you throw Benny and Björn’s instantly recognisable earworms in. Landing post-pandemic, and amidst a myriad of miseries and crises both at home and indeed internationally, its unapologetic escapism and buoyancy is more welcome and infectious than perhaps ever.

Here We Go Again… again? – whilst the stage show of Mamma Mia! is a far superior showing than its 2008 Hollywood adaptation, the wholly-original 2018 cinematic sequel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is widely regarded as being a step-up from its filmic predecessor. As of yet, there have been few whispers or rumours of a stage sequel (notoriously tricky beasts, as they are), but with the industry banking on familiar names for post-COVID recovery, and Mamma proving as popular as ever, stranger things have happened…

For those vanishingly small few unfamiliar with its premise, Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical set on an idyllic greek island, where young bride-to-be Sophie (Jena Pandya, quite extraordinary) has discovered the identity of her long-absent father. Or, rather, fathers, as a secret dip into mother Donna’s (Sara Poyzer, returning to a role she was born for) diary reveals three potential candidates. As the big day approaches, all three potential dads turn up, including first love Sam (fellow returnee Richard Standing, also superb and in fine voice) much to Donna’s horror.

Cue a breezy, effortlessly entertaining evening of crossed purposes, burgeoning attractions and even the rekindling of old passions and pains, that all hangs on the ABBA bangers we all know and love. Sure, there’s the odd bit of mental gymnastics required to reframe, say, ‘Name Of The Game’ as a non-romantic challenge, but even where the songs are almost entirely ancillary, they are always fun and engagingly staged. Take ‘Does Your Mother Know’ for example, here little more than a battle of sexual wits between two of the – admittedly hilarious – supporting cast. It’s all very frivolous and completely superfluous to the core plot, but it’s also one of the most uproarious and brilliant sequences of the night, in no small part thanks to the stellar instincts and physical comedy of Helen Anker as sultry, serial-divorcee Tanya, and hyper-exuberant young Pepper, played by clear audience favourite James Willoughby Moore.

Here We Go Again… again? – whilst the stage show of Mamma Mia! is a far superior showing than its 2008 Hollywood adaptation, the wholly-original 2018 cinematic sequel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is widely regarded as being a step-up from its filmic predecessor. As of yet, there have been few whispers or rumours of a stage sequel (notoriously tricky beasts, as they are), but with the industry banking on familiar names for post-COVID recovery, and Mamma proving as popular as ever, stranger things have happened…

Elsewhere, Nicky Swift and Phil Corbitt dance a similar jig for late-game highlight ‘Take A Chance On Me’, whilst practically the entire ensemble and company take to the stage for the vigorous, kinetic charge and thrill of ‘Voulez-vous’ and ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’. It all remains sharply and excitingly choreographed, be it the big ensemble numbers, or the more character-driven tussles.

“Sara Poyzer, once again cementing herself as the definitive Donna (sorry, Meryl, but it’s true)…”

And whilst Mamma Mia! may not trouble itself with being too serious – it’d much rather be tickling your funny bone, which it does regularly and with gusto – that isn’t to say its inconsequential or without heart. See Sara Poyzer, once again cementing herself as the definitive Donna (sorry, Meryl, but it’s true) raising the roof and shattering hearts with a bravura ‘Winner Takes It All’, or her more delicate and sensitively observed ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’. The mother-daughter relationship is such a pivotal part of the show’s DNA, and Poyzer and Pandya sell the dynamic effortlessly. And whilst the relationship between Sophie and fiancé Sky (an equally impressive and likeable Toby Miles who does great work with what remains a slightly underserved role) gets overlooked for a lot of the show despite it’s importance, the talented young actors breath chemistry and frisson into their few scenes together.

Mark Thompson’s wheeling, transforming taverna set remains as effective and transportive as ever, with Howard Harrison’s equally scene-setting lighting once again a real star of the show. From sunlight pouring in to Donna’s bedroom through slatted silhouettes, to the tranquil moonlit idyll of its more pensive moments, the kaleidoscopic disco vibes of ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’ to the moodier hues of ‘Under Attack’ and the Act I curtain closer, Mamma Mia! manages to look as great as it sounds, and the sense of place and tone are always very real.

Those with a vehement distaste for anything ABBA may wish to steer clear, but even then, the original story and elements Mamma Mia! brings to the stage, not to mention its innate joyousness may be enough to convert even the most cynical Europop naysayer.

ABBA themselves may be back, but in Mamma Mia!, they never really went away. For fans, it’s a pitch perfect example of the jukebox musical done right – enough of its own beast, whilst still saying ‘Thank You For The Music’ that so many cherish. For everyone else, it’s a sun-kissed injection of feel-good, a loveable, laugh-out-loud evening of theatre peppered with earworms and genuine classics, and a holiday away from humdrum that will have you humming – it not outright crooning – for days to come.

Two decades on, still the definitive jukebox musical. More than ever, an irresistable, fun, funny and sunny holiday of a show. ABBA-solute musical theatre GOLD.

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