Woah Mamma!

With new musicals springing up all over the West End this time of year, we sent one of our writers to check to see whether, after 9 years, Mamma Mia still has what it takes to compete with the latest productions...

Mamma Mia has now been playing in the Prince of Wales Theatre for the best part of a decade and, for the best part of a decade, I have resisted its sequinned-studded, Bruit-doused allure; but for no longer. Last night I made the perilous journey across the city to see this ABBA spectacular in the flesh.

If I'm honest I didn't quite know what to expect. After all, I was not even thought of when ABBA were stamping their musical mark all over the pop charts with their glittery platforms. However, not quite existing yet is in no way an excuse for escaping their work. If there is anything that can truly transcend the boundaries of both time and space it is surely sugary pop fluff; the very stuff at which ABBA excel!

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a rather impressive playhouse. Refurbished around four years ago, the place retains a lot of its original art deco charm but has been subtly embossed with a lot of tempered glass, stainless steel and neon lighting strips. In fact, the whole thing feels like a sort of sci-fi re-imagining of a luxury thirties cruise liner. Think A Night to Remember completely clad in all-in-one silver jumpsuits.

So, the show: as you may or may not be aware this is no straight musical biopic in the way that say Jersey Boys is. No, this is a story about the turbulent relationship between a single mother and her daughter as they prepare for her wedding on the Greek island where they live. The play begins with the daughter, Sophie (played with considerable excitement by Katie Brayben), reading her mother's diary from 1979 - the year she was conceived. She discovers, much to everyone's surprise, that there are in fact three different men that, chronologically, could lay claim to being her father and so decides to invite them all to her wedding. She believes, fairly astonishingly, that when they all show up she will be able to pick out her biological father by sheer mystical instinct and will then get him to give her away at the ceremony. Naturally, chaos ensues and the different tense plot developments are all strung together with big musical numbers courtesy of the delightful ABBA. This, they say, is the epitome of a 'jukebox' musical.

This interlacing of the script and the songs really seem to be both the biggest strength and the biggest weakness of Mamma Mia. Often the book ties in with the lyrics and the melody of the songs with spellbinding ingenuity. However, sadly, sometimes it becomes apparent that the subject of the song shifts from suiting the scene and the whole thing feels just a little bit silly. As most of ABBA's back catalogue is about love and heartbreak, it can seem a little strange when these songs are used to compliment mother/daughter or father/daughter feuds.

The script really gets going when Rosie and Tanya, Sophie's mother's old bandmates, get together and reminisce about their youth. In particular, the comic timing of Rosie (Joanna Monro) had the Tuesday evening audience in proverbial stitches and, during the interval, was the topic of most of the bar-room buzz (after the testimonies of ABBA infatuation had died down, naturally)

Of course the star of the show is the music. The story, which at times mirrors a particularly silly episode of El Dorado, certainly plays second fiddle to the sheer exuberance of the score. Half wistful and retrospective, half modern and progressive, the attitude of the arrangements lifts the whole show to be a pop treat for young and old alike. Whether you're a seasoned ABBA fanatic or, as I was, a fairly green newcommer to their pop powers, the show certainly never feels exclusive or lets slip its 'party' atmosphere. What's more, the big, glitzy, sing-a-long finish will certainly have the whole auditorium singing and dancing in the aisles. It may not be the most serious musical in the West End but, after 9 years, it is certainly a Super Trouper!

Published by: Nathan Brooker