What: Mamma Mia! The Musical
Where: The Princess Theatre, Melbourne
Performances run until 10 December 2023
For more information, please visit mammamiathemusical.com.au.
Mamma Mia! Here we go again!
Mamma Mia! The Musical has returned to Melbourne’s Princess Theatre, bookended by Harry Potter and The Cursed Child’s record-breaking four-year run. Featuring 22 of ABBA’s greatest hits, the musical was brought back by popular demand, according to co-producer Louise Withers.
Following successful runs in Sydney and Brisbane, Mamma Mia now makes it final stop of its 2023 Australian tour. Playing until December 10, Mamma Mia is a two and a half feel good romp – a nice contrast to Melbourne’s melancholy other offerings of Death of a Salesmen, Elvis and Moulin Rouge.
Those not overly fond of the Swedish foursome or jukebox musicals will still find joy here. It’s difficult not to find yourself bopping along to earworms such as ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’, ‘Voulez-Vous’, ‘Money, Money, Money’ and ‘Waterloo’ – their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winning song.
Set on fictional Greek island of Kalokairi, the story focuses on Sophie Sheridan’s (Sarah Krndija) upcoming wedding to the kindhearted Sky (Lewis Francis). In an attempt to discover more about herself, she invites her three potential fathers – Sam Carmichael (Martin Crewes), Harry Bright (Drew Livingston) and Bill Austin (Tim Wright) – to her wedding after finding an old diary belonging to her free-spirited mother, Donna Sheridan (Elise McCann).
Notably are the performances by Bianca Bruce and Deone Zanotto who play Donna’s childhood friends Rosie and Tanya. Zanotto received the longest ovation on opening night after the energetic ‘Does Your Mother Know’, followed closely by McCann’s heartbreaking ballad, ‘The Winner Takes It All’.
The three Dynamos’ enthusiasm is infectious, regardless of one’s proximity to the stage. Equally is the charming rapport between Crewes, Livingston and Wright. It’s clear from the outset why Donna would be so attracted to all three. Krndija and Francis also have great chemistry despite having little material to work with.
Exemplified by great casting by Lynne Ruthven and team (including the talented supporting cast especially Jordan Tomijenovic as Pepper), director Gary Young OAM and his all-Australian creative team have given the cast and crew creative freedom, which makes for a joyful production for everyone involved. Young yet somehow manages to commandeer what is a well-oiled ship.
2023’s Mamma Mia! has been given a fresh lick of paint with revamped lighting by Gavan Swift, inspired set design by Linda Bewick and clever choreography by Tom Hodgson. Costume designer Suzy Strout has also designed new dazzling costumes exclusively seen only in this Australian tour.
For a musical filled with a lot of colour and humour, British playwright Catherine Johnson has cleverly injected a lot of heart with some complexity behind it. While some storylines never receive a payoff (this is a fault of the material as a whole), at the end of the day, the story isn’t really the point here. It’s all an excuse to leave you with a smile on your face having put your worries and troubles behind you.
My only complaint is that the first act is a little talky – especially at the beginning where expositional dumps are expected. The second act flows better, kicking off with the nightmare inducing ‘Under Attack’.
Mamma Mia! isn’t perfect but that’s somehow part of its charm. It’s biggest draw card, perhaps, is that its familiarity is maybe all we really need after the past three years.
Read my review from the 2018 production of Mamma Mia! here.
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All images by Mallory Arbour.
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 