Here is part 3 of 4 of the cast and creatives interviews from the Mamma Mia! the Musical media call. You can also see more Mamma Mia! related things as seen on this blog. More to come!
SPOILERS!
For more information and tickets, go to: mammamiathemusical.com.au
LOUISE Withers – co-producer, along with Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick
Louise – on bringing back Mamma Mia! now:
“One of the reasons why we brought Mamma Mia! back is because we were asked to actually. There were three theatres who all said, now is the time to bring it back. Perhaps, sometimes, we might have waited a little bit longer in normal theatre life, but on this occasion, it was felt that when people were coming out of the last three years – and I don’t like labelling the last three years anymore, I won’t use those words – but after you come out of hard times, you actually want just to escape. You want fun stuff on the TV, you want fun stuff when you go out, but you also want to know what you’re buying. And so, people at the moment definitely want to know what they’re paying for. And for this, I always say it’s like a comfy pair of slippers.
[It is Mamma Mia’s] third time in this venue, but I think it’s the fifth time back in Melbourne over the last 22 years. What’s exciting about it is you still look out in the audience, and you see 1,500 people on their feet. And they’re up there, jiving, singing all the words, and having a brilliant time. You know, some might be on Zimmer frame, someone’s got a kid in their arms, and yet everybody is having the same experience. So that’s what excites me. It excites me because you’re creating something that’s giving people joy. You’re stopping them worrying about their troubles for two and a half hours. It’s a joint living experience. We’re not sitting on our own watching a box, and it’s something that you can share. But you also know that you’re going to go out uplifted, feeling great, and that’s what excites me about it.”
Louise – on her favourite moment in the show:
“I love any time the entire company is on stage doing their thing, because there is so much energy. This particular company has so much camaraderie backstage. When they come on stage, you can feel that. So, I do love that, but at the same time, I do love Slipping Through My Fingers. I think everybody has had a moment where you can feel time slipping through your fingers, whether that’s a child, a friend, a situation you’re in, time disappears really quickly. And so I think it’s a very pertinent song for anybody in the audience to sit there and reflect. And if it teaches us not to waste time, then that’s what I love about it.”
Louise – on changes made from previous productions:
“It was originally designed and staged in London in 1999 and so that was the design that was performed here until 2017-18. London was very keen that we actually create an Australian Mamma Mia! with Australian creative teams and Australian artists. So new set design, new choreography, new direction. Everything was new, apart from, of course, the story and all of the Mamma Mia! songs. And so we did it with a slight bit of intrepidation, because what we didn’t want to do was lose the joy, lose the love of this iconic piece of theatre that people had fallen in love with.
How do you recreate that and not lose anything for an audience, but do it differently? And so we took up the challenge and created this version of Mamma Mia!, which is, well, particularly beautiful. Originally the design by Linda Buick was morphed over probably nearly a year. She always wanted to have a taverna. She always wanted it to be that idea of truth and escape.
And I think having two levels on the set allows the entire audience, even those in the grand circle, to feel really connected to the show. And it’s real. You know, that’s what they’re like in Greece, so why not have it? So, you know, designs come together, and you get its lighting involved. And, of course, that is a series of conversations. So, any show usually takes about two years for it to morph into something new.”
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All images by Mallory Arbour.
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 