‘Mamma Mia’ hits Los Angeles
Forty years ago this week, ABBA got its big break when the Swedish pop band won the Eurovision Song Contest. “Waterloo,” the band’s first hit single, went on to top charts all over the world. Decades of success for ABBA and, more specifically, the members’ flamboyant costumes followed.
Though ABBA took a permanent hiatus in 1982 after both married couples in the band divorced, the band’s legacy continues to live on, thanks in part to the success of Mamma Mia!. The musical inspired by the band’s greatest hits returned to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on Tuesday for a one-week run.
There’s just something so joyful about Mamma Mia! The touring production recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, and there is no secret to why the show works so well: It’s the music.
Hits such as “Mamma Mia,” and “Dancing Queen” will always be crowd-pleasers, and watching the musical is like watching one fun, scripted, greatest-hits concert. The musical follows Sophie (Chelsea Williams), who lives on a small Greek island with her single free-spirited mother Donna (Georgia Kate Haege). Before Sophie walks down the aisle, she decides she needs to know the identity of her father — so she invites three men who she believes could be her father to her wedding. Of course, all three men show up for the ceremony, including Donna’s great love, Sam Carmichael (Jeff Drushal).
The easy energy and physicality of the leads set the foundation for the story. Though the plot of Mamma Mia! is essentially an excuse to weave in as many ABBA songs as possible, it doesn’t matter — it works, in part because of the self-aware quality of the musical.
Indeed, Mamma Mia! knows what it is, and maybe because of that, it feels like the actors have more freedom to behave more organically within the world. This isn’t Phantom of the Opera, where Christine Daaé must look and act in a certain way. The music is the only mandatory element in the show. The actors are able to loosen their collars and add their own touches to the performance (and indeed many do — the plot is set in sunny Greece, after all, and the cast bares its fair share of skin during the performance). This freedom gives Mamma Mia! a fun, lively feel, aided by the goofy physicality of the dance numbers.
There is a teasing quality to numbers such as “Lay All Your Love on Me,” where the bachelor party takes to the stage in full diving regalia, complete with flippers and snorkel gear, and circles around Sophie. These scenes are over the top, but they work here.
The other factor that drives Mamma Mia! is the nostalgia, which is there in spades. Whether or not you lived through the disco era, the exaggerated outfits (it’s easy to get lost in the bejeweled bell-bottoms, funky shoes and crazy-colored shirts), easy bohemian lifestyles and “girl power” of the decade bring you back to an imagined ideal of that time. It has a comfort and a familiarity to it, and whether you’re watching the performance for the first or the fifth time, it feels like reconnecting with an old friend.
The three-song encore after the show, including the high-energy “Mamma Mia,” “Dancing Queen” and the song that started it all, “Waterloo,” is the cherry on top to the performance. The entire cast comes out, dancing and singing in celebration of the musical. During opening night on Tuesday, the entire audience stayed on their feet through all three encores, happy to be able to sing, dance and be a part of the performance in their own way.
Forty years after the Eurovision Song Contest, ABBA still holds the power to get an entire audience standing in their seats, and dancing. And if one was looking for a message in this vibrant musical, it just might be as simple as this: “Thank you for the music.”
Mamma Mia is playing now through April 13 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.