Mamma Mia is one of those musicals that has survived in the West End for so many years because it does what it says on the tin. It’s a bit of light hearted fun, where you can sing along to Abba songs and see a lot of people dancing around in Lycra! The set design is very basic and the costumes aren’t very inventive but that isn’t really what people are going to the show for. They just want to thank Abba for the music and celebrate their well loved songs.
The International tour of Mamma Mia played it’s last show of the summer season in Blackpool today and it fitted perfectly into the town known for its hen parties and fun weekends away.
For those who may not have seen the show before (or the film), it tells the story of Sophie – a 20 year old girl who has been brought up by her mother on a Greek Island. With her wedding to lover Sky fast approaching, she trawls through her mothers diaries to find out who her father is, in the hope she can invite him to the wedding and walk her down the isle. Sophie gets more than she bargains for when she discovers that there are three potential fathers and when they all arrive the day before the wedding she has to try to work out which one is her real father.
The show features all the great classics of Sweedish 1970’s pop group, Abba. From Dancing Queen to Waterloo it is a 2 and a half hour romp through some of their greatest hits that will have you up in the aisles dancing in your spandex.
Sara Poyzer and Niamh Perry were the stand out performers in the show as Donna and Sophie. Sue Devaney gave a comedic, Su Pollard esq performance as Rosie and Geraldine Fitzgerald sassed the show up as man eater Tanya. The three potential fathers – Harry, Bill and Sam (played by Keiron Crook, Michael Beckley and Richard Standing) worked well as a group, complementing their female counterparts.
There is a lot being said about theatre etiquette at the moment – how theatre goers should behave when watching a show. Sadly it isn’t just the audiences that can ruin a performance. At this afternoons show I had my enjoyment hindered by a very rude bar man who decided to serve anyone and everyone apart from me (the bar wasn’t even busy!) When I asked him if he could serve me when he had a moment he declared he was very busy and I would have to wait (while anyone younger and prettier was served it seemed!) I ended up walking away eventually, while he continued to serve anyone else who walked up to the bar. I was very disappointed by the Winter Gardens Opera House, for what could have been a lovely experience.
Reviewed by West End Wilma
The International Tour of Mamma Mia is jetting off to Hong Kong now and then Singapore and Kuala Lumpur before returning to England for a month long run in Liverpool in February 2015. Click here for more information.
