Denver ‘takes a chance’ on ‘Mamma Mia’
Although the songs originally became popular in the mid to late 70s, Swedish pop band ABBA’s hits still make their way into people’s headphones today. The timeless quality of their 22 hit songs that the musical “Mamma Mia” uses to get audiences out of their seats and dancing.
On Jan. 28 the Buell Theater premiered its short run of “Mamma Mia,” a classic that started in London in 1999. It is the story of Sophie Sheridan and the dream to know her father. Unfortunately she doesn’t know who he is. The comedy rolls in when she invites three possible candidates, discovered in her mother’s diary, to her wedding.
Sophie and her mother, Donna, live in a hotel that they own on an island off the coast of Greece. The three fathers in question have not seen Donna or the island for 20 years. On the day before her daughter’s wedding Sam Carmichael, Harry Bright and Bill Austin greet Donna, much to her discomfort.
Through songs like “Chiquitita” and “Dancing Queen” Donna’s two friends Tanya and Rosie try to cheer her back up. It is the friendship between these three women — who in their heyday were a girl power band — that makes this musical so endearing. It reminds viewers of their own lifelong friends with whom they can share anything.
Some of the funniest scenes in the musical involve Tanya, played by Gabrielle Mirabella, and Rosie who is played by Carly Sakolove. Throw Donna, played by Georgia Kate Haege, into the mix and the three are sure to be jumping on beds and singing their hearts out despite acting throwing a back out.
Meanwhile, Sophie gets to know her dads. She mistakenly thought that she would know exactly who her dad was when she met him. This leads to a hilariously awkward scene in which she meets the three altogether.
Sam is the architect from New York. He designed Donna’s hotel one day on the back of a napkin. However, while Sam and Donna were falling in love, he confesses he has a fiancé back home and so he has to leave. Harry used to be known as “Head Banger” and followed Donna from Paris, where he was an exchange student, back to Greece. Bill is the adventurous travel author, who has no intentions of settling down. The four get to know each other in “Thank You for the Music.”
This musical has it all, fun loving songs like “Does Your Mother Know,” sensual songs like “Lay All Your Love On Me” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” There are also some tear jerker songs like when Sam tells Sophie about his divorce in “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” It also has its share of glitter, flashy costumes and shirtless men.
Act one takes place the day before the wedding and reaches a close with the bachelorette party in which all three men realize they could be the father, and all three ending up on the schedule to give Sophie away at her wedding.
The start of act two is Sophie’s confused dreams on the day of the wedding. As she sings “Under Attack” the cast, dressed in black light ready scuba gear surrounds her bed. As the wedding draws near Sophie realizes she needs to make a choice, just who is her dad?
Chelsea Williams plays Sophie as an innocent, yet feisty 20-year-old. The three men blend well together to make a good mixture of funny. They each even have a little bit of a tender side as they discover they may be fathers.
“Mamma Mia” brings crowds together in a way that makes them want to jump up and dance along. As the full house of the Buell stood to cheer at the end of the musical the cast rewarded them with a group performance of “Dancing Queen” and then Donna and the Dynamos re-sing it, later inviting the gentleman out for “Waterloo.”
Be prepared, this musical may result in ABBA songs being stuck in your head for the next week and the immediate desire to go home and watch it again on video.
Mamma Mia plays through Feb. 2 at the Buell Theater. More info or tickets here.
