NEW YORK (AP) — When the musical “Mamma Mia!” mentioned goodbye to Broadway a decade in the past, there have been tears and hugs and tons of applause. Within the viewers of its final present, one lady wasn’t fully shopping for it.
“I felt then that it wasn’t goodbye forever. I felt we’d be back one day,” says producer Judy Craymer, who had conceived of the present within the Nineteen Eighties. “I always hoped.”
That someday has develop into as we speak because the ABBA-fueled, feel-good musical returns to its first residence on Broadway, the Winter Backyard Theatre. It reopens Thursday night time.
“It’s like when you go to visit the old place where you went to high school,” says Victor Wallace, who made his Broadway debut within the present in 2012, stayed to the ultimate curtain in 2015 and has returned. “There’s so many backstage stories and people and I’m a little overwhelmed.”
Followers have fueled the return of “Mamma Mia!” to make it among the many prime earners on Broadway, final week grossing $1.57 million over seven previews, fourth behind solely “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “Hamilton.”
‘A time of peril’
“Mamma Mia!” endured lots throughout its first Broadway life — wars, hurricanes, the 2008 monetary meltdown, the transfer to a smaller theater and critics, who by no means warmed to the present’s high-energy sweetness.
A success in London — the place it’s nonetheless enjoying — “Mamma Mia!” opened in New York just some weeks after the 2001 terror assaults when there was deep gloom and nervousness.
Christine Sherrill, who lately toured because the present’s mother and is now making her Broadway debut within the position, says audiences are responding to a different time of stress.
“We’re kind of in a time of peril again, where communities are divided. So to be able to go into some of these cities and have 3,000 people — who would never find themselves enjoying the same thing outside of the theater — sitting there all enjoying this communal experience is really interesting.”
The present, that includes greater than 20 basic ABBA hits, together with “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo,” has been a smash in dozens of nations, together with South Korea, Italy, Denmark, South Africa and Spain.
Craymer sees the info concerning the new flock of theatergoers and notes this “Mamma Mia!” is fashionable with teams. “There were people that had seen it on Broadway — probably when they were younger — and now coming back in their 20s and 30s and then bringing their daughters or family.”
A Greek story is born
Craymer many years in the past approached members of ABBA and made her pitch: As an alternative of doing a musical concerning the band, she insisted that their songs assist inform an authentic story.
Craymer teamed up with playwright Catherine Johnson, and a narrative set on a Greek island was born a few younger lady who’s about to be married and needs her father to present her away. However she’s unsure who he’s, so she invitations her mother’s three former lovers to her wedding ceremony.
The musical prompted Craymer to supply a film model starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, that turned the fifth highest-grossing movie of 2008. A sequel, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” got here out a decade later. ABBA’s music continues to be the backdrop for quite a few fashionable TikTok traits.
Indirectly mirroring the enjoyment onstage, backstage at “Mamma Mia!” is a celebration backstage, too, with milestones celebrated, outings, door adorning contests and gatherings
“Because of the nature of the show, I think it just bleeds into life backstage and that joy that you see on stage, it just overflows into our lives,” says Wallace.
Themes of the ‘Mamma’
Wallace, who began within the musical’s ensemble and grew to play the younger main man, Sky, and now is among the three attainable dads, says the present is about friendship, parenthood, hope and second probabilities.
“It’s always surprising how the show surprises you emotionally,” he says. “It’s a great time. It’s fun. But I think people identify with these themes and these characters and I think that people are caught off guard as to how the show captures their heart and moves them.”
Sherrill seems to be on the story by a mom’s eyes and realizes she’s a distinct individual than she was earlier than she had twins. She provides one other theme.
“It’s a lot about finding your identity,” she says. “I think that appeals to people on all levels — all people, all levels. Everyone’s trying to figure out who they are and what the best version of themselves is. So, I think, that’s sort of a universal message that’s really playing on people’s heartstrings as well, at least mine.”
