MAMMA MIA! How Can I Resist You?: The Inside Story of Mamma Mia! and the Songs of ABBA [Paperback]

This book tells the story behind Mamma mia, one of the most successful stage musicals of all time. Judy Craymer, a theatrical producer, had the idea for a musical based around Abba's songs, but the idea would never have gone anywhere if she hadn't met the right people along the way. She once worked with Tim Rice, who also worked with two ex-members of Abba (Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus) on another musical, Chess, so Judy eventually got to know Bjorn. He made it clear to Judy that if her idea was to become a reality, it must not be based on the story of Abba (that would only re-open old wounds for him and the other ex-members of the group), that whatever story was written must stand on its own merit, and that any songs used in the musical must fit the storyline. Anybody who has seen Abba - the movie knows that it was really just Abba's greatest hits on film with a few segments between each song, but whatever had happened then, Bjorn certainly didn't want a musical that was just a feeble excuse to get more life out of the old Abba songs, but he was willing to support the project if Judy could find a playwright who was able to write a script that met Bjorn's highly exacting requirements. In those circumstances, he would allow any of Abba's songs to be used in the project.

Much of the book is devoted to the songs and their history. Interesting as this is, it is frustrating on one level because only the songs finally used in the musical are discussed. Perhaps another book could be compiled that gives this information for all their popular songs, whether or not they were used in the musical, but since this a book about the musical, we can`t complain about the omission of the other songs. Of the songs mentioned, some of the comments are fascinating.. I didn`t know that Name of the game was actually written about a woman in a psychiatrist`s chair - Bjorn had written the lyrics for a scene in Abba - the movie. In his comments, Benny said that the song wasn't a big hit anywhere, but everybody's entitled to the occasional mistake; it was one of Abba's number one hits in Britain. On the subject of Honey honey, it appears that Abba wanted this to be released as the follow-up to Waterloo, but their British record label (unlike their labels in some other countries) decided to go instead with Ring ring. Honey honey then became a top ten UK hit for Sweet dreams, while Ring ring was a minor Abba hit. After that debacle, Abba took much greater interest in what their record labels were doing with their music.

The rest of the book covers the history of the musical from Judy's idea to reality, with success way beyond expectations. Catherine Johnson, a single mother of two children who struggled to make ends meet, became the playwright. The book explains some of the problems involved in development. Catherine says that there were some songs that she would have liked to include, particularly Fernando, but they just wouldn't fit into the story she planned to write. As the project developed and the script changed, some songs were dropped and others added. Lyrics were sometimes tweaked to make them more suitable for the story, but not in any substantive way. This process continued right up to a few days before the official launch, when an opening sequence was abandoned. There were plenty of other problems too, but the success of the musical around the world shows that they were all overcome. Yet even after its successful launch in London, there were other problems involved in going global. I get the impression that its creators would have been content to allow it run for longer in Britain before going global, but the pressure came from outside. Other countries wanted to stage the musical too and this presented new challenges.

This is an entertaining book that will obviously interest Abba's fans, but because it provides an insight into what went on behind the scenes, may also interest people who are interested in theatrical productions generally.

This book tells you more than you ever knew you wanted to know about ABBA! It was given to me by someone thinking it would be telling the story of Mamma Mia! rather than the story of ABBA and looking at the book, that mistake is easily understood. Some parts of the book are very interesting and others simply too detailed or too non-relevant thirty years on. On the whole, it is an easy read, generally interesting and will definitely keep you occupied half a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Excellent book - very entertaining and informative. Lovely photographs - a book worth looking at again and again!!