|
|
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank you, again, for the music, 5 Jan 2003
In the mid-70's, the musical group ABBA exploded into our consciousness. Younger, single and relatively carefree during those years, I remember the songs of ABBA blaring from my rented car's radio during each of several auto tours of Europe. Now, years later, ABBA's hits are featured in the phenomenal musical MAMMA MIA! And you know what? The music is better than ever.Bjorn Ulvaeus, one of the original ABBA four, has brought twenty-four of his group's hits to life in one of the most rousing live theater spectaculars one could hope to witness. Since it had to accommodate such a diverse selection of lyrics, the plot, such as it is, had to be flexible. In brief, Sophie, soon to be married, lives with her mother, Donna, in a seaside hotel/taverna owned by the latter on an unspecified sun-drenched shore. Unbeknownst to Mom, Sophie has invited to her wedding three of the former's long-ago boyfriends, one of whom she suspects is her father after sneaking a peek in her mother's diary. (Donna never married, and has never revealed to her daughter her paternal origin.) The storyline is loose, but who cares. It works splendidly as a vehicle for the songs. Several of my personal favorites from ABBA's original repertoire are omitted from MAMMA MIA! - "Fernando", "Waterloo", and "When I Kissed the Teacher" to name but three. I guess the musical's producers had to make some hard decisions somewhere. However, those that are included leave the listener little room for regret. As a young and talented cast belt out on the CD such favorites as "Thank You for the Music", "Chiquitita", "Honey, Honey", "Dancing Queen", "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!", "Take A Chance On Me", "S.O.S.", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", and the title song "Mamma Mia", you'll likely be remembering, if you saw it live, how you danced in the aisles. This may be hard to believe, but the orchestration of MAMMA MIA! is so excellent that this tribute to ABBA comes out more vibrant and electric than the original recordings. See the on-stage performance if you can, then buy this disk. If you can't attend, then purchase the CD anyway. Like me, you may be transported in memory back to some of the best times of your life.
|