MAMMA MIA!, the blockbuster ABBA retrospective musical, has finally arrived in Portugal and, due to its outstanding success, organisers have decided to extend the show’s dates until Sunday, May 8.
Written by Catherine Johnson and featuring over 20 immortal ABBA numbers, including favourites Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Dancing Queen, Super Trooper, Knowing Me Knowing You and Waterloo, the show had its debut in 1999 at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London and was an instant hit, with ticket sales outstripping even those of shows such as Cats and Les Miserables. The show was even a massive hit in the US (an audience not so well versed in the ABBA sensation) and, today, Mama Mia! is playing in no less than 14 different productions across the world – more than any other show.
The musical, penned by Catherine while she listened continuously to the Swedish pop quartet’s records, is set on a Greek island and tells the story of Sophie, who has just turned 20 years of age and is about to be married. The preparations for her wedding enliven the daily routine of the tiny Greek village, where Sophie has always lived with her mother. With her father being absent, Sophie is to be accompanied by her mother down the isle on the big day. However, during preparations, Sophie comes across her mother’s diary and discovers that the latter was involved with three men during the summer before Sophie was born.
Intent on discovering the identity of her true father, Sophie decides to invite the three men to her wedding. The return of the men to their native island gives rise to a farce of misunderstandings and potentially disastrous situations that leave Sophie’s mother almost driven to despair. Of course, all ends happily and very unexpectedly…
The show plays at Lisbon’s Pavilhão Atlântico and features 14 actors and around 20 dancers. The two-hour extravaganza is a rip-roaring voyage through ‘70s kitsch, including, naturally, spectacular renditions of all your ABBA favourites. Although the musical is performed in English, there are Portuguese subtitles provided on screens around the auditorium. Tickets are on sale from Pavilhão Atlântico and all the usual outlets.
