Given a plot centered on a question of paternity, shouldn’t it really be called “Pappa Mia!” and include a question mark instead of an exclamation point? But the Swedish super group ABBA didn’t write “Mamma Mia!” thinking about this eventual jukebox musical. And should we even call this “jukebox”? — it seemingly has nothing to do with the life and times of the ultra-Nordic quartet who got their start when their song “Waterloo” won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps the real mystery is how songs by singer/songwriters Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson have ended up steering a plot set way down south in sunny Greece in this modernized myth/folk tale involving a daughter with three possible fathers. And finally, how can this show have been touring for 25 years? (In New York it opened shortly after 9/11, back when Rudy Giuliani was universally popular.) But here we go again with another flashy, entertaining, earsplittingly loud production (making lyrics harder to understand) at Chrysler Hall, including a locally bred young performer, Justin Sudderth, who acquits himself well in the minor but significant role of Pepper, a taverna employee. ABBA, of course, had a bubble-gummy, earwormy but complex and distinctive sound that led to an avalanche of ’70s and ’80s hits, “Waterloo” being only the first (and included in this musical only in the big ending reprise of hits, now de rigueur for jukebox-like shows). The mega-mega hits include “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Mamma Mia!” The musical’s book, written by British librettist Catherine Johnson with the production directed by Brit Phyllida Lloyd (it originated in London, opening there in 1999), was devised to fit the hits, which, for the most part, it does. (The song “Knowing Me, Knowing You” does seem somewhat strained, plotwise, where it appears.) The plot itself is fairly simple. We are “on a Greek Island, a wedding is about to take place. …” There’s a Prologue, set “three months before the wedding”; Act 1 is set “the day before the wedding”; and Act 2, “the day of the wedding.” Who’s marrying whom in this Greek world improbably filled with invaders singing Swedish songs in English? Well, our younger heroine is Sophie Sheridan (solid performer Amy Weaver) who, at 20, is about to marry Sky (Grant Reynolds). Sophie is joined by her “imported” guests Ali (Haley Wright) and Lisa (Lena Owens). Her mother, Donna Sheridan (the real heroine, played by Christine Sherrill — the Meryl Streep role in the 2008 movie), owns and runs a taverna on this Greek isle where she (an unwed mother way back when) has raised Sophie on her own. What about Sophie’s father? Donna, embarrassingly, doesn’t know who he is because there are three possible candidates. (All this would be solved nowadays by quickie paternity tests.) She has simply avoided the question with Sophie. But Sophie has done some research on her own by stealing her mother’s old diary, which lists the candidates: Harry Bright (played by Rob Marnell), Bill Austin (Jim Newman) and Sam Carmichael (Victor Wallace). All these actors must, unfortunately, compete with the memories of Colin Firth as Harry the Brit; Stellan Skarsgård (at last, a Nordic actor!) as Bill; and Pierce Brosnan as handsome Sam in the famous 2008 film. (There are also a 2018 sequel film; two TV series, 2008 and 2018; and related shorts.) Convinced she will recognize her actual father on sight (she doesn’t), Sophie takes it upon herself to invite all three candidates to her wedding. What a nice surprise for her mother. Donna is supported in her shock at the men’s arrival by her gal pals, Tanya (the irresistible Jalynn Steele) and Rosie (Carly Sakolove, winsome despite being saddled with lots of “fat” jokes to play out). The three mature women, by sheer chance, happen to have been in a girl group of their own and therefore are able to perform such numbers as a mean “Dancing Queen.” There are young taverna employees with “mature” impulses (Pepper, our Virginia Beach native Sudderth, keeps hitting on the much older but sexy Tanya). There are odd, rather surreal dance numbers featuring local young men in snorkeling gear. But generally speaking, this production shows positive signs of long practice. The simple set (a couple of Greek building exteriors by Mark Thompson) has worked well for a quarter century, and props (including a visual joke rowboat named Waterloo) are changed with lightning speed. Fewer projections than usual are used: stylized blue projected waves comfortably suggest the Aegean or Adriatic. Odd projected dots suggest … dots. But ABBA songs are ABBA songs, even when not sung by ABBA. It’s up to each potential attendee to ask about this way-overamplified show, “How can I resist you?” If you can’t resist, “Take a Chance on (It).” ABBA dabba do see it, or don’t. Just consider ear protection if you do.
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