Mamma Mia at the Eccles

The first time I saw the musical Mamma Mia was in London on a theatre trip.  The older gentleman sitting next to me sang every word of every song at the top of his lungs and, at first, I thought it was really annoying but by the end of the show I was singing along, too!  The second time I saw it was on a trip to London with my mom.  She was incredibly reserved but she was dancing in the aisle during the finale!  This show is just so much fun you can't help singing and dancing!  I loved seeing the Broadway touring production again last night and I don't think I will ever get tired of it.  Sophie Sheriden (Alisa Melendez) is getting married and she wants her father to walk her down the aisle but she doesn't know who he is!  She discovers that there are three possibilities and decides to invite all three of them, Sam Carmichael (Victor Wallace), Bill Austin (Jim Newman), and Harry Bright (Rob Marnell), to her wedding without telling her mother, Donna (Christine Sherrill).  Chaos (and nearly two dozen Abba songs) ensues!  Sherrill is great as Donna and I especially enjoyed her poignant performance of "Slipping Through My Fingers" and her powerful rendition of "The Winner Takes It All" (which both occur in the same scene).  I also really enjoyed Wallace's version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (which is my favorite Abba song).  Jalynn Steele, as Tanya, adds a bit of soul to "Does Your Mother Know" and I loved Carly Sakolove, as Rose, because her physicality as she tries to hit her poses in "Dancing Queen" and as she chases Bill in "Take a Chance on Me" is hilarious. I have really enjoyed some local productions of this show but I absolutely love the original choreography in the Broadway version, especially when Tanya uses a hair dryer as a microphone in "Chiquitita," when the boys dance in flippers during "Lay All Your Love on Me," when the dancers freeze whenever Sophie talks to Sam, Bill, and Harry during "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" and "Voulez-Vous," when the flippers make another appearance in "Under Attack" (my favorite number in the show), and when Pepper (Patrick Park) tries to impress Tanya in "Does Your Mother Know." I also love the original set (a white stucco taverna that is reconfigured several times) and the original costumes (the colorful spandex jumpsuits during the performance of "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo" during the finale are awesome) in the Broadway version.  I had a blast and I was definitely dancing at the end (I defy anyone to remain seated during "Dancing Queen").  There are a few more performances at the Eccles and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Note:  This was my final live theatre performance of 2023.  I ended up seeing 81 shows this year and my favorites were Into the Woods at SCERA, Beauty and the Beast at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse, Oliver and Pride and Prejudice at HCTO (I loved everything at HCTO this year), The Prom at PTC, and Titanic The Musical at HCT.