The musical "Mamma Mia!": Content, video, interesting facts, history

The musical "Mamma Mia!"

80s of the last century. At the peak of popularity is the Swedish group ABBA. The songs of the band are a real musical breakthrough. Incredibly honest and sincere - they had a special sound. Theatricality of the poems allowed to create a real performance. The musical "Mamma Mia" became one of the cult performances that turned the view of POP culture. On this page you can read interesting facts, history of creation, summary and popular productions of a musical performance.

Summary

A tavern located on a Greek island is preparing for a wonderful event - the wedding of Sophie Sheridan and Skye. The girl believes that the ceremony must necessarily take place in the tradition. A picture is drawn in her dreams, as she walks in a snow-white dress. Father leads her down the aisle. The only young girl does not know who her real dad is. Donna, her mother, raised her daughter on her own, without any help. She never told stories about meeting a girl's dad. It is only known that she did not tell him about the appearance of the child.

Sophie leaves no attempts to find a father. She gets a diary in her hands, which was kept by Donna a year before her birth. It turns out that she met immediately with three men at the same time. As a result, a young girl sends these people an invitation to the wedding, without saying anything about her mother's deed.

A few days before the celebration, the former Donna come to the island three of them, until they realize what a surprise they are waiting for. Sophie talks to everyone for a long time, trying to find out the truth. But she does not come out. Meanwhile, Donna suspected something was amiss. When she sings a song at a bachelorette party with her friends, she meets her gaze with each of the three possible fathers. Donna is confused.

It is the day of the ceremony. Under the crown of Sophie leads her mother. Next comes what nobody expected. Donna admits that she does not know who her daughter’s father is. Sophie thanks each of those present and apologizes because she does not want to get married now. She invites Skye to travel the world before making such a crucial step. The groom is not upset and agrees to the proposal. Donna made an offer to one of her ex, and she said yes. It's all over. Happy end!

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• Soloist Anni-Frid Lingstad financed the production of the famous show.

• In 2008, an adaptation was held in Stockholm, which was also visited by a legendary band. It should be noted that all the actors sang independently. The only thing in the film was less songs than in the musical.
• The first version of the name was called "Summer night in the city."
• Kreimer inspired the musical to create the productionCats"Andrew Lloyd Weber, with whom she collaborated for several years.
• There is a less well-known film adaptation in which the participants of the production were filmed.
• As an initial storyline, a story about dramatic love was offered, as well as an autobiography of the group. But they were immediately rejected by members of the Swedish team.
• As a wedding march used a slower version of the song "The Dancing Queen".
• The date of the premiere was not chosen randomly. After all, on April 6, 25 years ago, the group managed to take first place in the Eurovision contest.
• In fact, the island where the heroes live is invented.
• The film was filmed in London and Greece.
• The Broadway show was closed in 2015 after a 14-year run. This is one of the most time-consuming spectacle.

• The song "Summer night city" was invented specifically as a keynote connecting the scenes. It should have sounded immediately after the introduction. But it was decided not to include this number in the program. Nevertheless, part of the work can be heard in front of the vocal number "Victory for the one who is right" and in general in Donna's party.
• Mamma Mia’s fees since its debut in 1999 amounted to almost $ 2 billion worldwide.
• The name of the musical appeared from the song that glorified the group.
• The show could develop only thanks to Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson, who are the writers of the hits of the group.
• The performance became the record holder for the visit, for all the time the show was seen by more than 60 million viewers.
• In the film, the sound was recorded directly on the set, which is rare for cinema. After all, the sound is usually recorded later in studio conditions.

History of creation

The idea to create a similar musical performance based on the popular music of the ABBA group originated in the young English woman Judy Kramer. In the early 1970s, she worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

During the creation of the play "Chess", in which the music was composed by musicians from the ABBA group, namely Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. There they met and became friends. After several years of dating, Judy is actively interested in the work of the group. She decided that their songs must be fixed in culture by creating a musical.

We need to come up with an interesting plot and pick up musical numbers. With such ideas, she turned to Bjorn, to which he replied that if the idea and the script were really interesting, he would be involved in the process.

Fortunately, the poems and music of the songs had a theatrical basis and a clear drama. Judy found more and more new projects, but they were rejected. Gradually, the band members cooled down to their own creativity, and the creation of such a play seemed meaningless to them. Until the album was released with Golden hits, which instantly sold millions of copies. This flattered the team, and they decided to launch the work. She turned to the best television script writer and playwright of our time, Catherine Johnson. Women quickly found a common language. As a result, she soon proposed the very version that became known to the whole world.

By 1998, the final name was invented. Began the selection of actors and soloists. The requirements were high: great pop voice, good choreographic data and acting talent.

By the premiere, an excellent choreographer was found, whose name was Phyllida Lloyd. She did not immediately agree to put movements for the musical, as it was very doubtful about this kind of art. Her main activity was operas and dramas. But after talking with Judy, she nevertheless decided to take a direct part.

A great role in the creation took Bjorn. He not only corrected the texts, but together with Martin Kochi created absolutely new arrangements of the hits.

The Prince of Wales Theater was chosen as the premiere site. The stage was ideally suited for solving all technical tasks related to the change of scenery, lights and musical equipment. Moreover, after the cold reception of the play "Chess", it was decided to first test "Mamma Mia" on a smaller stage, and only then make a launch on Broadway.

It was decided to arrange the performance in blue and white to emphasize the Greek atmosphere. The script was significantly changed to the date of the premiere.

On the day of the premiere was a full house and everything went at the highest level. The ABBA group has received fame and recognition.

List of songs used for the musical

In the musical, only real hits of the eighties were used. The most famous are the following numbers:

• My dream;
• Money money money;
• Dancing queen;
• O.S;
• Mom MIA !;
• The victory of the one who is right;
• Give me a chance
• Say yes!
• Sweet, sweet, sweet;
• Our last summer;
• Knowing about us, I know everything;
• Thanks for songs;
• Just give me love;
• Meet a man;
• Escaping me again.

Productions in the world

The world premiere took place in the West End at the Prince Edward Theater. Staging choreography involved Phillida Lloyd, a significant contribution was made by Anthony Van Laast. The performance was crowned with success, the audience was in awe of what they saw.

The most famous "Mamma mia" received after the production on Broadway on October 18, 2001. It should be noted that due to the popularity and regular visits, the performance has not been removed from the show for almost 14 years. For Broadway - this is a real record.

In 2002, the first American tour took place. The troupe of actors has shown a musical in the largest cities of the United States of America, including in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Washington.

In 2004, an international tour was launched, including cities such as Oslo, Madrid, Antwerp, Istanbul and Utrecht. The last tour was recorded in 2014 in Vienna.

In August 2016, it was announced that the second Australian tour will take place. The launch date is officially set for November 2017. The first city to be lucky again to see "Mamma Mia!" - this is Canberra.

Stages in Russia

The first production in Russia took place in the capital on October 14, 2006. She passed in the Palace of Youth. Over the course of two seasons, the musical has been shown almost 800 times. At the same time, each of the performances was sold out, some people stood to watch and listen to an amazing and funny story about finding a father for the wedding. In two years, the performance was visited by about six hundred thousand people, more than 700 productions were played. Such popularity has forced to extend the show for another few months.

The next production in the same palace took place only 5 years later. Most of the actors were invited from the premiere, but the role of Sophie was approved by the young and talented actress and singer Natalia Bystrov, who was later recognized as the best Sophie among world productions.

In 2013, the premiere took place in St. Petersburg in the famous Music Hall.

The musical "Mamma Mia!" - This is a unique musical experience, which allowed to create a storyline of legendary songs. Even decades after the ABBA band broke up, the musical continued to pace the planet, bringing glory to them. Today, almost everyone knows and loves great songs.