Mamma Mia at Birmingham Hippodrome Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Janine Rumble
Last night, I was transported from the cold and rainy streets of Birmingham to the warm, sunny skies, blue water and white buildings of a tiny little Greek island where I hummed (no singing allowed…until the end), swayed and danced (also kept to the end) along to the infamous songs of Abba as I watched Mamma Mia! at Birmingham Hippodrome.
Mamma Mia, based on the book by Catherine Johnson, with music and lyrics written by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba fame, is just like the film, but with new songs by Stig Anderson added in and dancing scuba divers thrown in for good measure. It is a riotous night of music, colour, glitz and incredible costumes and singing.
For anyone who has not seen the film, the show, story follows Sophie, who lives on a small Greek island with her mum in a little taverna. Three months before her wedding, Sophie, in a quest to find out who she is and where she comes from, discovers her Mum’s diary, reads it and discovers that there are three potential candidates for the role of her Dad, so she sends a wedding invitation to each of them.
The day before the wedding all three turn up and chaos and heartfelt nostalgia ensues. The show then follows this day before the wedding and the wedding day itself. It looks at all kinds of love, family love, friendship etc through each group of people all told through the music and songs of Abba.
The cast and ensemble are amazing and perform so well together. For such a large cast, they each entertained the audience in their own way. Even though there were so many people on stage at the same time, it never felt crowded and down to the choreography, the stage was used to brilliant effect.
The dancing scuba divers were a highlight for me, as were the last songs when all the cast were on stage performing in their glitziest costumes. Jenn Griffin (Donna) and Lydia Hunt (Sophie) were a great pairing as Mum and Daughter and were incredible singers. Luke Jasztal (Sam), Richard Meek (Harry) and Mark Goldthorp (Bill) were brilliant and looked amazing at the end in their Abba costumes. Joe Grundy (Sky) was a vision with a six pack and Rosie Glossop (Rosie) and Sarah Earnshaw (Tanya) were brilliantly, laugh out loud funny and added a great comedic element to proceedings, not to mention, their amazing outfits.
Mamma Mia really is one of those shows where the costumes and the scenery really make an impact on the overall look and feel of the show. The costumes were incredible, sparkly, skintight outfits with flares and leg frills, knee high platform boots and so, so many sequins, it was a burst of colour!
The stage and scenery were extremely simple but used to great effect. The scenery was blue water with white waves, in the centre was a white walled building which was split in two, one side portrayed the buildings of the taverna and village, but once turned, it portrayed a room inside the taverna. Props were simple, mainly chairs and tables that all looked very Greek. All scenery and props were danced into place by the ensemble cast and again, were very effective.
Mamma Mia is on from Thursday 14th May to Saturday 30th May, so grab your friends, get dressed up in your best Abba costumes and be transported into the world of Mamma Mia. Tickets can be purchased online https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/mamma-mia-three/ or from the box office at Birmingham Hippodrome and are priced from £30. The show is 2 hours and 35 minutes long including an interval.
Mamma Mia is a brilliant night out for any fan of Abba, Mamma Mia or musicals and I give it 5/5 bright, sparkly colourful stars. Go see it, you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 5/5