Mamma Mia! at Blackpool Winter Gardens Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Cath
Last night we went to see the smash hit musical Mamma Mia! on the opening night at Blackpool Opera House and what an ABBA-solutely amazing time we had.
Featuring twenty two of ABBA’s hit songs, the musical Mamma Mia! has been delighting audiences since its debut in 1999 and it certainly hasn’t lost any sparkle after all these years. Set on a beautiful Greek island the main character, 20-year-old Sophie, played by Lydia Hunt, is about to be married to her fiancé Sky (Joe Grundy) Like all brides she wants to have her Dad walk her down the aisle but there’s a slight complication…… she doesn’t actually know who her Dad is.
After secretly reading her Mum’s diary, she discovers that there were three men romantically intwined with her Mum meaning any one of them could be her father – architect Sam Carmichael (Luke Jasztal), travel writer Bill Austin (Mark Goldthorp) and British banker Harry Bright (Richard Meek). In a bold move, and without telling her mother of her plan, Sophie decides to invite all three to her upcoming wedding with the hope that she will discover which one is her real Dad before the big day. Sam, Bill and Harry all accept her invitation and once they arrive on the island that’s when the fun really starts!
Opening with an instrumental of some of the ABBA songs from the musical, the audience were given a quick taste of some of the music to look forward to in the show ahead. The theatre was full and there was a fantastic atmosphere, some people were dressed in ABBA style costumes which added to the fun feel of the night.
The story is told with a combination of dialogue and song and is jam packed with ABBA hits including Take A Chance on Me, Super Trooper, I Have a Dream, Lay All Your Love On Me and my all time favourite Knowing Me Knowing You. The show is incredibly funny and it’s incredibly hard to pick out a favourite part, but we both agreed that man eater Tanya’s (expertly played by Sarah Earnshaw) incredibly cheeky version of Does Your Mother Know with Sky’s friend Pepper (Joseph Vella) was a highlight of the night.
The three potential fathers were all incredibly funny in their own ways, delivering plenty of laugh out loud moments and unlike Pierce Brosnan in the film version, they all had fantastic voices! Jenn Griffin, who played the part of Sophie’s Mum Donna was another star, she had an amazing voice that filled the theatre and we especially enjoyed her singing The Winner Takes it All.
The set was quite simple but worked really well, with the walls of the taverna spinning round to recreate the scenes on the Greek island. Being an ABBA musical, this show is all about the music and the costumes and we certainly weren’t disappointed, with bright flamboyant costumes and of course the infamous ABBA white flared jumpsuits and platform boots.
There were lots of people in the musical and Anthony Van Laast’s choreography was superb, at times there were a lot of people on stage and the dancing was absolutely perfect without a foot (of flipper) wrong all night.
After keeping quiet throughout the show, the audience are encouraged to join in at the finale, and the entire audience were quickly on their feet joining in with last couple of ABBA songs. We really enjoyed Mamma Mia! It is an absolutely fantastic show and I guarantee you will be singing ABBA songs all the way home!
Rating: 5/5
Mamma Mia is at Blackpool Opera House until Sunday May 3rd For more information or to book tickets see below.
or call the box office on 0844 770 0593
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