Is Mamma Mia! becoming the new Cats?
This relentlessly upbeat musical has been to Milwaukee three times in the past few years. Maybe this year, with all the country's financial unrest, political turmoil, etc., is the perfect time to revisit Mamma Mia! The show revolves around ABBA's 1970s pop tunes. One bouncy song follows another until the evening concludes in a sparkly spandex and platform-shoe frenzy. The songs come in quick procession. The best-realized tune is "Dancing Queen," in which former members of a "girl band" reunite for the wedding of one of the band member's daughters. This plot is perfect fodder for baby-boomers. During the "Queen" number, the "girls" use every opportunity to point out their current physical flaws. They tease one of the members about her copious amounts of cosmetic surgery (compliments of divorce settlements from several ex-husbands). Another has to take some ribbing about her weight gain. Donna, the woman whose daughter is getting married, waxes nostalgic about her years of "freedom."
In Donna's case, the freedom extended to "free love." As a result, she's not exactly sure who fathered her daughter. At the daughter's secretive request, three prospective fathers -- Donna's former lovers -- all fly to Greece for the wedding ceremony. Sophie, confident that she would know her father on sight, learns that pinning her DNA to one man is going to be more complicated than she thought. Both Rose Sezniak as 21-year-old Sophie and Susie McMonagle as Donna, her mom, give stellar performances. The men don't always measure up. John Hemphill does a great "Crocodile Dundee" impression as Sam, the adventurous Aussie, and likewise for a corpulent Michael Aaron Lindner as "headbanger" Harry Austin. On the other hand, Martin Kildare practically fades into the scenery as the exceptionally low-key architect, Bill. It's hard to believe that Donna has been pining for this guy for 20 minutes, much less 20 years.
Other musical highlights include "Money, Money" Money," "Take a Chance on Me" and "Honey, Honey." The musical rarely veers into serious stuff, with the exception of Donna's plaintive rendition of "The Winner Takes It All." In the song, it's evident that the appearance of close friends and former lovers reminds Donna of all she has missed during the years as Sophie's single parent.
Production values remain high. Some additional ad-libbed stage business is mostly okay, as it increases the laugh meter.
All in all, Mamma Mia! may turn out to be the most unlikely hit of the decade. Judging from the full house on opening night, the show hasn't worn out its welcome in Milwaukee.
