Popularity doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with quality. Consider Mamma Mia!, which ran nearly 14 years on Broadway, the ninth longest running show in the commercial theater. But this lazy jukebox musical is built from songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA that only occasionally coincide with the show’s credibility-stretching plot.
Still, did I mention that it ran nearly 14 years on Broadway?
Theatergoers cannot get enough of Mamma Mia! And there is every reason to believe that will be the case with the eighth season opener at Boca Raton’s Wick Theatre. As directed by Larry Raben, making his Wick debut, the production follows most of the show’s conventions plus some welcome surprises by projections designer Josieu Jean.
To call Mamma Mia! lightweight would be an understatement, but that may be exactly what we need right now. It premiered on Broadway soon after Sept. 11, 2001, at a time when we craved escapism. And the same goes for today, as the Wick – and the rest of the arts world – is re-opening and hoping to lure audiences back inside the theater.
Nothing does that better than the ’70s bass-heavy, infectious tunes by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Go ahead, try not to hum along to “Dancing Queen,” “Super Trouper,” “Voulez-Vous,” “Honey, Honey” or the title number. I dare you.
And just accept that musical rookie Catherine Johnson plugged them into a storyline that aspired to be nothing more than a giddy guilty pleasure.
Mamma Mia! centers on Donna, a single mom, a Greek taverna proprietor and a former girl group lead singer, whose daughter Sophie is about to get married. The hitch is she grew up not knowing who her father/sperm donor was.
When she reads in her mother’s diary that she has three potential dads, she invites them all to the wedding, expecting to sleuth out the one who should walk her down the aisle. Far-fetched? Absolutely. But the real problem is how little the high-energy feel-good songs have to do with the narrative. So just go for the music and the talented cast members performing it.
Foremost among them is Meg Frost as Sophie, arguably the strongest voice in the company, which she demonstrates in the prologue, singing of her dream nuptials. By the opening of the second act, however her wedding has turned to a nightmare, conjured by Jean’s horrific projections and fantasy warrior wardrobe by costume designer Jim Buff. Later in the act, Jean provides flower power images for a flashback on “Our Last Summer.”
Also a standout is Jodie Langel (Donna), particularly on her nostalgic presentational numbers with her back-up singers, The Dynamos, vampy, campy Tanya (Aaron Bower) and roly-poly Rosie (Britte Steele). Langel also belts victoriously on her 11 o’clock solo, “The Winner Takes It All.”
Of the three potential dads, Sean McDermott is a solid presence and a fine vocalist as Sam. And since Donna takes the strongest dislike to him, it is not hard to figure where their relationship is headed. Less likely as suitors for Donna are Bill (Robert Koutras) and Harry (Doug Chitel), but they each have sufficient personality quirks.
The young ensemble is put through the peppy, calisthenic choreography by Stephen Casey. Ultimately, though, the story and the songs are mere preface for an extended curtain call encore – a trio of reprises with the entire company decked out in electric rainbow colors. Some say the encore is the whole point of the show. Maybe, but it does keep the audience at their seats, clapping along, for another few minutes and leaving with smiles on their faces, That, as ABBA would put it, is the name of the game.
MAMMA MIA!, Wick Theatre and Costume Museum, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Through Sun., Nov. 14. $75-$95. 561-995-2333