Broadway lately has been plundering the song libraries of pop composer/performers, creating what has become known as jukebox musicals. Of them, none has been as successful — at least commercially — as Mamma Mia!, a celebration of the infectious compositions of the Swedish rock group ABBA.
The show arrived on our shores in 2001, soon after 9/11, at a time when audiences craved lightweight escapism. And musicals do not get much lighter than Mamma Mia!
With a suspicious, but uncredited, resemblance to a 1968 movie romp, Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, it concerns soon-to-be-wed Sophie, the daughter of a proudly unmarried mom. Sophie is understandably interested in having her biological father walk her down the aisle, but since her mother, Donna, was sexually frisky 20 years earlier, her dad could be one of three men, as Sophie learns from reading her mother’s old diary. So unbeknownst to Donna, Sophie invites all three possible fathers to her wedding at the Greek taverna her mom has built and run since those earlier carefree days.
Into that narrative, adapter Catherine Johnson and original director Phyllida Lloyd crammed some 22 musical numbers by ABBA front men Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, most of which the Kravis Center audience greeted like old friends at Tuesday’s opening performance of a one-week run. As with many jukebox shows, these songs only tangentially relate to the plot, asking us to ignore most of the lyrics. Obviously audiences have not minded in the least, since Mamma Mia! ran for almost 14 years in New York — currently the ninth-longest-running show ever on Broadway — with a significant afterlife on tour and a popular movie version and its sequel.
So it seems silly to carp about the show’s lazy construction or wooden characters when it is such an evident crowd-pleaser. If you are already a fan of Mamma Mia!, and perhaps considering a return visit, it is enough to report that the production at the Kravis is in mint condition, tightly maintained by Lloyd or at least her stage managers. The cast is strong of voice and physically nimble, particularly the young ensemble that frequently executes energetic production numbers devised by choreographer Anthony Van Laast.
Helping to motivate some of the tunes, Johnson makes Donna (Christine Sherrill) a former lead vocalist of the girl group Donna and the Dynamos, and reunites her with her backup singers, Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and Rosie (Carly Sakolove). They arrive for the wedding and bide their time donning their old costumes and performing some of their vintage ditties. Thus the show manages to justify such chart-topping ABBA hits as “Super Trouper,” “Dancing Queen,” “S.O.S.” and the title tune. Remember, don’t listen closely to the lyrics, just sway along to the catchy rhythms and bass-heavy beat.
Heading the cast is Sherrill, burdened enough by the imminent wedding, but also freaked out by the sudden appearance of her trio of former lovers. She handles her song assignments well, particularly the uber-dramatic 11 o’clock number, “The Winner Takes It All.” As randy Tanya, Steele scores with the cougar anthem, “Does Your Mother Know,” and Sakolove is similarly on the prowl delivering her solo, “Take a Chance on Me.”
Alisa Melendez is aptly bubbly as Sophie and Donna’s trio of beaus — Harry (Rob Marnell), Bill (Jim Newman) and Sam (Victor Wallace) — handle their vocals well enough, certainly better than their movie counterparts did.
Mark Thompson’s simple taverna set proves quite versatile, but he tops himself with his costume design, particularly the flamboyant duds in the post-curtain call megamix medley, guaranteed to send the audience home humming an ABBA tune or two. If you go, do not rush out and miss the exuberant coda, arguably the best part of the production.
MAMMA MIA!, Kravis Center Dreyfoos Hall, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Through Sunday, June 30. $45-$120. 561-832-7469.