Mamma Mia!

Mamma mia, that’s one spicy meatball! Yeah, yeah, I know that’s from an old (1975) Alka-Seltzer commercial, but it sure does describe the ABBA musical now playing in Honolulu.

It’s a spicy show that has its audience on its feet, just as it did during my three other Mamma Mia experiences.

I won’t get into the story or the songs – you’ve heard or read about those many times already.

I’ll just talk about my Mamma Mia experiences. I’ve seen the show twice in Las Vegas, last night at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, and once in the movie theater. Each experience had its own charm and personality.

The first time I saw Mamma Mia was in Las Vegas. The wife and I sat about 10 rows from the stage in the middle. The entire audience was on their feet during the last two “concert” numbers. I mean, the house was rocking and went wild when the Donna and the Dynamos came out in their flashy performance costumes.

Last night’s Honolulu’s audience comes in second; I’d say maybe 90% of the audience participated in the singing and dancing. The enthusiasm was definitely there, but I did notice the audience included some rather elderly people in the second row who either just weren’t into ABBA, or would just rather not make spectacles of themselves. The wife and I sat in the front row, left of middle.

The most non-interactive audience was the second Vegas showing I went to. I don’t know what it was, but very few were on their feet during the concert renditions of “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo.” But except for that, I enjoyed this experience the most. I sat in the second row just behind the musical director and her electronic keyboard. Wow, could that lady make music!

And then of course, there was the movie. The advantage a movie has is its ability to shoot on location and interact with magnificent scenery. The disadvantage that Mamma Mia the movie had was that Pierce Brosnan played the male lead Sam. He did a credible job singing for the first time in a movie, but just doesn’t have enough depth in his chops.

Still, at the conclusion of the movie, I and many of the audience who probably had already been to a stage production stood and danced and sang along with Meryl Streep.

By the way, I got off my chair and danced again when I watched it at home on Blu-Ray after it came out on dvd.

Yep. Silly, huh? But that’s what the Mamma Mia experience is all about. Ya gotta get into it!