REVIEW | Mamma Mia UK Tour
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| Photography by Brinkhoff/Mögenburg |
Mamma Mia
UK Tour
★★★★★
Whether it's the smash-hit 2008 movie or the stage show itself, Mamma Mia is timeless. Now in its 23rd year in the West End, the show is now back inviting regular and new, younger audiences to enjoy a little bit of Greece and warmth across the country in a new UK tour.
Judy Cramer, Phyllida Lloyd and Catherine Johnson's masterpiece explodes onto the stage in a flurry of colour and excitement. Over 65 million people have fallen in love with the characters, the story and the timeless hits from ABBA in this show. ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus have integrated the music into the seams of this story. Mamma Mia is a story of love, friendship and laughter in a 2 hr 15-minute performance.
Mamma Mia captures the story of a young woman, Sophie (Jena Pandya) determined to discover the identity of her father that has been swept under the carpet for so many years by her mother, Donna Sheridan (Sara Poyzer) and she only knows about her potential fathers through Donna's diary that Sophie reads. Three men are invited back to the island where they met and fell in love with Donna 20 years ago, bringing good and bad times with them. The question on everyone's mind is which one is the biological father? Donna will need a lot of courage and persuasion from her friends Rosie (Nicky Swift) and Tanya (Helen Anker) to finally face the past that she fought to keep away.
The stage is transformed into a Greek island with the simplicity of traditional white Greek buildings turning set and a backdrop of sea blue. It is a staging that feels as though it's been plucked directly from the West End. This simplistic set transforms between the preparations of a wedding as well as the main thread of discovering the identity of Sophie's dad. The simplicity leaves an ethos towards the story itself and the iconic musical score.
This touring cast brings high levels of energy and punches into this production from the get-go. Anthony Van Laast's choreography is timeless in this show. The combination of ABBA songs, camp dance routines, platform boots and Lycra costumes works so well, even after all the time Mamma Mia has been on the stage.
Jena Pandya brings fresh energy as Sophie. It's hard to make a well-established character their own but Jena does this in style. She had a great stage presence and relationships with the main characters on her journey in this storyline.
Sara Poyzer is a force to be reckoned with as Donna. She immediately leads this cast well and her experience in the industry immediately shows in her level of performance. Her relationship with her best friends is one of my favourite things to see play out in this story and Nicky Swift and Helen Anker are the perfect people to do that with. Their fiesty and fun characteristics pay off well! Although the performance of the night for me was from James Willoughby Moore. He was incredible as Pepper and I think audiences of this show would agree they spent more time admiring his infectious energy than anything else!