Worth the wait ....
Written: Sep 29 '09 (Updated Sep 29 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: fun filled entertainment
Cons: took so long to come to New Zealand
The Bottom Line: if you haven't seen it yet, it's not too late
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| hollynz's Full Review: Mamma Mia! |
Living in New Zealand has its up side but being a small country at the bottom of the planet means we miss most world wide live performances be they music or theatre. Eventually, if we wait long enough we may just be rewarded when some entrepreneur decides to bring a concert or production to our shores and so, the day finally arrived when Mamma Mia came to town. When I say came to town, it didn't come to my town exactly and it was a mere 7 hour drive from my town to the bright lights of Auckland city but a drive I was more than happy to make.
Having never seen the movie and not being overly keen on Abba throughout their heyday of the 70's, I was still keen as mustard to go and see the show when I found it was coming to our shores. I managed to get some tickets for $99, for this price we were way up on the third tier of the Civic Theatre, looking down at the stage and right over some of the props at times.
The Auckland Civic Theatre itself was a treat to behold,about 20 years ago this theatre was nearly closed down as it was in dilapidated condition but thankfully, the Auckland city council funded the refurbishment and it is a remarkable testament to them, such a lavish sight deserved to be saved and going to any event here is a must, just to see the theatre itself.
THE STORY OF MAMMA MIA
Mamma Mia has been around since March 1999, over 10 years and still going strong. I guess this is a testament to just how good the show is and it really was fantastic, the actors/performers didn't miss a beat and the singing filled the theatre and had the audience clapping and singing along.
Catherine Johnson was commissioned to write the story for Mamma Mia and after researching the Abba songs, discovered the early songs were very innocent and naive whereas the later songs had a more mature outlook. It was this which inspired the story as told by two generations of women and what a marvellous job she made of it too.
The story is a simple one, basically a young girl is about to marry and dreams that the father she has never known would walk her down the aisle. She finds her mothers old diary and discovers there are three possible contenders to be her dad, not sure what to do and not wanting to let her mother know what she is up to, she sends a wedding invitation to all three men, supposedly from her mother.
All three men turn up on the little Greek island and then the fun begins. Mum Donna is left reeling when she sees the men from her past, her two best friends have arrived for the wedding so much hilarity ensues when the three girlfriends get together and deal with the problem at hand.
There are a few surprise twists and turns in the story ~ well for those who haven't seen the movie that is. But it works well, the whole experience was believable and very entertaining.
THE PERFORMANCE
The show went off without a hitch, if there were a hitch on the night it was definitely undetectable so we will assume there was none. The singing was fabulous and the enthusiasm of the cast was infectious. The stage props did the trick of taking us to a sun drenched greek island to perfection, very simple stage scenery and only three or four different settings which were changed quickly and easilly and didn't interrupt the flow. Not being an Abba fan meant that some of the songs were unfamiliar to me but that did not detract from the enjoyment. While singing Mamma Mia, at one point the actress left it up to the audience to sing the chorus, much to the delight of the crowd. The two hour show was fun from start to finish.
At the end of the show the cast got the crowd up and dancing with a mini concert of the Abba hits Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia and Waterloo.
CAST
The cast of the International Tour seemed to be predominantly British and Jackie Clune gave a wonderful performance of mother Donna. Her voice was powerful and strong and her singing was top notch. Daughter Sophies role was another strong performance and Katie Brayden gave a sterling perfomance. The characters that stole the show for me were mum Donnas two best friends Tanya and Rosie ~ what a wild bunch they must have been back in the day!!
Sophie Sheridan - KATIE BRAYBEN
Ali - JODIE READ
Lisa - LAURA SELWOOD
Tanya - JANE GURNETT
Rosie - JOANNA MONRO
Donna Sheridan - JACKIE CLUNE
Sky - OLIVER J. HEMBROUGH
Pepper - GIOVANNI SPANO
Eddie - MATT WILMAN
Harry Bright - PAUL RYAN
Bill Austin - ANDREW HALL
Sam Carmichael - RICHARD LAING
Father Alexander - GERARD LEIGHTON DUFF
LAST WORD
If you haven't seen this musical yet make the effort as it really is a rollicking good yarn and a rollicking good time to boot.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
hollynz
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 in Hotels & Travel |
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Member: Christine
Location: New Zealand
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~ In memory of Barbara ~
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