ABBA fan or not, you'll be hard-pressed to resist the campy enthusiasm of "Mamma Mia!" It's the frosting you lick from the pan, the cookie dough you nab from the bowl, the butter you heap on the mashed potatoes. Pure fluff, and just as much fun.
In case you don't know, the Swedish group ABBA ripped through the '70s pop scene and dominated the top-40s chart. Thirty years later, some shrewd soul decided to fashion Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus' tunes into a lively musical, with book by British playwright Catherine Johnson.
All in all, "Mamma Mia!" features a hit parade of 22 ABBA favorites, including "The Winner Takes It All," "Chiquitita," "Super Trooper," "S.O.S.," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Take a Chance on Me," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!," the pulpy, peppy title tune "Mamma Mia" and everyone's all-time favorite, "Dancing Queen."
Don't look for elitist elevation in this hit-parade, feel-good musical. Far from it, "Mamma Mia!" is silly and often corny. The plot seems highly improbable, the orchestra unbelievably loud, the sets incredibly minimal and the costumes, over-the-top disco couture. But combined, the elements provide fabulous entertainment for everyone from Gen-Xer to grandma.
The storyline borrows from this and that. Think back to the 1968 film "Buena Sera, Mrs. Campbell," starring Gina Lollobrigida as an Italian woman who isn't sure which of three World War II soldiers fathered her child. Or "Shirley Valentine," about a woman who lopped off to Greece to find herself. Or "Muriel's Wedding," the Australian ugly-duckling-wants-a-wedding fantasy, set to ABBA tunes (the movie introduced Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths to U.S. audiences).
The show's set on a Greek island, where Donna (Monique Lund), a '70s, ex-hippie pop star, runs a small taverna. As things get underway, her 18-year-old daughter, Sophie (Kristie Marsden), is planning her wedding to a guy named Sky (Chris Bolan), and she wants her father to walk her down the aisle.
If only she knew who he was. When Sophie sneaks a peek at mom's tell-all diary, she comes up with three contenders for daddyhood and, without telling mom, invites the trio to her wedding.
Much to her delight, all three sperm-elects show up. Harry Bright (James Kall) is a prissy, obsessive/compulsive banker-type who faintly recalls his spontaneous side; Bill Austin (Pearce Bunting), a khaki-clad, macho, Down Under crocodile-hunter/writer; and Sam Carmichael (Don Noble), an enthusiastic, warmhearted architect and devoted family man.
They all have two things in common: warm and fuzzy memories of Donna and the Greek island where they sowed their wild oats, and not a clue that one of them has fathered her daughter.
But they aren't the only island visitors. Donna's two best friends and former musical sidekicks have flown in to lend emotional support to the mother of the bride. Ellen Harvey, as the aging femme fatale Tanya, has more husbands than Cher has facelifts, and Robin Baxter as Rosie, more weight than boyfriends. But together, Lund, Harvey and Baxter bring down the house every time they're onstage, especially with their retro rendition of "Dancing Queen."
Individually, they deliver just as much musical clout. Donna breaks our hearts with "The Winner Takes It All." Wisecracking Rosie and caveman-elect Bill romp hilariously through a chase-and-run (she chases, he runs) number, "Take a Chance on Me."
And an estrogen-oozing Tanya torments a hard-breathing, much-younger swain with her singing challenge, "Does Your Mother Know?"
Despite all this middle-age frivolity, the younger set gets their share of onstage action. Sophie and her sweetheart debate committment by way of a duet on "Lay All Your Love on Me." And Sky and his bachelor buddies deliver an absurdly amusing norkel-and-flipper tap dance.
If laughter helps folks live longer, "Mamma Mia!" could add decades, especially those huge chortles that start in the gut and envelop your whole body. One warning: Don't rush out of the theater during curtain call. The energetic ensemble delivers three sensational ABBA encores, including a gender switch on "Dancing Queen." Enough to make you dig out those platform pumps, tug on that spandex jumpsuit and wallow blissfully in ABBA afterglow.
"Mamma Mia!" will be performed through July 29 at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets: $31-$67, 292-2787.
