Prince of Wales Theatre
this review is by Sophie and I think i should be a co writer and i also think Cunning little vixen should change her password coz i know what it is now
Mamma Mia! is a really popular musical but I’ve never quite understood why. I did enjoy the performance but there are lots musicals I enjoy more that haven’t had an eleven year run in the West End (not recently anyway). Like Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Into the Woods, even Grease.
The music is probably a lot to do with its popularity. The music is great. The songs are very catchy and although there are lots of fast, happy songs not everything is fast and happy (most of the songs are fast though). Most of the famous ABBA songs are here (my favourite isn’t but I’m sure most people’s favourite is). I don’t exactly have a high opinion of the plot (as you’ll find out) but the songs do fit in with the plot really well. There is a reason why each song happens when it does – some songs take on a different meaning because of the plot and I think that’s a good thing but they still deserve a better plot.
Yes the plot of Mamma Mia! is better than the plot of We Will Rock You. We Will Rock You hardly has a plot at all. But We Will Rock You is consistently mad. It’s so mad, you don’t mind so much about things that don’t make sense. And it also has lots of interesting and really likeable characters like Scaramouche, I love Scaramouche.
The plot… I have so many problems with the plot of Mamma Mia!. It’s a fun idea, Sophie finding out her dad is one of three people and inviting them all to the wedding. My mum said they should have had a paternity test but there probably wasn’t time to organise one before the wedding. And as the dads say, they are lucky to have a third of Sophie. That’s more than enough.
And it is a bit odd really. Sophie finds out her mother slept with three guys in the space of a few days and she seems really excited about this. It turns out later that maybe she is a bit disgusted - and that’s another thing, Sophie and Donna seem to have a really good relationship, okay Donna isn’t that keen on the idea of Sophie getting married but she just seems like a typical mother worrying about her kid. Then suddenly near the end it’s like Sophie hates Donna and they don’t have a good relationship. But anyway, I’d expect her to find the sex thing a bit embarrassing even if they’re really close and if they aren’t it needs to be made clearer and it should be done in a way that makes you sympathise with both of them. Like in Grease, even though Danny treats Sandy like shit you don’t totally hate him and you’re happy for them to end up together.
The ending of Mamma Mia! is wrong too. Donna and Sophie are finally reconciled or at least growing even closer, only for Sophie to decide to go away with Sky. It would be more satisfying if she’d stayed around to keep working on the relationship with her mum and to get to know her dads. Maybe finding her dad isn’t such a big dream for her now but it would be polite to stay around, she's the one who invited them.
Donna’s wedding doesn’t seem the best idea either. She thinks Sophie is rushing into marriage when she’s presumably known Sky for a while. Then Donna goes running up the aisle with a bloke she’s only really known for a day (and she’s spent most of that time hiding from him). Yes she loved him twenty-one years ago but people change. It would be a shame if she’d spent all that money on a wedding only for Sophie to refuse to get married but it’s going to end up costing a lot more if Donna and Sam get divorced. Is it allowed anyway? Maybe it’s different on Greek islands but I thought they had to announce church weddings three weeks in advance.
But the big plot hole for me is, how does Sophie manage to write to them all? How does she know where they live? Even if Donna has their addresses in her diary it’s been twenty-one years, they’ve probably moved. And what about when they accepted the invitations? Sophie made them think Donna sent the invitations. So wouldn’t they accept by writing to Donna? If so, it looks like Sophie’s been reading Donna’s mail as well as her diary. And I think that’s wrong.
But I can see where Sophie gets it from. Apparently, Donna and Sophie lived with a lady called Sophia when Sophie was younger. She was the aunt of one of Sophie’s potential dads (I’m afraid I got them all really badly confused and I don’t know which one was Sophia’s nephew but I think it was probably Sam). Sophia left her money to Donna and Sophie and it becomes known that she left it to ‘family’. So, how does Sophia know that Donna and Sophie are family? Only if Donna told her Sophie was Sam’s daughter. And how can she be sure about that? I think it’s awful that Donna lied to Sophia like that and then ended up getting her money. Maybe she did tell Sophia, maybe Sophia left them the money in full knowledge that Sophie might not be a relative but it all seems a bit dodgy really. And it’s a bit surprising that Sophia told Sam nothing about it and that Sam didn’t hear any gossip from any other family member about this new ‘family member’ who appeared out of nowhere.
Then there’s the problem with the characters. Mamma Mia! doesn’t have many characters I like. Donna’s two friends Tanya and Rosie are brilliant. They do have some stereotypical aspects but they’re warm, kind, loving people. Jane Gurnett and Katy Secombe are both very funny and they bounce off each other well. They’re brilliant singers too – it’s a shame they aren’t in it more because I do love them.
I also like the guy Tanya seduces. It was either Pepper (Ben Heathcoate) or Eddie (Sam Mackay), I’m not really sure but he was sweet. He’s only interested in her (enhanced) body but in such an innocent way like when Glyn fancied Lea in Big Brother 7.
The dads aren’t all that bad I suppose except that I’ve got them confused, even though they have different accents. I think Sam (Norman Bowman) is the one Donna ends up with, Bill (Christopher Hollins) is the one Rosie snags and Harry (Paul Ryan) is the gay one. The first time I watched it I was really young and I didn’t realise Harry was gay and I had just read a book about a girl called Lawrence so when Harry said his partner was called Lawrence I thought he was a girl. But this time it’s just so obvious, there are loads of clues. They all seemed like good people and they’re really nice to Sophie no matter how bratty she is but the differences between them seemed quite superficial ones, just on the outside like different accents, different jobs and that doesn’t really tell you much about who they are inside.
Oh and I like Father Alexander too, he was played by Gerard Leighton-Duffy who was also in the ensemble. Father Alexander is such a tiny role and Gerard didn’t have much to do but he did it really well, he was funny. Poor man though, having to deal with that lot.
There are good things about Donna. She has done really well to raise a child on her own (even if that child is a brat) and she’s doing a good job managing her hotel (or whatever it is, the programme doesn’t have a synopsis so I’m all confused now). But the thing with Sophia and the money really bothers me and even though Donna does have lots to worry her – her daughter’s getting married, her job isn’t much fun, she doesn’t make much money even though she’s in charge and now 3 of her exes have showed up – she does seem like a bit of a moany cow.
Sally Ann Triplett is a great singer though (she’s got LOADS to sing) and she did all Donna’s emotions really well so I felt for her even though I couldn’t stand her. Sally Ann is acclaimed for singing Rizzo in Grease, it was good to see someone I’d heard of and I bet she was good too, she can do the toughness and the vulnerability and she’s definitely got the voice.
Sky, Sophie’s fiancé is a total twat although maybe he’s trying to seem macho to make up for the fact he’s got a girl’s name. Even though Sophie is a brat the way he speaks to her is really awful. Acting all hurt because she didn’t tell him she’d invited her dads to the wedding. IT’S NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU SKY! They’re her dads, not yours. You don’t tell your boyfriend everything, well I don’t. Some things are too personal, too private and maybe Sophie didn’t feel ready to talk about it seriously. And as Sophie said, Sky wouldn’t like what she’s done. And that’s fine, everyone does things sometimes their partner doesn’t like, some things are important and if you’re getting married you would normally want your dad to give you away. Oliver J Hembrough is a good singer though but there’s only so much an actor can do when his character is a twat.
As for Sophie, she’s an immature brat and for once I’m not talking about me even though I’m one too. I don’t like the way she forces herself on her dads. They deal with it well and with amazing good humour but it must be a real shock for them and she’s so pushy. Then at the end she suddenly decides she isn’t going to get married, after Donna’s spent so much time and money arranging it. I don’t think she’s ready to get married but once you’ve gone up the aisle I think it’s a bit late. And if she’s going to go off with Sky anyway, why not marry him first?
It just seems a bit like she wants what she hasn’t got. She wants a dad, she wants a big wedding (both of which are reasonable) but as soon as she’s got three dads and she’s about to get married, she changes her mind and decides she doesn’t want to get married and she doesn’t want to spend time getting to know her dads. I can be like that sometimes but I’m not a heroine in a musical, I’m not someone everyone’s supposed to love. Niamh Perry did well with all the singing, Sophie has loads of to sing like Donna. It might be possible to play Sophie in a nicer way and Niamh probably could do it, she did do the brattishness very convincingly so she might be equally convincing when she’s playing a nice girl.
There were two ex-Grease people in the cast, Lucy Boldero and Russell Smith. I’m a bit annoyed Lucy only seems to be covering Ali, Sophie’s friend (whose role basically consists of screaming) as she’s an amazing actress and singer and I’m sure she could do a lot with a role like Sophie – if the director lets her. I never saw Russell in a solo role but he’s probably good. He’s covering Sky and Eddie. All the roles in Mamma Mia! have three covers except Father Alexander who has two and Tanya, Rosie and Harry who have four.
Mamma Mia! is really popular and most people don’t seem bothered by all the things I think are wrong with it so don’t let me put you off, you’ll probably love it. The music is great and there are some really good performers and most people seem to love the plot. My boyfriend agrees with most of what I think but it didn’t really bother him, he just got lost in all the emotions and enjoyed what was there. And I enjoyed a lot of what was there too so it can’t be that bad.