MAMMA MIA! Talented Performers, Boring Show

The Las Vegas performance of the famous broadway musical MAMMA MIA! on July 5, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Theatre was entertaining for most of its 2 and a half hours but lacking in many ways.

This musical, designed for family fun, interweaves famous ABBA songs such as "Dancing Queen," "I Have a Dream," "Voulez-Vous," and "Take a Chance on Me" with a story about Sophie Sheridan, a young woman living on a Greek island with her mother, trying to uncover the identity of her father on the eve of her wedding. After reading her mother's diary, she narrows it down to three possible candidates and secretly sends them all invitations to her wedding. Her independent, still single mother is shocked when three men from her past, who each last visited the island exactly 20 years ago, arrive at her hotel. One of the men in particular sends her reeling back to the past.

The music, originally composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, was a disappointment at the Las Vegas production because the man in charge decided to try something new. He took all the original songs and put his own spin on them. Normally, change is good to spice things up. However, his changes meant slower, droning tempos, unrecognizable songs, and bored audience members. The musical number "Mamma Mia" was probably the most enjoyable. It's hard to mess that one up.

An audience member who had seen the show performed last year in Texas said the music was almost completely unrecognizable. When the music started, she asked herself if she bought tickets for the wrong show. She remarked that the music was supposed to have more of a "disco" beat and told me to go listen to the original soundtrack to compare it to the show we saw.

Although the show used its trademark bright colors and crazy costumes, the performance was lacking in charisma because the stage direction, also known as blocking, and dancing were not up to par. Musical performers are supposed to have both song and dance skills under their belt, but these performers were lacking in the latter. While they all had pleasant voices, with the exception of Sophie's mother Donna (played by Carol Linnea Johnson) whose was extraordinary, there was hardly any dancing going on. When the actors playing minor roles stepped up to do their dance numbers, there was indeed nothing special about their steps. One performer proceeded to do a jump about eight times where you are supposed to do the splits in the air and touch your toes--but he couldn't reach his toes! I have to say, that was rather embarrassing to watch as an audience member. The other performers basically stood still during their song numbers and made a couple of facial expressions.

"These people are both dancers and singers; they could have done more," said an audience member.

On a lighter note, a few of the individual performers were interesting, entertaining, and actually deserved to be up there on stage. First, Carol Linnea Johnson, who plays Donna, really stole the show. Of course she wasn't dancing, but her spectacular voice and humor made up for her lack of movement. Her daughter, played by Kelly Anise Daniells, is supposed to be the protagonist; however, the performer was lacking in both those song and dance skills I talked about earlier. She hit all the notes, but her voice reminded me of a complaining child. The character is supposed to be 20-21 years old, not 5. The baby talk was definitely put on for the show, and I think this performer should consider taking it off as quickly as possible. Her fiance was even worse. Sky, played by Patrick Sarb, had a bit part to begin with and didn't do much with it. His character and voice were definitely replaceable fillers.

Donna's two sidekicks, Tanya and Rosie, played by Vicki Van Tassel and Robin Baxter respectively, were hands down the most entertaining part of the show. These performers were definitely not dancers, but they did the best they could with their humorous dialogue. Their blocking was by far the best as they moved about the stage with attitudes that fit their characters' personalities--something that all stage performers are supposed to do. Without these two ladies spicing up the stage, the show would have been a complete bust. They added all the humor and their rock solid routines really kept it together.

Although this particular performance of MAMMA MIA! was less than spectacular, the overall show has been an international hit and is worth seeing at least once.

Picture is courtesy of http://www.mamma-mia.com/gallery.asp?sec=show.

Lauren Mietelski
English, Secondary Education
Senior