NEW YORK (AP) — When the musical “Mamma Mia!” said goodbye to Broadway a decade ago, there were tears and hugs and tons of applause. In the audience of its last show, one woman wasn’t entirely buying it.
“I felt then that it wasn’t goodbye forever. I felt we’d be back one day,” says producer Judy Craymer, who had conceived of the show in the 1980s. “I always hoped.”
That one day has become today as the ABBA-fueled, feel-good musical returns to its first home on Broadway, the Winter Garden Theatre. It reopens Thursday night.
“It’s like when you go to visit the old place where you went to high school,” says Victor Wallace, who made his Broadway debut in the show in 2012, stayed to the final curtain in 2015 and has returned. “There’s so many backstage stories and people and I’m a little overwhelmed.”
Fans have fueled the return of “Mamma Mia!” to make it among the top earners on Broadway, last week grossing $1.57 million over seven previews, fourth behind only “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “Hamilton.”
‘A time of peril’
“Mamma Mia!” endured plenty during its first Broadway life — wars, hurricanes, the 2008 financial meltdown, the move to a smaller theater and critics, who never warmed to the show’s high-energy sweetness.
A hit in London — where it is still playing — “Mamma Mia!” opened in New York just a few weeks after the 2001 terror attacks when there was deep gloom and anxiety.
Christine Sherrill, who recently toured as the show’s mom and is now making her Broadway debut in the role, says audiences are responding to another time of stress.
“We’re kind of in a time of peril again, where communities are divided. So to be able to go into some of these cities and have 3,000 people — who would never find themselves enjoying the same thing outside of the theater — sitting there all enjoying this communal experience is really interesting.”
The show, featuring more than 20 classic ABBA hits, including “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo,” has been a smash in dozens of countries, including South Korea, Italy, Denmark, South Africa and Spain.
Craymer sees the data about the new flock of theatergoers and notes this “Mamma Mia!” is popular with groups. “There were people that had seen it on Broadway — probably when they were younger — and now coming back in their 20s and 30s and then bringing their daughters or family.”
A Greek story is born
Craymer decades ago approached members of ABBA and made her pitch: Instead of doing a musical about the band, she insisted that their songs help tell an original story.
Craymer teamed up with playwright Catherine Johnson, and a story set on a Greek island was born about a young woman who is about to be married and wants her father to give her away. But she’s not sure who he is, so she invites her mom’s three former lovers to her wedding.
The musical prompted Craymer to produce a movie version starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, that became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008. A sequel, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” came out a decade later. ABBA’s music continues to be the backdrop for numerous popular TikTok trends.
In some way mirroring the joy onstage, backstage at “Mamma Mia!” is a party backstage, too, with milestones celebrated, outings, door decorating contests and gatherings
“Because of the nature of the show, I think it just bleeds into life backstage and that joy that you see on stage, it just overflows into our lives,” says Wallace.
Themes of the ‘Mamma’
Wallace, who started in the musical’s ensemble and grew to play the young leading man, Sky, and now is one of the three possible dads, says the show is about friendship, parenthood, hope and second chances.
“It’s always surprising how the show surprises you emotionally,” he says. “It’s a great time. It’s fun. But I think people identify with these themes and these characters and I think that people are caught off guard as to how the show captures their heart and moves them.”
Sherrill looks at the story through a mother’s eyes and realizes she’s a different person than she was before she had twins. She offers another theme.
“It’s a lot about finding your identity,” she says. “I think that appeals to people on all levels — all people, all levels. Everyone’s trying to figure out who they are and what the best version of themselves is. So, I think, that’s sort of a universal message that’s really playing on people’s heartstrings as well, at least mine.”
