Sunday 13 July 08 Chat - Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! is both an Abba-fest and the summer's frothiest and most fun musical movie.
Based on the stage musical which has grossed more than $2bn and been seen by 30m people around the world since its launch in 1999, both musical and movie unashamedly celebrate the hits of 70s supergroup Abba.
Abba members and songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus were apparently reluctant to see a musical based on Abba's songs but were convinced by producer, Judy Craymer, who they'd met while working in the West End with Tim Rice on Chess.
In 1997 Judy Craymer commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the book for the musical, the plot for which is apparently based on the 1968 film staring Gina Lollobrigida, Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell.
Like the musical, the movie is directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

Mamma Mia! stars Meryl Streep as Donna and Pierce Brosnan as Sam, with Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard with Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper as the young lovers, Sophie and Sky.

The plot: Sophie, who is about to be married, lives with her mother, Donna, on a Greek island. Donna's best friends Rosie and Tanya arrive for the wedding, as do Sam, Bill and Harry, three men Sophie has invited, thinking one may be her father. During the ceremony Sophie and Sky decide to postpone the wedding and to go travelling. Taking advantage of the celebrations Sam and Donna marry instead.

Undeniably lighthearted, end-to-end singalong (and dance-along!) fun and gorgeous to look at, Mamma Mia! is the ideal summer movie for all the family. For the fun quotient alone the soundtrack recording, revealing the vocal skills of Streep and the hidden talents of Brosnan and Firth, is also my album of the month.