MAMMA MIA

This page is about the musical by Björn & Benny, based upon a host of ABBA songs. It is about a mother and her daughter.

Premiere dates for the various stagings:
• Prince Edward Theatre, London, United Kingdom: 1999-04-06
• Royal Alexander Theatre, Toronto, Canada: 2000-05-23

News added 2000-09-09
Mamma Mia to Broadway and Oz!
It is now confirmed that Mamma Mia! will open up on Broadway next year. On October 18th 2001 to be exact. As previously mentioned, they will take over from the longest running musical, Cats that has been performed on The Winter Garden Theatre since 1982.

To the joy of the people 'Downunder', Mamma Mia! will also be performed in Australia. It will open up some time next year in Melbourne.

News added 2000-07-30
Mamma Mia x 5?
Björn Ulvaeus was recently interviewed in a newspaper, regarding the future of Mamma Mia. The success in London is continuing, it may turn out to go longer then the three years Chess spent in West End. In Toronto it is also very successful. The planned six months is changed to 'open ended'.

Meanwhile preparations are under way for no less than three new stagings. In November a tour of the United States starts in San Francisco. Other cities that will be visited are: Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington D.C. The cast for this tour will be the same as the one currently in Toronto. So in a couple of weeks Björn goes to Canada to find a new cast for Toronto. In May Mamma Mia will open up in Australia.

The big league then? Well plans are under way for Broadway too. However the Chess staging on that New York street did not fare well. In fact that is one of Björn's very low points in his career. This time though they are better prepared. With several stagings around the world, they are in a much better position this time. Also some musical critics from New York was in Canada and wrote very positively about Mamma Mia. There are plans to set it up on 'Wintergarden' in October 2001, this is the venue where Cats is currently performed.

There have been rumours that Hollywood is interested in doing a version. Björn says that they have had several proposals to do film of it. But they have declined, because if there is a film out it basically kills the stage version. But maybe in 15 years or so...

News added 1999-09-04
Money Money Money.
There was no big risk for Björn & Benny to fall to poverty before Mama Mia. There are definetly no risk after... Swedish finicial paper Dagens Industri has calculated that by next summer 900.000 people will have seen the musical. They also calculats with a totaly gross profit of 10 billion SEK, that is $1.2 billion. On top of that ABBA Gold etc. are selling like never before.

News added 1999-09-02 
Atlantic Crossing. 
On May 23rd 2000 Mama Mia will open up in Toronto, Canada. It will then tour the American east coast and probably end up on Broadway in New York. There seems to also be some intrest from Hollywood to make a film.

News added 1998-10-14 
Musical officially presented. 
There has finally been some 'official' information made available about the project. The musical, called Mamma Mia, will go a head. It will be made on a much larger theatre than previously planned. It all seems to be part of some ABBA 25-year celibration. Lately Björn & Benny has been working hard with this project.

Premier is expected on April 6th 1999, at the Prince Edward Theatre in London, United Kingdom. It is actually the same venue as Chess was first performed in. Classical ground for B&B in other words. For those who wich to already go there and hang around, the address is 'Old compton street' in the West End. Tickets are expected to be released at the end of October or early November. The reason it all ended up on this theatre is that the American musical Ragtime was postponed, so the venue was free to something elso on short notice.

There will be 20-25 ABBA songs from all of their carreer. Again the bearded duo has chosen to work with two women. The story is written by playwright Catherine Johnson. The producer Judy Kramer has 70 million SEK in her budget [almost US$9 million]. B&B's manager Görel Hanser said it has all gone very fast the this Autumn.

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