All Shook Up vs Mamma Mia — Page 2

It's all a matter of opinion. I love the show a lot, but I do see where some are coming from about the book. It was the weak link. Had it been cleaned up, the show would have been even better.

But not everyone is going to share your opinion. I don't think disliking the show means that person doesn't know how to have fun. It just means, well, that they don't like the show.

Mister Matt: Mamma Mia!'s book just didn't work. For me, at least. It's hard to pin point certain points- I haven't seen the show in two years. I just remember being unbelievably bored and thinking that it was a big mess. I didn't care about the characters or what happened to them. They were just there. And the ending was completely anti-climactic. Though I'll admit I chuckled. That really did nothing to back up my opinion, did it?

ASU really had no good advertising. I know that on Long Island, commercials make a good impression. They like the television here. They had no commercials, and the only ad I saw was on a milk carton.

Yes...MAYBE Mamma Mia would have been better with another cast because from what I saw the other night...compared to ASU, they can't sing.

Mamma Mia! is a tolerable show with a great cast.
All Shook Up was an awful, uninspired show with a sub-par cast.

ETA-If you think Dee Hoty can't sing, you REALLY need to get yourself a hearing test!

Updated On: 10/8/05 at 09:49 AM

"Nobody can possibly say that ASU stunk unless that person doesn't know how to have fun."

And anyone who says that is taking other people's opinions about a musical too personally.

"All Shook Up was the greatest show that I've ever seen in my whole life!!!"

That sentence would have so much more meaning if we knew how old you were and what shows you've seen. Otherwise, it's kind of meaningless to the rest of us. But hooray that you love it so much.

You can like All Shook Up as much as you want and others can like Mamma Mia, but it won't change the fact that Mamma Mia is more successful. Caroline, or Change was better than both of them and it's gone too. So is Les Miserables and Falsettos and Parade and tons of other shows that are far superior. That's how it goes. If you hate Mamma Mia, then that's fine. If you love flying motorcycle angels and dancing statues and museum trailers, then that is wonderful. More power to ya.

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"All Shook Up was the greatest show that I've ever seen in my whole life!!!"

That's beyond sad. All Shook Up was the worst show I have ever seen (and I saw Dracula last season). Not only were the songs poorly integrated into the the lame plot from 1950, but the book was so dumbed down even a three year old would feel insulted. It was like watching a Disney cartoon: no character development and everyone was like a cartoon. If I want to see cartoon characters I'll watch tv at home for free.

I can see how people feel that it is a bad show because compared to shows like Chicago, and many other shows, this one was meant to be funny and kind of stupid. That's why I liked it so much because you can have fun with it. Trust me when my mom told me we were going to see ASU, I wasn't even going to go because I thought that it was the stupidest thing ever but I had a really good time because it wasn't so serious.

i agree with everything bwaygirl has said! ASU was the greatest show i've ever seen. and the cast was just amazing! not only were they oozing with talent, they were kind, down to earth people who appreciated their fans! its people like that who make a show enjoyable, and ASU was the most enjoyable i've seen. i was obsessed with AIDA until i saw ASU, i fell in love and saw it 3 times! people have to loosen up, sure MAMMA MIA! is more successful than ASU was, but that doesnt stop me from looooving ASU.

"The main difference for me was that I still kept thinking days later about how much fun I had after the first time I saw ASU. After seeing MAMMA MIA! the first time, I thought, "OK, that was fun," then forgot about it."

I agree 100% on what WholeLottaShakin said.

I watched Mamma Mia once and All Shook Up 5 times. Although I enjoyed Mamma Mia I thought it was too serious, and I love the Abba songs but I thought that the story that they made up to go along with the songs were lame. And like WholeLottaShakin said, I had fun while I was at the theatre but I never really think about it anymore, it just wasn't...well, memorable. On the other hand I think everyday about when I went to watch ASU and all the fun I had. People go watch a play for entertainment and this play was funny and made me laugh a lot, and I would always get out of the palace theatre in a wonderful mood. While I was watching it I would completely forget that the songs they were singing were not written for the musical because they fit so well with the story. But my favorite moment was when everyone got up and danced to "C'mon Everybody" at the end, you could see everyone was having a good time. It was actually hard for me to sit still during the whole show, I wanted to get up and dance. And I noticed that everyone who watched it had a wonderful time. And I also noticed that there are still a lot of people who haven't, like myself gotten over with ASU closing. Everyday I see posts of people saying how much they miss ASU. I think that the reason why ASU didn't gain as much audience as Mamma Mia does was because they didn't advertise ASU as much as they could have and when they began advertising on tv for example on All My Children, they decided to close ASU. I also though that a lot of people didn't give ASU a chance, a lot of people judged it before seeing it just because they saw "Good Vibrations" and hated it. They already came in to watch the play wanting to hate it, or worse a lot of people didn't even go watch it because they thought it would be bad.

So I would have to say that I liked ASU a lot more than I did Mamma Mia. But it doesn't mean ASU is better. People have different opinions and we all look at things differently, so I don't want any of the Mamma Mia fans to get mad or feel ofended. This was just my opinion.

Gah. Aida. Another obsessee, here. I still miss it. The Palace was like my second home for a little bit. I got all nostalgic when I saw ASU for the first time in May. I got made fun of for that, though. Oh well.

When I saw All Shook Up in June with a group of kids from my high school, I was excited to see the show. I enjoy Elvis. I came out basically the only one in the group who liked the show, because everyone was still wrapped up in the Wicked glow from earlier in the day. Also everyone was bitter because we didn't get tickets to see Chicago (I've seen it already three times). I was happy to see something different.

I saw Mamma Mia on tour when it came to our town. I was in a crap balcony seat and the sound system didn't work with the acoustics the auditorium already has. I thought it was fun and quirky. My mother (an avid ABBA fan and my Broadway buddy) loved it and had to take my father to see it in Las Vegas. Apparently it's better in Vegas... but I have to see it myself.

I personally have no bias going into any show. I came out of both shows saying "I wish I could do that." I liked both of the shows, but I lean towards All Shook Up a little bit more. I am sad to see it close. I wanted to take my mother to see it. Damn.

The first time I saw ASU I went in liking the way the music was handled on CD, but ended up loving the show on the way out. Cheyenne, Jenn and the rest of the cast were just so enjoyable and talented. The moment Cheyenne stepped on the stage-- I mean drove onto that stage, he had the audience in his hands. I went back in September just days before the announcement of its closing. I was just in awe, front row and I had cast members remembering me for yelling out lines and singing along at the right times... ASU is just awesome. Its sad it did close, it shouldnt have. Mamma Mia is just crap with a flimsy plot and annoying influence in music. But apparently a Swedish pop band had taken out the King.

"Abba Fans Unite"

Yeah on the Brooklyn Bridge, so ASU fans can push you off.