How did Mamma Mia get it right?- Page 2

[evic]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 5:46pm

It opened one month after 9/11-everyone needed a lift and a feel good experience.....ABBA music is international and great......that, aside from hideous choreography, blah direction and book, ugly sets and costumes.......and a directress named Phyllidia!,the lights and sound are great-

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 5:50pm

I've always wondered who the girl is in the logo.

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:00pm

Two of the original ABBA members (the men, I believe) helped create the show----kept the music arrangements true. That, plus the book (unfortunately, Movin Out doesn't have as strong a story line)seems to have helped this show----and it's a lot of fun.

[mominator]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:01pm

I'm with evic on this one. Mamma Mia opened a great fun filled feel good show, just when New York needed it the most. As sappy and silly as it is, you must admit it is FUN. I've seen it acouple of times and am ready to see it again.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:22pm

well granted, Movin' Out is still considered a success.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:37pm

For a show that just happens to string together twenty-something totally unrelated songs, I think Mamma Mia does a damn good job at being what it is: a fun, fluffy show and a nice escape from heavy drama and such. Plus, ordinary tourists see the ads and say, "Oh, I loved 'Dancing Queen', let's go see that one!" Erego, it's a financial hit.

[neocomposer]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:49pm

It's definitley all about the peole who are in New York for vacation. What are they gonna see?? Mamma Mia or something that's flashy and they heard about from their neighbor or on the news.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 7:33pm

Word of mouth is what's fueling "Mamma Mia!".

It's gotten rave reviews in practically every country but the USA, and people are falling all over themselves for tickets internationally, especially in London.

With all those people saying it's good, it figures that it'd do well. Plus, the grand majority of the public that are, for lack of a better word, uneducated as theatre goers. They enjoy it for its recognizable songs, upbeat energy and fun, and its great voices. (Carolee Carmello belting The Winner Takes it All is pretty awesome to anyone, especially those that aren't into the theatre scene.)

Also, it was the first. It seemed very new and clever, as nothing had been done quite like it before.

Eh, I enjoyed it.

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 7:41pm

I have seen Mamma Mia Twice. I saw it once in Providence and once in Baltimore. It is a fun show. Great music. Pretty simple story line, and you walk out feeling happy usually. So it is a show that doesn't have much depth and you can just enjoy! I think it is great!

How can you not have fun watching this show? Look at the picture lol.

Posted: 8/21/05 at 7:57pm

Mamma Mia was the first musical i ever saw-that i remember. i was around 10 when i saw it in London. i was IN LOVE with it, only cause i had an unknown love for musical theatre, then i saw other musicals-lion king, my fair lady- and then saw mamma mia again when i was around 12, and HATED it. now i can't stand it at all, the music makes me gag, ahhhhhhhhhhhh. i don't understand why it is still on broadway.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 7:58pm

"It opened one month after 9/11-everyone needed a lift and a feel good experience....."

This is probably very true, but do you honestly believe it explains why it is still doing 100% capacity every night, after 4 YEARS ??????

[Conor]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:07pm

I really liked it when I first saw it... it was only years later after much more exposure to theatre that I realized just how bad a show it was... I feel like for a lot of tourists lookign for a good time it will suffice but most people on this board obviously have been exposed to a lot of good theatre and see the show in a different light.

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:13pm

i had a teacher who liked to say, that in any given situation, you can be first, fabulous or fine - fine meaning adequate. mamma mia was just the first of the jukebox musicals- nothing to compare it to and no pre-existing prejudice, now people are annoyed with them so anything from now on would need to be so amazing (fabulous) to make a good impression with the critics.

good marketing helps too.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:20pm

Well, the notion of good theater is very subjective ! Mamma Mia is not intellectual, not thought provoking, not original, but to me it is good theater ! And before the intellectuals and the snobs attack me viciously, let me explain what I mean. It doesn't pretend and doesn't promise to be nothing else but pure, mindless FUN ! And it succeeds in every level ! And a show that delivers what it promises, is good theater ! Well, for me, anyway !

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:29pm

"doesn't pretend and doesn't promise to be nothing else but pure, mindless FUN"

i think this is the mantra of most jukebox musicals, they just dont all quite reach the goal...

[Conor]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:32pm

I have nothign against mindless fun. My favorite show right now is All Shook Up which many people would probably consider to fall in that category (though I woulnd't) I just find Mamma Mia lacking even in the mindless fun category. More mindless, less fun, but that's just my opinion, and I would never bash anyone else for enjoying a certain show, I'm glad to see others appreciating theatre.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:34pm

Yep, that's why I said that whichever delivers what it promises is good theater Not in the sense that it contributes anything to theater ART, but in the sense that it doesn't betray the paying public's expectation.

[Conor]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:45pm

well said Greekmusicfan

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 8:47pm

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 10:32pm

They have this amazing free marketing thing worked out.

The songs are so catchy everyone who sees the show sings one of them for weeks afterwards.

Someone overhears this and thinks 'Oh, ABBA, haven't heard that in awhile.'

A bit later, this person sees and ad for Mamma Mia! and thinks, 'Oh, a show based on the songs of ABBA. I was just thinking about ABBA the other day... can't remember why... maybe I should go see it!'

The cycle repeats.

[justme2]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 10:37pm

The ONLY reason I went to Mamma Mia was to see Dee Hoty on stage again. I went in dreading the show, and came out thinking that it wasn't bad at all.

In fact, (shudders), I had a good time.

[kate2]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 4:38pm

i think a lot of people go to mamma mia, not knowing what it really is, so their optomistic. But when people hear all shook up they think elvis biography and that could either turn people away or lure them in.

honestly, I'm 15, and had never heard of ABBA before like 2 years ago, but i've known elvis my whole life. Elvis is definately more popular than abba, and All Shook Up is an amazing show. i wish more people would give it a chance.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 5:15pm

I would think Lennon would be doing good as well considering he was a beatle, but who knows. I saw Dee Hoty like two years ago, I think, and it was my first time seeing a Bway show and I didn't think she was all that good. I didn't think her voice was right for the part at all.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 5:20pm

Because God has a twisted sense of humor.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 5:29pm

Marketing helps a ton. When I think of Mamma Mia!, I think of a touristy show. Though I can't judge it because I've never seen it, I think it does a great job with marketing the tourists to come in to town.

All Shook Up isn't marketing itself very well, and I think that's the problem. I think it can't really find an audience because it IS Elvis music, but it sounds a bit different with the arrangements and things. And then there are the people that don't like Elvis. I actually didn't want to see All Shook Up, and thought I wouldn't like it, but I went with a friend, LOVED it, and have seen it 12 times.