How did Mamma Mia get it right? — Page 3

I really thought ASU would have been doing better after they appeared on Good Morning America. Their particular segment was at least 10 minutes long (or maybe longer) and for some reason the box office numbers have actually gone down since.

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You got it right-by now it is a phenomenon- I believe I read it will have the highest worldwide gross ever..... but the critics were especially kind to it- Clive Barnes, the Brit, would have given it a rave anyway as he does with all things British-but Brantley and others went out thier way to be nice..........

I think the biggest reason Mamma Mia worked while others didn't was the fact that people did NOT know a lot of the songs. Sure they knew the hits but I'll bet that, oustide of the biggest ABBA fans, no one knew Our Last Summer or Under Attack or probably 60% of the songs in the show.

That is a benefit because people don't already have their own personal "stories" attatched to the songs. A much larger group of people know all the "Lennon" songs by heart and probably view their presence in the play as being "out of context" to what they know. The same with Good Vibration and partucularly All Shook Up. You have to suspend what you think the songs mean to you to accept what they meant to the writers.

Although I went to see MAMA MIA when it first opened, it was purely to see Mark Price perform as Pepper. He was great! The show was "okay," but nothing special as to actually pay $100.00 to see it. (Someone else bought the tix.)

All of the reasons mentioned by everyone else have contributed to MAMA MIA's successful run. Pretty much, it was the first of its kind; timing is everything; good marketing; songs that resonate in your head afterward whether you want them to or not, advanced ticket sales due to the hype, tourists, etc.

I agree with Calvin that it appeals to more of a NY crowd than does ALL SHOOK UP. As it turns out, although I am from the area and visit the theatre often,I love ALL SHOOK UP and consider it a much better show than MM. ALL SHOOK UP has to fight the negative connotation that comes with being called a juke box musical. Although it came later, it is a much better show than MM which escapes the negative by being the first which makes it a novelty.

When I saw MM, the audience was filled with largely male couples and middle aged ladies who rocked back and forth with the songs during the show, and later rocked and clapped nonstop during the neverending finale concert. These are ticket buying audiences, hence the show goes on and on.

Hopefully soon, audiences will wake up and support shows because they want to see them for themselves and not just because the show was given a kind review. Reviews are only someone else's opinion. People should spend their money on shows of their own choosing, rather than what the critics tell them to see. If that were the case, then ALL SHOOK UP and my other current favorite, LENNON, would get the numbers and positive feedback they deserve.