Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical based on Abba’s songs and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The musical’s plot has nothing to do with the group’s story, even though it is named after the group’s 1975 hit, “Mamma Mia.” The musical includes other Abba songs like “Super Trouper,” “Dancing Queen,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” “Thank You for the Music,” “Money Money Money,” “The Winner takes it All,” “Voulez Vous,” “I Have a Dream,” and “SOS.” As of July 2003, it had been seen by over 10 million people worldwide; and as of 2007, the number was 30 million. Since it opened in 1999, it has earned $2 billion, making it the most successful musical ever. There will be a movie version of Mamma Mia!, which will star Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep scheduled to be released in summer 2008.

The idea of using Abba’s songs in a musical format started with the French TV production of Abbacadabra in 1983, which was done as a tribute to the group. It was a children’s musical about school children venturing into another world and meeting fairytale figures such as Cinderella, Pinocchio, Aladdin, Snow White and others along the way. The songs were redone with French lyrics and some got phonetic “translations.” The musical was broadcast on French TV at the same time as the English stage version opened in London. The London show played to full houses over the 8-week engagement at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre over Christmas 1983.

The musical’s story takes place on a fictional Greek island, where Donna owns and manages a tavern that caters to locals and tourists. Her daughter, Sophie is engaged to a man named Sky and always wanted to know about her father, but Donna doesn’t want to discuss her past. Sophie finds Donna’s old diary and reads entries where Donna describes intimate dates with three men. Sophie thinks one of these men is her father and sends all of them invitations to her wedding, unbeknownst to her mother. The men arrive a few weeks later: Harry “Head Banger” Bright, Bill Austin and Sam Carmichael, who each has quirks. Harry is a geeky British banker with a distinctive laugh; Bill is a stereotypical Australian traveler; and Sam is an American architect who had an affair with Donna while engaged to another woman. Donna has invited two old friends: Tanya, who is a rich woman who was married and divorced three times, and Rosie, who is unmarried and likes to have fun. They all made up the singing group “Donna and the Dynamos” twenty years ago.

At first, Sophie thinks Bill is her father because his aunt Sophia left a large inheritance for family. Donna told her she was named after a Sophia and that she used inheritance money to build the tavern. Sophie decides to ask Bill to give her away and he agrees. Soon after, Harry and Sam figure out what’s happening and both approach Sophie. Each of them thinks they’ll be giving Sophie away. Sophie then sends each man a note saying Donna will be giving her away instead. She and Sky are reconsidering their marriage because they don’t think they know each other as well as they should. Sam confronts Donna about possibly being Sophie’s father. Donna tells him she’s glad she raised Sophie alone without a man’s “help.” As this scene goes on, it is more and more evident that the two are still unwillingly and desperately in love and neither is happy about it. At the wedding, all men finally realize that Sophie’s paternity is undetermined, but none of them cares because they are happy to be a part of her life at last, even if it is as “one-thirds of a father” and Sophie loves each of them. Sophie and Sky announce they have decided to not get married yet. Donna and Sam get married instead because they didn’t want the preparations go to waste. Rosie and Bill become attracted to each other in the mean time. Harry, it is revealed, is in a committed relationship with a man named Laurence (Nigel in some productions and Peter in the Russian one). At the end, Sophie and Sky leave the Greek island and travel the world together. If you want to see this exciting production of Abba songs, get your tickets now!