It is surprising that the original Mamma Mia! ran merely 14 years on Broadway. Seeing and especially hearing once again the ABBA-driven musical at the Winter Garden, where its gleaming package of platinum hits first opened in late 2001, it is a wonder the show ever closed.
Those upbeat, insistent rhythms and otherwise radiant charms of the potpourri score assembled from a catalog of beloved 1970s–80s pop standards by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (some songs with Stig Anderson) remain pretty much irresistibly appealing to middle-aged (and older) ticket buyers. Many grew up on this global ear candy. Catherine Johnson’s clever script blends two dozen ABBA songs into a light story about a single mom, her altar-bound daughter, and a who’s-my-dad dilemma that’s about as sweet and substantial as a slice of wedding cake.
Arriving on Thursday, Mamma Mia! is not a fresh production, but a national tour edition that began its travels in 2023 and is booked for a six-month visit here. Phyllida Lloyd (director), Anthony Van Laast (choreographer), Mark Thompson (production designer), Howard Harrison (lighting designer), and Martin Koch (musical supervisor) are the leading creatives who devised the smash-hit original.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
If memory serves, their collective artistry seems—more or less—duplicated for this capably performed roadshow-type attraction. On the lesser end, the setting for a modest inn and nearby locations on a small Greek island obviously is built to tour. It consists of a few whitewashed units rolled into different configurations by stagehands and set against abstract backdrops often drenched in bold colors. As for the more side of this event, its highly enthusiastic company tends to put the broad in Broadway performing. Then again, Mamma Mia! is scarcely meant to be subtle entertainment, is it? Just watch those chorus kids march onstage in wet suits and flippers for the wacky “Lay All Your Love on Me” dance number.
Although one might like to see at least one above-title star performer in a jukebox show on its second Broadway stint (at Broadway prices), the leading players here certainly deliver favorable impressions. After a tentative beginning, Christine Sherrill soon warms up in voice and spirits as Donna, the former disco diva and presently harried mama of the bride. Amy Weaver breezes along as said child about to wed a nice fellow neatly done by Grant Reynolds. Donna’s musical sidekicks from yesteryear pop up in the contrasting forms of a sleek, fleek Jalynn Steele and the cheery, robust Carly Sakolove. The trio of possible dads is played agreeably by Jim Newman as the author, Rob Marnell as the British banker, and Victor Wallace as the architect. Everybody does well vocally by their numbers, often sweetened by the offstage voices of the ensemble—and at times by ABBA fans among the audience.
The sound designers turn up the volume to loud, but not painfully so; the nine musicians in the orchestra pit provide a happy semblance of that distinctively stainless, steely, Swedish ABBA sound; and their hits just keep on coming. Make sure to stick around for the megamix finale of reprises crowned by “Waterloo.”
Mamma Mia! opened Aug. 14, 2025, at the Winter Garden Theatre and runs through Feb. 1, 2026. Tickets and information: mammamiabway.com
