The national touring production of Mamma Mia! makes its latest stop in Oklahoma City through May 26th. Based on and featuring the music of the legendary disco-pop group ABBA, Mamma Mia! has been a crowd favorite since its debut in London in 1999.
The plot mostly serves as a vehicle to deliver the songs, as can be the case with many jukebox-style musicals. For clarification, a jukebox musical is a stage show that incorporates pre-released songs such as the hits featured here, as opposed to music written specifically for the show.
While the plot takes a backseat, it’s still fun and keeps the audience engaged. The hopeful, exuberant, and at times silly show features 20-year-old Sophie on the eve of her wedding.
For Sophie, growing up on a Greek island with a no-nonsense single mom, Donna has proven a unique childhood. But Sophie is grown now and ready to embark on her next chapter. Unbeknownst to her mother, Sophie discovers she has three potential fathers: Sam, Bill, and Harry. Sophie invites them all to her wedding, hoping that one clear winner will emerge just in time to walk her down the aisle.
As the wedding guests begin to arrive and reality sets in, Donna is taken aback by the sudden appearance of her former boyfriends. The wild ride that ensues will keep the audience guessing and rooting for the two heroines.
This story has stood the test of time, both for its iconic music and for its portrayal of the relationship between women and their daughters. It also beautifully illustrates the importance of friendships that are formed in youth and grow stronger with time.
The touring production features a new set and cast from previous OKC stops, so those who’ve seen this show before can return and experience something new. The recognizable tunes that permeate throughout the performance will have audiences tapping their toes and humming along all night.
A lengthy intermission (twenty minutes) provides a chance for patrons to visit the newly renovated bar. Each show at the Civic Center features a specialty cocktail and mocktail, and they’re both worth a try and keep the evening on theme.
Mamma Mia! features Emily Croft as Donna and Alisa Melendez as Sophie. The powerhouse vocalists make quite the dynamic pair. They both sing and dance with never-ending energy and vibrancy, making the difficult performance look effortless.
The ensemble dance numbers are complex and bring even more energy to the show. Choreographed by Anthony Van Laast, each musical number upstages the previous one, making the entire night one unforgettable moment after another.
The band steals the show, both in good ways and bad, several times throughout the performance. While the music is recognizable, it’s also distractingly loud and at times even startles the audience. It’s not often that a musical rocks the house quite like this one, and Mamma Mia! feels more like a concert than a Broadway show.
While this show is mostly family-friendly (a few mild jokes and sexual references are made), it’s the sheer volume of the band that may give parents pause in bringing children. Parents may consider bringing earplugs for children and themselves or sitting farther back for comfort.
There are moments when the instruments drown out the singers, and hopefully, this will be remedied in subsequent performances. The vocals are too good to miss.
The show is a hefty two-and-a-half hours of almost all singing and dancing, with a few bits of dialogue in between. However, it’s after final bows that the real party starts.
A post-show sing-along with the cast is a fun moment and the audience gets to stand up and sing and dance at the end of the performance. Before exiting the stage, the cast performs “Mamma Mia!” and “Dancing Queen” again, along with an additional song, the well-known ABBA hit “Waterloo”.
Mamma Mia! is a welcome return to this season’s lineup of stellar Broadway shows. With its nostalgic tunes and raucous band, it’s a fun show that is blaringly entertaining and will leave audiences singing, with a persistent smile and toe-tap, all the way home.
Tickets to the touring production of Mamma Mia! are on sale now and going fast. The show runs through Sunday, May 26th. Visit okcbroadway.com.
Adrienne Proctor is a theater and arts writer in Oklahoma City. She's been contributing to the arts reporting space since 2017.
