BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME – UNTIL SATURDAY 14TH MAY 2022.
REVIEWED BY NADIA DODD
5*****
I first saw this musical in London’s West End, Prince of Wales Theatre, way back in 2006 before the now smash hit film had hit the screens. I knew at the time that the show was based around ABBA hits but had no idea how a story could be built around them. How creator Judy Craymer has produced such a worldwide phenomenon is amazing.
The show is praised for it’s strong female characters, this would be because the classic song’s of ABBA are written from a female perspective, Judy is quoted to have said ‘Bjorn and Benny (from ABBA) wrote great songs for women’.
Personally I feel this musical is a coming of age love story. When Donna, played by Sara Poyzer, is preparing to give her only daughter away at her forthcoming wedding (Sophie, played by Jena Pandya), she is torn between losing her daughter to her son in law to be (Sky, played by Toby Miles) and also planning out her own future once Sophie settles into married life.
Donna has single handedly bought up Sophie from birth after not actually finding out who her father was – there appears to be three young men to choose from ! Sophie makes it her mission before her wedding to find out who her father actually is.
So many comedy moments in the show but I love the relationship that Donna has with her two oldest friends who travel out to the Greek Island for the wedding. Rosie (played by Nicky Swift) has you in stitches at some of her comedy moments closely followed by Tanya (played by Helen Anker) with her dry sense of humour and man eating attitude.
Costumes are bright and uplifting, the ensemble are perfectly in time during a wetsuit and flippers scene and of course if you know the ABBA hits you can’t actually stop yourself from joining in with them.
Last night’s standing ovation led to a mega mix of songs that the audience were more than happy to sing and have a boogie in the aisles to. I believe we should all thank ABBA for the music, it has been able to provide us with this musical that allows us to unleash the dancing queen inside us all.