ABBA's music rarely fails to get toes tapping and it is no different in this latest incarnation of Mamma Mia!, which has just opened at Auckland's Civic Theatre.
Auckland Music Theatre's production of this much-loved musical is big and bright – but the standard warnings about lycra and high-pitched giggles still apply!
The star of the show is Kiwi export Delia Hannah as Donna, a hotelier on a Greek island on the brink of a mid-life crisis thanks to the impending marriage of her 20-year-old daughter.
Hannah's exceptional acting brings an added dimension to ballads like 'One of Us' and 'Slipping Through My Fingers', and her dynamic voice soars in the pop numbers too.
She is strongly (and comically) supported by Jackie Clarke and Minouk van der Velde in the ugly stepsister-type roles of Rosie and Tanya – Donna's two best friends who descend on the island in a flurry of botox, young Greek men and the anthem 'Dancing Queen'.
Trailing in their wake are Donna's old flames Sam, Harry and Bill – all awkwardly loveable, and all possibly the father of Donna's daughter Sophie, played by the earnest and angelic-voiced Aimee Gray.
The older cast members stand head and shoulders above the rest but what the young chorus lacks in finesse it makes up for in energy, delivering the perpetual hits with gusto. The wetsuited, flippered 'Lay All Your Love On Me' was a highlight.
Opening night saw teething problems with dangly earrings clanging against microphones and some visible nerves in the younger leads, but these will no doubt be ironed out during the show's three-week run.
Mamma Mia! is a fun night out and a great opportunity to see local talent on the grand Civic stage.
And please, don't be too cool and refuse to boogie during the curtain call like the audience in the stalls last night – you know you want to.
Mamma Mia! plays at the Civic Theatre until March 23. It will then be performed by local casts in other cities around New Zealand.
3 News
source: newshub archive
