Overview
My my, how can you resist this? MAMMA MIA! The Musical is bringing its Greek-set onstage party back to Australia in 2023 — and if you're a musical fan, an ABBA devotee or perennially keen to indulge in 70s nostalgia, you'll want to be there. By now, the hit production is well-known around the world, including from previous Aussie runs. It has spawned not one but two movies, too. And, its tale of a young bride-to-be's quest to find her father before her wedding will liven up Sydney Lyric from next autumn.
So far, only a Sydney season has been locked in for MAMMA MIA! The Musical's Australian return, starting in May 2023. For folks outside the Harbour City, cross your fingers that this restaging of the popular 2017 production will also take its romantic chaos and 22 ABBA tracks around the country — or, you'll need to take a chance on a Sydney trip.
Here we go again with one of the biggest jukebox musical hits of the past quarter-century, as seen by over 65 million people worldwide so far.
The story, as theatre audiences have enjoyed since 1999, follows 20-year-old Sophie, who is about to marry her fiancé Sky on the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi. It's her dream for her dad to walk her down the aisle, but courtesy of her mother Donna's old diary, she learns that her father could be one of three men: Sam Carmichael, Bill Austin or Harry Bright.
Calling all dancing queens, obviously — with that track, the titular number, and everything from 'Money, Money, Money', 'Thank You for the Music', 'Super Trouper' and 'The Name of the Game' to 'SOS', 'Does Your Mother Know', 'Waterloo' and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' featuring (and 'Take a Chance on Me', 'The Winner Takes It All' and, of course, 'I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do', too).
The new Australian run hails from producers Michael Coppel, Louise Withers and Linda Bewick, plus Helpmann Award-winning director Gary Young, choreographer Tom Hodgson and musical supervisor Stephen Amos.
Exactly who'll be playing Sophie, Donna, Sam, Bill and Harry hasn't yet been revealed — but if you already know and love the show and the soundtrack, that won't matter.
MAMMA MIA! The Musical plays Sydney Lyric from May 2023, with tickets on sale from Thursday, November 24. For further details or to join the waitlist, head to the production's website.
Images: James D Morgan.