Mom mia 1 year of creation. What is “Mamma Mia!”: The story of a musical. Foreword by judy krymer

The group gained fame in 1974 with a victory on the song "Waterloo". Now, even many years later, there are few people who have not heard at least something about this group. And this is not surprising, because the collective has recorded countless hits! The love for the band was called "ABBA-mania" and it spread all over the world! Over 350 million album copies sold ABBA... Despite the fact that the group ceased its activities almost 25 years ago, so far no pop star has come close to the popularity of the legendary quartet.

Over the implementation of the idea to stage a musical based on the songs of the group ABBA Producer Judy Kramer worked for 10 years. In 1995, Judy received official consent from the composers of music Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus to begin work on the creation of the play. The result is a modern, ironic, romantic comedy. The plot features two main lines: a love story and a relationship between two generations. The world premiere took place in London in 1999. The play, then staged in English, German, Japanese, Dutch, Korean, Spanish and Swedish, is an unwavering success around the world.

The success of the musical can be explained simply: the plot is interweaving of comedic situations, which are emphasized by cheerful music ABBA, original costumes and witty dialogues of the characters. 22 hits in an impeccable professional performance, including “Dancing Queen”, “Money Money Money”, “Take a Chance on Me”, “The Winner Takes It All”, “Mamma Mia!”. The heroes are ordinary people, the performance is understandable and interesting to the audience, regardless of nationality and occupation. Every day more than 18,000 people around the world attend the musical. During the entire period of the show, the performance was staged in 140 cities. More than 27 million - the total number of viewers around the world who attended the musical.

The plot of "Mamma Mia!"

Young girl Sophie is going to get married and really wants the wedding ceremony to go according to all the rules. She dreams of inviting her father to the wedding, so that he leads her to the altar. But she doesn't know who he is since her mother Donna never talked about him. Fortunately Sophie finds a diary of a mother in which she describes a relationship with three men. Here Sophie and decides to send invitations to all three! And all the fun begins to happen when everyone comes to the wedding ...

Mamma Mia! Is a musical written by screenwriter Catherine Johnson based on songs from the Swedish pop group ABBA. The show's name comes from one of their 1975 greatest hits. Bjorn Ulveus and the original music writers and former members of this renowned quartet were initially involved in the creation of the musical.

Since debuting in 1999, the show has grossed $ 2 billion and has seen over 60 million viewers. In July 2008, Mama Mia was released starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, and Stellan Skarsgard. The film grossed $ 609.8 million on a budget of $ 52 million.

Musical basis

The peak of fame for the ABBA quartet came in 1972-1982. The group was considered the most renowned international pop performer of all time. She topped the charts in Europe, North and South America, Australia year after year. 22 of the most famous songs are included in the musical, among them: Mamma Mia, Super Trouper, Lay All Your Love on Me, Dancing Queen, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Take a Chance on Me, Thank You for the Music, Money, Money, Money , The Winner Takes It All, Voulez-Vous, SOS. After the London premiere of the musical performance in 1999, ABBA's gold hit collection once again topped the UK's most popular song list.

History of creation

This music show is the brainchild of producer Judy Kramer. In 1983, she met composers Bjorn Ulveus and Benny Andersson while they were working with poetry writer Tim Rice on Chess, a staged song show. Their collaborative work The Winner Takes It All inspired Judy to bring the band's hits into theatrical production. As she herself said, "their songs are very suitable for the theatrical stage, they seem to already constitute a finished musical."

Bjorn and Benny showed little enthusiasm, but they weren't against Kramer's idea either. In 1997, Judy commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the script for the musical, and in 1998 invited Phyllida Lloyd to direct the show.

Plot

On one of the many Greek islands, Donna owns a small old tavern with hotel rooms. She is a single mother and her twenty-year-old daughter Sophie is getting married. The musical begins the day before the wedding. Sophie meets two friends who have come to the celebration and tells them her secret plan. She figured out who her father is supposed to be. Not so long ago, the girl found an old diary of her mother, where she mentioned three short-term novels that followed one after the other, as a result of which Donna became pregnant. Wanting her father to lead her down the altar, but not knowing who he was, Sophie sent out wedding invitations to all three of her mother's ex-boyfriends. At the same time, the girl signed up to Donna. The whole uncomplicated plot revolves around this intrigue.

Donna also meets her best friends: the author of the culinary bestseller and "lone wolf" Rosie, as well as three times married, but again free millionaire Tanya. Once the three of them made up a pop group, and they have something to remember about their turbulent youth.

At the same time, Sam Carmichael, Harry Bright and Bill Anderson, Sophie's three alleged fathers, arrive on the island. They don’t realize that Donna didn’t invite them. And she, in turn, is in the dark that they were called by her daughter, who knows the secret of her mother's long-standing frivolity. Donna is alarmed by the stay of her former lovers on the island. After all, as she confesses to her friends, she herself does not know which of them is Sophie's father.

On the last evening before the wedding, Sky, Sophie's fiancé, goes to the bachelor party, and the bride has her own cheerful company of girls gathered in the tavern. At the bachelorette party, Donna, Tanya and Rosie are rehearsing their long-standing repertoire. Gradually, first Sam, Harry and Bill join the women's society, and then all the brothers of Skye's friends. The scene of general fun is the most incendiary, energetic and massive episode of the musical, all the actors of “Mama Mia” are involved in it. Each of the three men finally realizes that they are Sophie's father, but they are unaware of the other two applicants who are ready to accompany the girl to the altar tomorrow.

On the wedding day, there are several scenes with a showdown and reconciliation. And it all ends with a wedding, but not Skye and Sophie (they decided to postpone and travel a little before), but Donna and Sam Carmichael, whose love, as it turned out, did not subside all the past years.

Debut in London

The production premiered on 6 April 1999 at the Prince Edward Theater in London's West End. Then, on June 9, 2004, the play was performed at the Theater of the Prince of Wales, where it ran until September 2012, after which the show was presented at the Novello Theater.

Director Phyllida Lloyd worked well with choreographer Anthony Van Laast, set designer Mark Thompson and the original cast of Mama Mia: Siobana McCarthy, Lisa Stokke and Hilton McRae. The success of the performance was overwhelming.

Show in North America

The first city to produce the show after London was Toronto, Canada. The musical debuted at the Theater Royal Alexandra in May 2000, where it ran for five years. The first line-up has changed actors, and the roles in "Mama Mia" are now played: Donna - Louise Pitre, and Sophie - Tina Maddigan. They also starred in the first Broadway productions.

Mamma Mia Premiere! in the USA took place at the Orpheus Theater (San Francisco) on November 17, 2000. Then the show moved to Los Angeles and Chicago. Finally, on October 18, 2001, the musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater. Two original Broadway productions were produced, permanently directed by Phyllida Lloyd and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast: a regular performing at the Winter Garden and a touring company. The traveling musical with the new cast of Mama Mia has appeared in all major cities in the United States, outside the country, on other continents and even on cruise ships. In June 2005, the tour celebrated its 1000th performance in Las Vegas. The clothes and decorations for this performance are now in use in Brazil.

The stationary production on Broadway played 5,773 performances before the show closed. In April 2013, it was announced that the cast of Mama Mia would move from their permanent Winter Garden location to the Broadhurst Theater to make way for the musical adaptation of Rocky. From November 2013 to September 12, 2015 the musical was staged at the Broadhurst Theater, after which the piece was closed.

As of October 2017 Mamma Mia! is ranked ninth among long-lived Broadway musicals and ranked first as the longest-running performance.

World representations

The show has staged 11 original performances, two of which are for touring troupes international and the United States. Since its premiere in Dublin on September 9, 2004, the international tour has traveled to over 74 cities in 35 countries, presenting the performance to over 5 million viewers. An unforgettable impression was made by the performance of the most famous actors of the musical "Mama Mia", and Helen Hobson especially shone in the role of Donna.

The musical has been translated into 22 languages, original and independent performances have taken place in more than 50 countries, 130 major cities on all six continents. The performances were attended by more than 20 thousand viewers every day, weekly box office receipts were at least $ 8 million and in eight years exceeded the total amount of 1.6 billion. Over 60 million people saw the show around the world, and it set a record in the history of theater: in the shortest time of the premiere of Mamma Mia! passed in as many cities as possible.

The sound recording of the London premiere production was certified platinum in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Korea. And the status of a gold album was awarded in Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand.

Russian production

In 2006, the show started on October 14 at the Moscow Youth Palace. The success exceeded all expectations. Every day, playing eight performances a week, the star cast of the musical "Mama Mia" in Moscow invariably received a standing ovation from the audience. For two theatrical seasons, over 600,000 people admired the play presented by Elena Charkviani, Natalia Koretskaya, Andrey Klyuev, Andrey Birin, Elvina Mukhutdinova, Vladimir Khalturin, Dmitry Golovin. And Natalia Bystrova was named by Bjorn Ulveus and Benny Andersson the best Sophie in the world.

Mamma Mia! in the Russian history of musical theaters he set several records. For 20 months, almost 700 shows of the play took place. The economic success has exceeded any box office gains from previous musical performances. It was the longest running daily show ever.

After a long break from May 2008 to October 2012, the musical again appeared on the stage of MDM. This time, the cast of "Mama Mia" was partially changed, and the technical performance was somewhat simplified.

Film version

Filming Mamma Mia! began in the summer of 2007. The producer and creator of the musical performance, Judith Kramer, said that after the show's first performances in London and on Broadway, many asked if its film version would be filmed. To protect the musical, Judith had no intention of selling the rights to it. Around 2005, the creative team of founders of Mamma Mia! decided it was time to shoot a film and started the preparatory process. It was possible to preserve all the lightness of the incendiary atmosphere, the very essence and spirit of the theatrical musical, which ultimately brought the film a huge success.

Musical concept designer Judith Cramer, director Phyllida Lloyd and screenwriter Catherine Johnson are the main creators and driving force behind this project. They created a story about middle-aged women who are given a second chance to love, have fun, just be happy. Therefore, the actors for the role of the film "Mama Mia" were selected in accordance with the idea of ​​a warm, relaxed, somewhat anarchic atmosphere, in which frivolous fun and humor reign.

Main performers

Meryl Streep took over as Donna Sheridan, while Pierce Brosnan joined her as Sam Carmichael. Colin Firth (Harry Bright) and (Bill Anderson) play two other possible fathers for Sophie, brilliantly played by Amanda Seyfried. Two characteristic images of Donna's friends were irresistibly conveyed: Tanya - Christine Baranski, and Rosie - Julie Walters. These actors of the film "Mama Mia" and the corps de ballet of the Swedish production of the musical that starred in it constitute the main core, soul and mood of the film.

Non-Singing Actors Musical

Despite the fact that many professional singers auditioned for the roles, including participants in theatrical productions of Mamma Mia !, almost the entire selection of the main characters consists of non-singing and non-dancing actors. This caused some confusion among the reviewers. Because, probably, the BBC filmmaker Mark Kermode in an interview on Radio 5 Live, although he admitted that he enjoyed watching the film, called the vocal performance of the actors "drunken karaoke." But the filmmakers sought the unprofessional performance of musical numbers from the main actors of the movie "Mama Mia". Their goal was the seeming spontaneity, the spontaneity with which, like children in a summer camp, adults have fun. Perhaps, thanks to this very selection of performers, the film turned out to be so touching, lively and perky.

Donna's singer Meryl Streep took opera singing lessons as a child, and has had to sing in several films throughout her diverse acting career. Amanda Seyfried has a sweet natural voice that matches Sophie so well. These two actresses were recognized by critics as quite suitable for participation in a musical film. Most of the kicks went to Pierce Brosnan. The Philadelphia Inquirer called the singing of the former James Bond donkey nonsense, and The Miami Herald compared it to a wounded raccoon.

And yet the vocal episodes were performed exclusively by the film actors themselves. In addition, many songs begin with a version recorded directly on the set, and only after the first lines a studio recording is superimposed. This technique gave the songs a genuine sincerity and the impression of a dialogue with words going from heart to heart.

World recognition

The success of the film version did not yield to its theatrical prototype. Mamma Mia !, with a total gross of $ 609.8 million, became the fifth-highest grossing film in 2008. It also peaked at ninth place as the highest grossing film ever in the UK. When it was released on July 3 in Greece, the film grossed $ 1.6 million over the weekend, reaching number one at the Greek box office. $ 9.6 million hit the box office of the day of the premiere in the United States and Canada.

In 2008, the film "Mama Mia" with photos of the actors on the bright cover became the best-selling DVD in the UK, where 1,669,084 copies were sold on the first day of release. In the United States, DVD revenue exceeded $ 30 million on its first day of release. By December 31, 2008 Mamma Mia! became the most requested DVD in Sweden with 545,000 copies sold.

Unlike theatrical musical, the film won several prestigious awards: Golden Globe for Best Musical Film and Best Actress (Meryl Streep). And Judy Kramer was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best British Producer Debut.

The show goes on

On May 19, 2017, it was announced that the sequel to Mamma Mia! with a scheduled release date of July 20, 2018. Amanda Seyfried will play Sophie again. Meryl Streep, Brosnan, Firth, Skarsgard, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski also return to their roles. was approved to portray young Donna, and Jeremy Irwin and Alexa Davis will play young Sam and Rosie.

We still have the richest repertoire. Which of their songs will be used in the film and will the sequel be as entertaining as the story of a decade ago? All that remains is to look forward to the return of Mamma Mia! and hope the filmmakers won't let you down.

On October 14, the next premiere will take place at the Moscow House of Youth. Following such well-known performances as "The Cats", "Queen" and "Nottre Damme de Paris", residents of the capital will be able to see the musical "Mamma Mia".

The idea for an original performance based on songs by ABBA belongs to producer Judy Krammer. Together with former ABBA members and group composers Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulveus. The song The Winner Takes It All marked the beginning of a future musical. As the producer himself admits, an emotional composition telling the story of relationships, finding and losing love immediately drew the plot of the production in her mind

In January 1997, screenwriter Catherine Johnson (a famous playwright) was found, work on the production was in full swing. It was co-produced by Richard East.

If you carefully listen to ABBA's work, you will notice that all the songs are divided into two broad categories: a little youthful, funny - such as Honey, Honey and Dancing Queen, and more mature, emotional - for example, The Winner Takes It All and Knowing Me, Knowing You. Thus, staged in parallel with the love story, the idea of ​​another storyline arose - the relationship between generations.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, the three women created their first musical together, and the result is a cheerful, ironic, romantic comedy that has absolutely nothing to do with ABBA itself.

The plot of the performance is an interweaving of comedic situations, which are emphasized by the cheerful music of ABBA, original costumes and witty dialogues of the characters.

The action takes place on a sunny Greek island. A young girl, Sophie, is about to get married and dreams that the ceremony will be held according to all the rules. She wants to invite her father to the wedding so that he can take her to the altar. But she doesn't know who he is, since her mother Donna never spoke about him. Sophie finds her mother's diary, in which she describes a relationship with three men. Sofia decides to send invitations to all three!

The premiere took place on April 6, 1999, it was the anniversary of ABBA - exactly 25 years ago (1974) the Swedish quartet won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Waterloo.

In London, the show was very popular. Then, in May 2000, it premiered in Toronto. At the end of 2000, Mamma Mia was delivered to San Francisco.

In the summer of 2001 in Melbourne, and in October it premiered on Broadway.

The musical features 22 ABBA songs: Honey, Honey | Money, Money, Money | Thank You for the Music | Mamma Mia | Chiquitita | Dancing Queen | Lay All Your Love on Me | Super Trouper | Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! | The Name of the Game | Voulez-Vous | Under Attack | One of Us | S. O. S. | Does Your Mother Know | Knowing Me, Knowing You | Our Last Summer | Slipping Through My Fingers | The Winner Takes It All | Take a Chance on Me | I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do | I have a dream

These songs are artfully woven into the storyline and are perceived in a completely new way than in the original performance of ABBA.

Over the years, the musical based on ABBA's songs has become one of the highest grossing productions in the world. It has been shown in more than 60 cities in America, and the main troupe is constantly on tour. Versions soon followed in German, Japanese, Dutch, Korean, Spanish and Swedish. And now in Russian. We will try to be the first to evaluate the new production and of course we will tell you about all its pros and cons.

Description

There are 11 performances of the show: 8 stationary (Hamburg, Las Vegas, London, Madrid, New York, Osaka, Stockholm,) and 2 traveling (US tour and international tour). [ ]

The Russian premiere of the musical took place on October 14, 2006 at the Moscow Palace of Youth (MDM). I went 8 times a week for two seasons. For 20 months, more than 700 performances were played, which were attended by more than 600,000 spectators. The closing date was scheduled for April 30, 2008, but at the request of Mamma Mia viewers, the show was extended until May 25, 2008. The musical became the most successful in the history of Russian show business, setting a record in box-office fees and in popularity.

4.5 years later, after three other musicals, the Mamma Mia show at MDM was resumed on October 27, 2012. Some of the old actors returned to the 2012 production (Elena Charkviani and Natalya Koretskaya as Donna, Andrey Klyuev as Sam, Andrey Birin as Sky, Dmitry Golovin as Pepper, Vladimir Khalturin as Bill, Elvina Mukhutdinova as Rosy), while many new artists appeared (Anastasia Makeeva as Donna, Antonina Berezka and Maria Ivashchenko as Sophie, Vadim Michman and Kirill Zaporozhsky as Sky, Maxim Zausalin and Igor Portnoy as Harry, Eteri Beriashvili as Rosi).

On March 14-16, 2013, special performances with a "golden" cast were held, in which, in addition to Elena Charkviani and Andrey Klyuev, Natalia Bystrova was invited, who played the role of Sophie in 2006-2008, "the best Sophie in the world" according to the members of the ABBA group. In addition, Natalia played several performances in April.

From October 19 to November 16, 2013, the musical was screened in St. Petersburg on the stage of the Music Hall.

Plot

Act 1

The action takes place on the Greek island of Skopelos, where a tavern is located, run by the imperious and demanding Donna Sheridan. Late at night, her 20-year-old daughter Sophie secretly sends invitations to her wedding to three men: Sam Carmichael, Harry Bright and Bill Austin ( My dream). On the appointed day, her friends, Ali and Lisa, arrive, to whom Sophie reveals a secret: when she is going to marry her beloved Skye, she dreams that the ceremony will take place according to all the rules, and for this she lacks the smallest thing - to take her to the altar same father, which is exactly the problem, since Sophie does not have a father. 20 years ago, Donna, herself not much older than her daughter, gave birth to her out of wedlock and to all Sophie's questions she answered only one thing: her father does not know anything about her, because they separated long before Donna realized that she was pregnant. But by chance Sophie found Donna's diary, which she kept in the year of her birth, and found out that she had alternately had three novels that could lead to the birth of Sophie - with Sam, Bill and Harry. Sophie finds these people and sends them wedding invitations, but she writes the invitations on behalf of her mother. She does not inform Donna herself ( Darling, darling).

In turn, Donna herself invites to the wedding of the daughter of her old fighting friends - Tanya and Rosie, who were once her backing vocalists in their pop group Donna and Dinamos. Unlike Donna, they have no children, but Tanya has three marriages and a millionth fortune on her account, and Rosie is not married at all, but she is still just as cheerful and easy-going. Meanwhile, it becomes clear that Donna's hotel business is going through hard times ( Money, Money, Money). Later that day, Sam (an American architect), Harry (a British banker) and Bill (an Australian naturalist) arrive. Sophie convinces them not to tell Donna that she invited them ( Thank you for the songs). Donna is surprised to see her former lovers ( Mamma mia) and leaves in tears. Crying, she explains to Tanya and Rosie the situation and they cheer her up ( Chiquitita), trying to convince Donna that she can still be the same as when she was young ( Dancing queen).

Sophie, meanwhile, is confused: she hoped that she would immediately recognize her father as soon as she saw him, which is not happening. She tries to tell Sky how she feels from all this, to which Sky tells her that he will be the only person she will need ( Just give me love). At Sophie's bachelorette party "Donna and Dinamos", putting on their old costumes, they decide to shake the old one and perform their songs ( Super troupe). Sam, Bill and Harry accidentally walk into the party and the guests persuade them to stay ( Give! Give! Give! (I meet a man)). Sophie calls the "fathers" one by one for conversations, and here interesting details come to light. It turns out that Bill had a deceased rich Greek aunt, who, after Sophie was born, took Donna to her as a nurse and in gratitude bequeathed to her all her money, which Donna used to build a tavern, but Harry sketched the plan of the tavern as a joke.

Ultimately, when the three find out that Sophie does not have a father, it dawns on them that this father could be one of them. Although Sophie asks them not to tell Donna anything ( What is this game), each of the three volunteers to lead Sophie to the altar. Confused and therefore very upset, Sophie leaves the party ( Voulez-Vous).

Act 2

Sophie has a nightmare in which Bill, Sam and Harry fight for the right to lead her to the altar ( I'm under fire). Sophie is upset and Donna, assuming that Sophie wants to cancel the wedding, offers to sort out all the details. In response, Sophie is offended and says that her children, at least, will not grow up fatherless. When she leaves the room, Sam comes to talk to Donna about Sophie, but Donna doesn't want to listen to him ( Somebody). On the one hand, she hates Sam, because he was having an affair with her, being already engaged, which is why they parted with almost a scandal. But now she admits that of the whole trinity she loved him the most, after which both admit that they would like to try to renew their former love ( S.O.S.).

On the beach, Harry asks Tanya what the bride's father usually has to do at his daughter's wedding. Tanya explains that her father gave money. After that, Pepper, a young guy working in Donna's tavern, tries to drive up to her, but she rejects him ( If mom doesn't mind). Sky finds out why Sophie invited the trinity, and, upset that she did not let him in on her plans, accuses her of self-interest: in his opinion, she threw a wedding just to find out who her father is. After that, Sam comes to Sophie and tries to give his father's advice, describing his unsuccessful marriage ( Knowing everything, knowing us), but Sophie is not comforted. Harry comes to Donna and offers to pay for the entire wedding, after which they remember their romance ( This summer). Sophie comes to Donna and asks to help her put on her wedding dress. During this, Sophie finds out the sad truth: her grandmother disowned Donna when she found out about the flight, which is why Donna and her daughter settled in Greece. And although Donna says that she has no regrets that everything turned out this way, Sophie is forced to admit that whoever her biological father was, he did not do anything for her that Donna did, and decides: to her altar Donna should lead ( Eluding me again).

Sam comes and tries to talk to Donna again, but she does not want to see him and asks to leave. He refuses, to which Donna reminds him how badly he broke her heart ( Whoever won is right). It turns out they still love each other dearly, albeit against Donna's better judgment. Rosie is making the final preparations in the tavern (the wedding will be held in the tavern) when a frustrated Bill arrives, who finds out that Donna will lead Sophie to the altar. He states that he is constantly alone, but he is attracted by Rosie, who encourages him to reconsider his views on life ( Test me). Guests gather, Donna leads Sophie to the altar. But before the priest has a chance to begin the ceremony, Donna confesses to everyone in the audience about the presence of Sophie's father. And although Sophie herself admits that she knows this, for which she invited the trinity, she learns another unexpected truth: Donna herself has no idea which of them is her father - the intervals between the novels were so short that it was impossible to find out. All participants in the story agree that the affiliation of the father does not matter, since Sophie loves all three, and they themselves are happy to be at least one third of her father. Finally, Harry, who has often referred to his "other half" throughout the show, admits that he is a man.

Suddenly, Sophie ends the wedding and admits that she is not ready to get married. Sam takes his chance and confesses to Donna that he fell in love with her 20 years ago and ended his engagement. He returned to Greece, but found that Donna was already having an affair with another (Bill), after which he nevertheless married his original bride, had children, but eventually divorced. Donna forgives him ( Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah). In the finale, Sam and Donna get married, and Sophie and Skye go on a world tour ( My dream) .

For so long I dreamed of writing a review of the musical "Mama Mia!" I will say right away and honestly that I watched the musical for a long time. Long before the release, looking through the trailer, I firmly decided that I would go, and readily kept my promise. As befits, I did not go to the film alone, but with a pre-prepared charge of good mood, excellent friends and, as it should be "by law" with popcorn ... and I was not mistaken.

Well, I'll move on to a small lyrical digression.

There are a number of mistakes in the writing of reviews (in particular, in the assignment of grades) and one of them is the "placing" of films under the general standard, that is, each film has completely different tasks and you need to be able to "differentiate" them. It is categorically unacceptable to compare different films in the same way. There are many different genres of films and each should impress the viewer. For example: psychological films should carry a hidden meaning, the truth to which a person “reaches” himself, and when going to a particular film, a person should be aware of what exactly, he should expect from him, and not bring it under the general framework. The main task of "Mama Mia!" was to cheer me up at any cost, to make me feel the happiest in the world. And she coped with this task with complete success!

"Mom Mia!"- first of all, the musical, undoubtedly the main highlight and at the same time the difficulty is singing live (the musical is completely based on songs "Abba"). Not every actor has good vocal abilities, and even more so he can perform the songs of "Abba". As you know, the texts of the group are very primitive, we can say that almost everyone who is just starting to learn English will be able to understand the words, of course not all, but most of the words for sure. This is not the band's strongest point, music has always been considered its strong point. The music is quite complex and not as easy to perform as it seems at first glance. But the actors coped with this task brilliantly, except ... But more on that later.

So, I think it's worth getting to know the actors in a nutshell.

Looking at the poster, you can understand that the main role is played by an inimitable Meryl Streep... What can you say? She just goddess or star, whoever you like. She really has a rare talent, her acting is so lively, emotional that you involuntarily begin to feel and worry with her, and her voice is a separate topic. During the entire film, I never noticed that she was “faking”, everything was at a professional level. I recall a case when some critic compared it to wine, the more it costs, the more beautiful it becomes, and I absolutely agree with him. Such as she still needs to look, and I kneel before her.

Amanda Seyfried... After this film, she became a discovery for me, I immediately noticed her, and as it turned out in the last films, she showed herself. Perfectly coped with her role. Well done.

Also pleased Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard, played well, sang, as always, at their best, although they did not get such key roles. It's a pity.

Did not leave indifferent and Pierce Brosnan, especially his "intermittent" singing, I thought to do without criticism, but it did not work out. For a long time I was tormented by the question, in general, what the hell did he forget in the musical? Is it really tired of pretending to be Bond and he leaned towards something more funny, light? Of course, the age is not the same. I have never recognized him as an actor, in my opinion, this is the worst Bond in history, but the review is not about that. In general, if it were not for him with his fake game, I probably would have "lashed out" at such a word as a masterpiece. Although at times his missed notes even amused. And so the whole cast liked it, everything was very professional and deserves a round of applause. Bravo.

The plot is quite interesting, at first I wanted to know the truth: who, in fact, is the only one? But every minute I realized more and more that it was not so important. After all, above all performance, atmosphere, and the plot goes to the last place.

All the same, how good it is that there are musicals, and then all the time there are always abstruse pictures, about the meaning of life and other "garbage". No, this is all of course important, and even interesting (I have a very good attitude to such pictures), but constantly thinking about only one thing is unbearable. Sometimes you just want to forget about everything, "let" the sea of ​​optimism into your life and just enjoy the moments

P.S. I still listen to songs from the musical in the player.