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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Mamma Mia Musical at Prince of Wales Theatre London

By Neil Dorking


Mamma Mia had been a 1975 hit song belonging to the pop group ABBA. Winners of The Eurovision Song Contest, the group was comprised of Benny Andersson, Bjrn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida), Agnetha Fltskog.

Mamma Mia! is a stage musical from the book written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based upon about the tracks of ABBA. Popular songs such as Dancing Queen, I Have a Dream and Take a Chance on Me, are woven into a tale of love, laughter and friendship. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's objective to uncover the identity of her biological dad brings together three adult men coming from her mother's past years returning to the Greek island paradise they previously frequented twenty years ago.

Mamma Mia, by way of the story-telling magic of the tunes of ABBA, we meet Donna, a forty-something single mum, who recollects faraway memories of carefree days and careless nights whilst her daughter Sophie desires of tradition, enchantment and a big white wedding ceremony.

Mamma Mia transports audiences to a tiny mythical Greek island as we share two unforgettable days in the lives of our heroines surrounded by crystal blue seas and beneath a beating Grecian sun.

The initial theatre upon this particular place had been The Prince's Theatre, designed by C J Phipps and opening up in January 1884. It was later bull dozed in 1937 to help to make way for the much larger present theatre. On 17th June, 1937 the cornerstone stone of the existing theatre was planted by Gracie Fields, and the theatre, now named The Prince of Wales, was opened on 27th October, 1937.

Modifications were made to the stage region in 1963 and the theatre was reopened on 28th March, 1964. The enormous Stalls Bar is located below the stalls seating area and features a dance floor at first designed for tea dances. Productions here have included The World of Susie Wong in 1959, Funny Girl in 1966 with Barbra Streisand, Sweet Charity in 1967 and Guys and Dolls in 1985.During The month of january 1989 the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Aspects of Love opened right here and run for 1,325 performances and becoming the Prince of Wales Theatre lengthiest operating production. Barry Manilow's musical Copacabana played at The Prince of Wales Theatre for just over a year in 1994.




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