Mamma Mia!
July 26, 2008
VARIOUS ARTISTS
"Mamma Mia!," the motion picture featuring 17 ABBA songs (and a hidden bonus), is destined to join the lexicon of modern signature musicals, a la "Hairspray" and "Dreamgirls," showcasing ABBA's 30-year ever-resuscitating legacy. Produced by group co-founder Benny Andersson with ABBA's original musicians, what makes this production work is the contrast between super-slick arrangements against decidedly imperfect vocals from actors like Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried. The cast can carry a tune, and Streep in particular shows aptitude in her upper range. ("The Winner Takes It All," even with occasional off notes, is truly affecting.) The best songs are . . . hey, that's a joke. They're all here: "Dancing Queen," "S.O.S.," "Take a Chance on Me," on and on and on. Proponents will join in with such abandon that every track ultimately becomes an ensemble number. Seyfried said in a recent interview that ABBA is a drug; "Mamma Mia!" is the purest high imaginable. —Chuck Taylor
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