Mamma Mia!: A Cheat Sheet for Those Who Don't Quite Love ABBA
I was too good for ABBA.
I thought they were a manufactured group that some cynical producer invented to counter the dirty fun of late '70s disco.
When they called it quits, I believed they would package their Greatest Hits and vanish into Classic Radio, a hell I never visit.
Later, when their music was the engine for a hit musical, I thought that was the final throes for the band's cult.
But in nine years, 30 million people have seen Mamma Mia! on stage. The production has grossed $2 billion. It's still running on Broadway and on stages around the world.
And now cometh the movie, and the prospect of millions humming those catchy tunes.
Dislike is no longer an excuse for ignorance of this group and this phenomenon. I want to have something to say when others bang on about the film, so I did some remedial reading. Let what I learned serve as a primer.
Why the name?
ABBA comes from the initials of the first names of the members of the group: Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
Why was ABBA so popular?
Innocence. Catchy pop hooks. And lyrics like these:
You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen
Why did ABBA spawn a musical?
Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wanted to write longer, more thematic music. In 1981, they met Tim Rice. Their collaboration resulted in Chess, which opened in 1986. Its success made them willing to consider another, closer to home.
Mamma Mia! -- who's ultimately responsible?
Judy Craymer, who went on to co-produce the film as well.
What was Ms. Craymer's big idea?
"My co-producer, Richard East, and I commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the story. My brief to her was that the lyrics could not change, the story should be a contemporary, ironic, romantic comedy and that if she listened carefully to ABBA's songs, she would notice how they fell into two different generations -- the slightly younger, playful songs like 'Honey, Honey' and 'Dancing Queen', and the more mature, emotional songs such as 'The Winner Takes It All' and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You'. The idea of a cross-generational love-story was devised."
Why was it set in Greece?
It had to be an island. Catherine Johnson had never been there. She used travel brochures for inspiration.
Why isn't "Fernando" featured?
Because that song is about two old soldiers discussing the Mexican Revolution.
What was it like to do a musical produced by a woman, written by a woman and directed by a woman?
Judy Craymer: "We were all happy to jump in and make the tea."
Was the production charmed?
The opening night in London was the 25th anniversary of ABBA winning the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo".
Movie trivia: There's never been a major movie musical made by three women.
Well, why not? Phyllida Lloyd may never have directed a movie, but she directed the musical. Catherine Johnson had written the show. And Judy Craymer was unafraid to stare down all of Hollywood.
Can Meryl Steep really be 59?
Yes. And that violates the sacred rule of American movies: AARP-age men with younger women. Streep is older than her leading men, Pierce Brosnan (55), Stellan Skarsgard (57) and Colin Firth (47).
What other Hollywood taboos are violated in this movie?
How about the plot: the wedding of a daughter who wants her father to walk her down the aisle. But she doesn't know who her father is. Neither, it seems, does her mother -- from an old diary, the young woman learns he could be any of three lovers. So she invites them all.
Unmarried sex with multiple partners -- and that's a PG-13 rating?
That's not all. One of the possible dads turns out to be gay.
Yes, but is it any good?
Roger Friedman doesn't think so. First sentence: "It's hard to imagine a movie as poorly made as Mamma Mia! coming off the Hollywood assembly line with Meryl Streep as its star."
What's the one fact about ABBA and the movie to keep firmly in mind?
Mamma Mia
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
[Cross-posted from HeadButler.com]
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I never disliked ABBA, I was just oblivious to it. There was so much great, exciting music out there in the 1970s (including funk and disco, despised by racists and homophobes but still the best party music ever recorded.) I had no idea there was this faithful, lasting ABBA cult until I saw "Muriel's Wedding" (which I also didn't think much of.)
ABBA really is awful. If there's men's section in hell, Mamma Mia the movie is on 24hr rotation. It's one of the great tragedies of the world that John Lennon was assassinated and ABBA are still walking around.....
Indeed. And thank God that the unethical "questioning" methods in Guantanamo were uncovered in time, for I hear that the Bush administration had originally planned to use forced screenings of the movie as another of its many interrogation techniques upon release.
Once I had a girlfriend. I asked her why she is going to a Neil Diamond concert.
She replied:' because he rocks." This was a very short relationship.
LOL...one has to smile, non?
and for the record...the story is based on the film Buena Sera Mrs. Campell which also gave birth to the Alan J Lerner musical Carmellina.
Too bad you missed ABBA over the years.
I knew from the first listen to "Waterloo" that musical history was being made.
Sure I'm a product of my generation, I was and still am, a Dylan and Baez fan.
You keep going ABBA...Barack you too.
GOBAMA!!!
Dear Pomp: Second that, and CSN gets me to work each day, even though I should be retired. Cat Stevens too. For pure energy, try Angelsea by the Cat. Have yet to see Mama, but will soon just for sheer nostalgia.
I'm right there with you! Baez, Cat, Joni and Lennon formed the base of my musical and political tastes, but when 'Waterloo' hit, and all the pop gems that followed, ABBA became a sweet, slightly guilty pleasure.
When 'Muriel's Wedding' came out, it rekindled my appreciation for those upbeat and sometimes thoughtful, songs.
Can't wait to see the movie!
Here's an ABBA primer than is basic and easy to follow. ABBA sucks. Even worse than STYX. Always has always will.
See, basic and easy to follow.
Great. I like the "worse than STYX" part. Hard to think of a worse put down. Although I did see a few seconds of the movie on the Daily Show just as Stewart was introducing Pierce Brosnan and just before I went to a new page. OMFG I thought Brosnan was a terrible actor but as a singer he was truly inspiringly breathtakingly awful.
"i'm sailing awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.."
I think I may have to pass on this movie. I am another person who hated ABBA then, hate them now. And I have a dread fear that if I see the movie, I may catch myself singing ABBA songs against my will, and then my head will explode.
There is nothing worse than the ever-incidious 'Ear Worm" that burrows in through an ear and scrambles the brain leading to insanity.
I can't stand ABBA -- can't STAND them -- but the songs are insidiously hooky. I'll be stuck in traffic and find myself humming "Dancing Queen" or "Waterloo" and hating myself for it. I cannot evacuate those pop hooks from my brain. They're like a terrible virus inside me. Each night I pray God will come and take the ABBA songs away, but they dwell within me still.
ear worm music.
That''s a sign of a well-crafted song :)
ABBA, Michaela Petri, Itzaak Pehrlman, Beetoveen, Tchaikovsky, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland..... I listen to them all and love them all.
Who's Roger Friedman?
But I do know who ABBA is.
I'll bet you know who George Bush is also. Being famous doesn't mean you necessarily have brains or talent.
The reason for the Musical?
Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man's world
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It's a rich man's world
P>S. I despise ABBA's music-- always have, always will.
i just don't get it.
I hated ABBA. Hated them then, hate them now. I've never understood the fascination with that Euro manufactured sound. Way too cold and chilly for me.
Brrrrr!!!!!
Okay, you won't be in line in front of me then....and I have perfected annoying 2 generations of family dancing to ABBA..it can't stop now...my grand daughter is 18 ...I feel a third generation of victims on thier way!
Sounds like a 'Super Trouper' to me! Enjoy.
Lindy222: "Hate" is such a strong word. For me, ABBA sounds like the music of angels compared to what we have today, what we hear on every car commercial (including Cadillac). I just can't figure out what makes those screeching sounds (besides the "vocalists"). I'll take Chilly & Brrr any day. Well, now that I recall how many times I've had to mute the sound on television commercials, maybe "hate" is the perfect word after all. AACK!
I do love ABBA though.
Loved ABBA then, love them now. Do I know why? Absolutely not -- except that nearly every one of their songs is what I call "happy music." And feeling happy while I sing along to Waterloo in a difficult world is a good thing, I think.
The stage show is excellent. I expect nothing less from the movie. At least it'll bring me three hours of happiness! And hey, looking at Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan for a couple of hours will make me happy, too.
My bagel's coming up...
:-)
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