Catherine Johnson wrote the clever Book (script) and the musical is directed by Phyllida Lloyd.The songs obviously were by Björn Ulvaeus,Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson. MAMMA MIA uses about two dozen ABBA songs to help tell a totally non-ABBA storyline about a mother and a daughter.The mother ,Donna Sheridan is played by( London) Chess veteran, Siobhan McCarthy. Her daughter, Sophie Sheridan is played by Lisa Stokke and musical revolves around the mystery of who is Sophie's father. It is interesting to note that Mammia Mia is produced, directed and written by woman. Oh, and hey get this most of the lead characters are woman, as well being homo sapiens!

The actors sing often truncated versions
of ABBA songs sometimes timed for comedic effect. The songs used in the musical were mostly drawn from ABBA singles. Almost all of the songs on ABBA GOLD were used in the musical. Indeed , Benny complained that "Waterloo" wasn't included so "Waterloo"was added in at the end as encore number. "Fernando" was the largest hit not used-it is only sung in a quick 10 second snippet..

The musical concept didn't sound very promising but somehow audiences have been happy with the stage musical and critics have been no worse than lukewarm. The show's success appears to be due to the witty way the musical was written and staged combined with the already proven appeal of the songs. Unlike Chess or Kristina this is a decidedly peppy,cheerful musical. You will walk out of theatre happy or else, Björn will drag you back in the theatre for another encore of "Dancing Queen"

MAMMA MIA'S original commercial success, is was p also partly due to to the undying loyalty of British and World ABBA fans who traveled to London to see the musical. Swedish fans in particular traveled by the thousands.

Björn came out of a long period of retrenchment to coproduce the musical with Judy Craymer and Richard East . Björn was said to be to have been most heavily involved in insuring the accuracy of the musical presentation. Benny, ( perhaps, because no new music was needed) was
brought in only for just a short time only for about a week or two prior to the premiere. (Benny is also said to have helped with
the all important job of cashing royalty checks.)

Björn and Benny had little to do with coming up with idea for the musical or with writing the book, which after all were
the only new things about the "musical".B&B (mostly Bjorn) simply approved this particular idea.
There certainly seems some irony to the fact this the least important of B&B's musicals,is the one with the least creative input from them but yet is likely to be B&B's most successful musical.

This cast album was recorded at Angel Studios in Britain and was released on Polydor in November 1999. The album is attractively packaged with lyrics and photos from the musical. All 24 tracks are crammed unto one CD.

B & B were only executive producers of the album. The cast album was produced by Martin Koch and Nicholas Gilpin. (Martin also worked on the arrangements.) It is logical that B& B were not directly involved with the recording since their is little point in them attempting to recreat what the have done already.

It is said that Benny wasn't entirely happy with some of the orchestrations done for Mamma Mia though the songs are presented preety faithfully . Listen for example to "Chiquitita" and youll find that nmany of the original recordings subtle vocal effects and keyboard bits are still there.

Neither Björn( no surprise) nor Benny play on the album.( Thi swas one of the few times Benny has avoided playing at least some keyboards on one of his projects).

Musically there isn't much new on this album, with the exception of the act overtures which are simply creative instrumental rearrangments of ABBA music. Some of the dialogue that is interspersed with the songs is included. Musically, it's not really that interesting, Vocally, the songs where the chorus joins in work are the most interesting,

The general consensus seems to be that this is one B&B musical that works much better onstage than on record.

Pointless factoid:
Mamma Mia is the most missssssspelled
ABBA song. It has been spelled Mama Mia,
Mammia Mia and Mamma Mia,

 Track listing for MAMMA MIA ACT 1  ACT 2
 Overture/prologue
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  Entr'acte

Under attack
One of us
SOS
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 X 5
I have a dream
 

 ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST -MAMMA MIA -No cast album released as of yet. ..
 Mamma Mia made a successful Broadway premiere in October 2001 at the Winter Garden theatre. The musical was largely unchanged from the London version. None of the London cast was brought over to play in the Broadway version. An even older actress than Siobhan McCarthy. Louis Pitre was chosen to play the lead role of Donna Sheridan. Unlike Chess ,which foolishly was sent straight to Broadway, a number of advance tryout runs were staged in Los Angeles, Toronto , Boston and elsewhere to help work out the bugs and promote the musical. The buzz generated helped increase the advance sales so much so that MAMMA MIA had the second highest advance gross in Broadway history. It soon became obvious that there were lot of closet ABBA fans out there in the American public, In one small way, ABBA had finally conquered America.

Drama critics reviews for the Broadway version of Mamma Mia were mixed , but knowledgable fans said the Broadway version improved on London version. The musical was solid enough to become the Broadway hit of 2001-02.

Oddly, an actual Broadway cast album was never released--since a Broadway recording would preety much be a carbon copy of the London version-albeit with different singers. The play's owners didn't think it worth the additional the expense of recording the Broadway cast. Why lower the profitablity of the London Cast album by stealing sales from it? Oh why indeed?
 

Original Cast album MAMMA MIA Special Edition April 2004 International release

New edition with bonus tracks recorded in 2004 of three songs found on the encore, which were not included in the original cast album., partly because the encore was a bit of last minute addition to the musical...

Those songs are - Mamma Mia , Dancing Queen , Waterloo

MAMMA MIA in German-MAMMA MIA! Original version des deutschen musicals German release June 2004

Yup a German langauge version! First staged in Stuttgart, and then also in Hamburg -. Frida and Bjorn appeared on stage for one of the openings...

TRACK LISTING !!!!!
1. Mich trägt mein Traum Prolog
2. Honey, Honey
3. Money, Money, Money
4. Danke für die Lieder
5. Mamma Mia
6. Chiquitita
7. Dancing Queen
8. Leg dein Herz an eine Leine
9. Souper Trouper
10. Gib mir, Gib mir, Gib mir!
11. Was ist das für ein Spiel?
12. Voulez-Vous
13. Entr'Acte
14. Unter Beschuss
15. Einer von uns
16. S.O.S.
17. Wenn das Mami wüsst
18. Ich bin Ich, Du bist Du
19. Unser Sommer
20. Durch meine Finger rinnt die Zeit
21. Der Sieger hat die Wahl
22. Komm un wag's mit mir
23. Ich will, Ich will, Ich will, Ich will, Ich will
24. Mich trägt mein Traum

MAMMMMMMA MIA in Dutch-MAMMA MIA Dutch Cast album CD Released Summer 2004

Yes, now the Dutch have their very own version of Mamma Mia in their own language...The Dutch are loyal ABBA fans and deserve such treatment,,,

1. Ouverture / Prologue
2. Honey, Honey|
3. Money, Money, Money
4 .Dank Je Voor De Liedjes
5. Mamma Mia
6. Chiquitita
7. Dancing Queen
8. Spaar Al Je Liefs Voor Mij
9. Super Trouper
10. Geef Me Geef Me Geef Me!
11. Als 'k Maar Weet Hoe Het Heet
12. Voulez-Vous
13. Entr'Acte
14. Een Offensief
15. Een Van Ons
16. S.O.S.
17. Weet Je Moeder Dat
18. Zo Ben Ik, Zo Ben Jij
19. Onze Zomer
20. 't Glipt Me Door Mijn Vingers
21. De Winnaar Heeft De Macht
22. Pak Je Kans Bij Mij
23. Ja Ik Wil, Ik Wil, Ik Wil, Ik Wil, Ik Wil
24. Ik Heb Een Droom

MAMMA MIA IN SPANISH..

This was staged Spain in November 1994 Oh my god!!!!!AY CARUMBA!!!!!!The translations used here are not based on the original Spanish versions.,but are new translations...

MAMMA MIA en Espanol 2005 Spanish CD

Track listing Obertura/Prologo, Honey Honey, Money Money Money, Gracias Por Dejarme Cantar Canciones (Thank You For The Music), Mamma Mia, Chiquitita, Dancing Queen, Fija Tu Amor En Mi (Lay All Your Love On Me), Super Trouper, Dame! Dame! Dame! (Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!), Como Puedo Jugar (The Name Of The Game), Voulez-Vous, Entreacto, No Habra Cuartel (Under Attack), Quien A Veces Llora (One Of Us), No Lo Ves (SOS), Sabe Tu Mama Donde Estas? (Does Your Mother Know), Para Mi Para Ti (Knowing Me Knowing You), Un Verano (Our Last Summer), Siento Que Se Aleja (Slipping Through My Finders), Va Todo Al Ganador (The Winner Takes It All), Te Has Fijado En Mi (Take A Chance On Me), Que Si Que Si (I Do I Do), Ayer Sone (I Have A Dream)

MAMMA MIa IN SWEDISH

Original Cast Album-MAMMA MIA Swedish production June 2005 Swedish CD

Remarkably, or not Mamma Mia had yet to be staged in Sweden-so here it comes, in a Swedish language version ... ABBA only translated a hand full of their songs into Swedish-so this will be the first time many of the songs (especially the later ones) have been presented in the Swedish language...The Swedish version of the song lyrics will be written by Niklas Strömstedt along with Bjorn .Peter Dalle is translating the spoken parts in "Mamma Mia" into Swedish. The musical premiered at Stockholm's Cirkus in Stockholm in February 2005......Unlike, most of the recent Mamma Mia productions Benny had some involvement with this production. This show will close in 2007... so go now!.

1. Overture
2. Jag har en dröm (I have a dream)
3. Honey, Honey
4. Money, Money, Money
5. Tack för alla sånger (Thank you for the music)
6. Mamma Mia
7. Chiquitita
8. Dancing Queen
9. I tryggt förvar hos mig (Lay all your love on me)
10. Super Trouper
11. Säg OK eller nej (The name of the game)
12. Voulez-Vous
13. Entracte/Under attack
14. En av oss (One of us)
15. S.O.S.
16. Väntar inte mamma på dig (Does your mother know)
17. Jag är jag, du är du (Knowing me, knowing you)
18. Sista sommarn (Our last summer)
19. Kan man ha en solkatt i en bur (Slipping through my fingers)
20. Vinnaren tar allt (The winner takes it all)
21. Tänk, det känns som vi (Take a chanCE on me)
22. Jag vill, jag vill, jag vill (I do, I do, I do, I do, I do)
23. Jag har en dröm (I have a dream)
24. Waterloo

MAMMA MIA in Klingonese...

Could Mamma Mia be the next big Klingon opera? The answer sadly is no... We asked Bjorn Ulvaeus or somebody who had some kind of silly looking beard and he replied ."Rumours of a possible staging of Mamma Mia in Klingon are totally false..The makeup costs alone would eat too heavily into the profit margin."