Friday, August 9, 2013

Review: "Mamma Mia!"


...the one in which we dance in the aisles....

After our dinner, it was just a short walk down the street to the Winter Garden Theater, where we had tickets for the 8:00 pm showing of "Mamma Mia!"




The theater occupies an old horse exchange, built by William K. Vanderbilt in 1896. In 1911, the exchange was converted into a theater, and has been in existence ever since. For many years, Al Jolson was the theater's biggest star...although other actors/shows over the years included Fred Astaire, Fanny Brice, the Ziegfeld Follies and Barbra Streisand (in Funny Girl in 1964).


The theater in 1932....


The exterior of the theater now:




The interior of the theater is much like an English garden...very pretty, but not too ornate:



Our seats were in Row C...third row, dead center of the row. We could almost touch the stage, which was a bit disconcerting at first. We were so close, I swear we could see the nose hairs of the actors. Of course, we PAID for this...privilege...(???) Three tickets cost us a whopping $414.00...and that doesn't include the steep rip-off service fee...Gah.


So...the show. Really. What can one say about "Mamma Mia!"? It you've ever seen the Meryl Streep movie/adaptation of "Mamma Mia!" - then, you've seen this show. Free-spirit Mamma's daughter is getting married in beautiful Greece...three men who could potentially be daughter's daddy show up...hilarity ensues...much singing...much dancing...and much young people running around in swimsuits and cute clothes. The lead actress, who plays "Mamma", had an AMAZING voice - she alone was worth the ticket.

I had chosen this show because the three of us enjoy the music of ABBA, and the fact that the show is kid-friendly. The costumes were a bit cheesy; the set was cheesy; but hey...can anyone ever truly have too much cheese in their life?

I don't think so.


It was fun. I would give it 6.5 stars out of 10...definitely worth seeing if you enjoy dancing and singing along. And Daughter most DEFINITELY was singing along...I apologize if any of my Dear Readers were sitting near us, having to listen to me constantly "shhhhh" her. Or perhaps she was "shhhhh-ing" me....???!

After the show, we browsed in a little souvenir shop along Broadway, where I was tickled - and yet SHOCKED - to find this:


They spelled my name right!!!! Do you know how RARE this is??!!!



And of course...Daughter's best impression of her "Mamma Mia!" laugh, as seen on the poster behind her:


She should be on the stage herself...look at those acting skills....


And so ends another day in beautiful Manhattan.

Peace.

Signature

No comments: