Interlude: Wednesday 14th June
Mamma Mia performance at Artscape.

Herewith the review I wrote for my work intranet, adjusted for paddling.

Abbreviated version:
Suitability: PG (occasional lewd references, and blatant pafdoggery)
Contra-indications: Pathological aversion to ABBA's music
Recommended position: long (buy)

Full version:
Occasionally when accounting for time spent, one finds that insufficient time has been invested in the arts, and an attempt is made to make amends.
The arts are a murky world of subjectivism, fraught with lurking expenses and nuances that make you feel that perhaps you've just been touched for cash for the privilege of being told you're dumb by a troupe in leotards.

Mamma Mia is nothing like that (although they do wear lycra!).
It is, from beginning to end, a romp through ABBA's hits (only notable exceptions I missed were "Fernando" and "Ring Ring") by a very credible cast (backed by a very competent band), set to a storyline that manages to be engaging as well as plausible. The basis of the storyline is a 21 year old girl (Sophia) born in 1979 who is getting married presently (year 2000, obviously) to her love (Skye), discovers her single mom's diary from '79 indicating that her father could be any of 3 different men and proceeds to invite all 3 to her wedding in an effort to determine which of them is her "dad". This all unfolds on the small Greek Island she and her mother live on.

The cast perform with an energy that one can only marvel at, as they are necessarily performing those routines for the zillionth time, and yet you feel like the events unfold for the first time as you sit there. [Kinda like summoning the reptile for another race... M]

A special mention, for the play-buffs must be made of the set and the musicality. The set is very cunning™ly put together and scene changes were smooth and well executed. I expected the music to resemble hack-style karaoke by middle aged yesteryears who thought ABBA was only all about cool tunes, lycra and big boots and who's asking price reflected on the royalty costs only. I feared the Casio keyboard with immense trepidation. I was wrong again, and the cast and band delivered powerful renditions (both the "young" - i.e. 21ish and "old" - 40somethings) that echoed the humanity that first inspired the lyrics, but showing how the lyrics are not limited in relevance to promiscuous flower children.

On the lighter side, when one observes a dozen actors hopping around in unison in snorkelling kit and singing in 4 part harmony, one is reminded that life really need not be all that serious, and I believe that art that accomplishes entertainment (fun) with an optional intellectual slant is good art. (And yes, I will have this argument with anyone else who watches this show - you can opt to interpret the play intellectually at times!)

I despair at how wholly inadequate modern pop music wannabes are in comparison to ABBA, as the modern bimbos' offerings lack both the musicality and universality. I shudder to think of taking my children to see "Hit me baby one more time!" in 20 year's time where someone has set a play to Ms. Spears' "work" reworked into an engaging play. As if!
I am, in short, embarrassed that contemporary music is regarded as popular in the first place.

Mamma Mia is good art, well worth seeing, even if the excellence is "priced in" to a certain extent.
I paid R242 per ticket for seats that had a clear view of the stage from the upper balcony thanks to Quarkman.
To quote the same: "Your median ABBA attendee is a middle-aged SUV-driving couple or family with an infinite capacity for clogging the underground parking, so make sure you leave time to park your car and get upstairs" (which reminds me - I forgot to reference quarkman in the intranet posting).

I managed to procure an ABBA Platinum hits CD from Cavendish CNA two weeks ago for R33, where modern pop is fetching 4x that. This tends to suggest "undervalued".
Given all of the above, I issue a strong buy recommendation.
Go and see it.