Here We Go Again! Mamma Mia! Returns to the Winter Garden Theatre
On Thursday night, the beloved Broadway musical Mamma Mia!, set to the iconic songs of ABBA, returned to the Winter Garden Theatre—where it debuted back in 2001—after a 10-year hiatus.
This is not, to be clear, a revival, but instead a six-month stop in New York by the North American touring cast of the show. Still, fans will be excited to know that its creative team includes Mamma Mia! veterans Phyllida Lloyd and Anthony Van Laast, the director and choreographer, respectively, of the original production and the 2008 film adaptation, led by Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried.
Before the orchestra kicked off the overture, prompting a joyous rush of applause from the crowd, cast members walked the blue carpet outside the Winter Garden, dressed in looks that paid cheeky homage to the Disco-Grecian theme of the night. Remarkably, 25 of them were making their Broadway debut, including Christine Sherrill, who stars as Donna Sheridan.
Sherrill reflected on the overwhelmingly positive reception the cast had received since moving into Mamma Mia!’s longtime Broadway home: “Last time this show [opened in New York], it was just after 9/11, and the city needed a lot of healing and to be brought together by something that was joyous,” she said. “You can come from any background, have any set of beliefs, and sit in this show and enjoy it. It’s the perfect moment for us to be back.”
And joyous it was. While most opening-night audiences don’t quite know what they’re in for, this one did—and wouldn’t have had it any other way. In fact, perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was realizing just how many of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’s classic songs are woven into the script.
Another delight? When Christine Baranski was spotted in a box during intermission. “She’s the queen of this theater tonight, like Mamma Mia! royalty,” someone whispered.
It’s true, of course: the Gilded Age star gave an iconic performance in the Mamma Mia! film as Tanya, one of Donna’s best friends. Baranski told me that she recently texted Streep after learning that The Devil Wears Prada 2 was filming across the street from her building. “I texted her and said, ‘Well, come on over for lunch and have your catered food in my living room.’” Baranski went on: “She is filming until midnight, which is why she can’t be here tonight. But maybe she’ll join us later; we’ll be partying way past midnight.”
The post-show celebration was indeed set up for a night of dancing. Upon arriving at Tavern on the Green, guests stepped into a space that mirrored the backdrop of “Voulez-Vous,” the number that closes out Act I of the show. The dance floor, adorned with pink bougainvillea and lit by lanterns and a disco ball, felt plucked straight from the musical’s Greek island setting, while buffet stations with barbecue, Mediterranean, and Tuscan cuisines continued the theme.
Though Mamma Mia! closed on Broadway back in 2015, Thursday’s opening night felt touchingly familial. That could have been due, in part, to how central the musical has been in the lives of so many New York theater fans—my own included. “A lot of musicals that are nostalgic and have been a part of Broadway for so long appear to be far from our own reality, but this is where you can see yourself on stage,” Lloyd told me. She continued, in praise of playwright Catherine Johnson’s script: “Everyone sees themselves as one of the two generations being represented in the story. Everyone wants to bring their mom, grandma, or child—they re all somehow represented, which is Catherine’s genius of putting it all together.”
Indeed, like a favorite movie, book, or old song, a show like Mamma Mia! continues to inspire joy precisely because of its intimate familiarity, rather than in spite of it. You can return to it over and over again, and while the songs and lines remain etched in our memory, there is always something new to discover.
Photo: Tricia Baron1/12Christine Sherrill
Photo: Tricia Baron2/12Grant Reynolds, Amy Weaver