Mamma Mia Tickets

Mamma Mia was the brainchild of theatre producer Judy Craymer, who'd first met ABBA's Benny and Bjorn back in 1983 when they were working on Chess with Tim Rice. Craymer could see the theatrical potential of ABBA's songs, and with the permission of the two Swedes, commissioned Catherine Johnson to write a fictional play which used the songs to their best advantage.

The story is set on a fictional Greek island called Calicos (one of the original West End cast members was called Nicholas Colicos), where a young woman, Sophie, is getting ready to marry fiance, Sky. Sophie desperately wants her father to give her away and walk her down the aisle, but the only problem is, she has no idea who her father is. So she steals the diary of her ex-singer mother, Donna, who owns a taverna on the island and is hosting the wedding and, from the diary's entries, Sophie narrows down the list of 'possibles' to three men, Bill, Harry and Sam. Unbeknownst to Donna, Sophie invites all three to the wedding, without telling them why they are there. Sophie thinks that she will 'recognise' her father on sight, but this doesn't happen and poor Sophie is left even more confused as the big day approaches. Also invited are Donna's former band mates, Tanya and Rosie, who are a reminder to Donna of the young, attractive and successful woman she used to be. Songs including “Dancing Queen”, “Chiquitita”, “Money, Money, Money” and “The Name of The Game” intertwine with events in the story, as Sophie tries to identify her father, and Donna tries to come to terms with all three failed relationships.

The West End premiere of the show was held at the Prince Edward Theatre in April 1999, where it has remained ever since. After the 2012 Olympics, the show will move to the Novello Theatre in September. The show also enjoys sporadic touring productions around the UK and has been staged around the world, including on Broadway (where it still runs), and in Vegas, Tokyo, Chicago, Moscow and Sydney, with famous cast members including Joanna Monro (Rosie), Hilton McRae (Sam) and Carlos Rivera (Sky).

In 2008, a film version was released starring Meryl Streep (Donna), Amanda Seyfried (Sophie) and Pierce Brosnan (Sam), which was co-produced by Tom Hanks. The DVD of the film subsequently became one of the fastest-selling DVDs in history.