Sydney Lyric Theatre, Sydney.
Could 27, 2023.
MAMMA MIA! The Musical What a present! The Sydney premiere on Saturday, 27 Could at Sydney Lyric Theatre, was a gap evening to recollect.
The night commenced with a buzzing crimson carpet, with the Who’s Who of Sydney together with stars corresponding to Rebecca Gibney from Packed to The Rafters, Rogue Merchants singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Former Speaker of the Australian Home of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop, and lots of extra – all who loved a playful media wall with flying confetti and colourful microphone props to embrace the theme of the present.
Introduced by Michael Coppel, Louise Withers and Linda Bewick with music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, e book by Catherine Johnson, MAMMA MIA! It was initially conceived and produced in London’s West Finish in 1999, by Judy Craymer together with Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus and contains further preparations by Martin Koch. In any case these years, the manufacturing continues to be completely dynamic and has grow to be the sixth longest working present in West Finish historical past. Since first sharing its electrical vitality with audiences and critics, MAMMA MIA! The Musical has toured in over 50 international locations, in over 440 main cities, to over 65 million folks. In 2017, an all Australian inventive crew re-staged the manufacturing to current a novel Australian model.
Set within the fictional Greek Island referred to as Kalokairi, the story is a light-hearted and colourful story of Sophie Sheridan (performed by Sarah Krndija), a younger bride-to-be who, on the eve of her wedding ceremony, goes on a quest to find the identification of her father. Bypassing her fiancé Sky’s (Lewis Francis) consciousness, she sends out her wedding ceremony invites – additionally with out her mom Donna Sheridan’s (Elise McCann) information. Her quest brings three males — Sam Carmichael (Martin Crewes), Harry Vivid (Drew Livingston) and Invoice Austin (Tim Wright) — from her mom’s previous again to the island from 20 years in the past. Shifting by means of a number of scenes and shifting units designed by Linda Bewick, what occurs subsequent is an eclectic, magical story of affection, full of laughter, music, shut friendship and pure leisure.
Sneakily prying by means of her mom’s journal from 1979, Sophie and her buddies Ali (Nina Carmen) and Lisa (Kadesa Honeyhill) learn moments from her personal amorous affairs in an effort to unravel the thriller and establish her father. The primary discovery: “July seventeenththwhat an evening, after the present, Sam rode me over to the little island and we danced on the seaside, kissed on the seaside and…” The primary humorous musical quantity, “Honey, Honey,” opens the present, and…the plot of the amorous affairs with Sam, Harry and Invoice unfolds.
Krndija, who skilled on the Victorian School of the Arts in 2018, is thought for her work on each stage as Margaret in 9 to five (Crossroads Stay), Cecile in Merciless Intentions (David Venn Enterprises), and on display screen as Sandy Cooper-Reid within the critically acclaimed comedy collection Class Of ’07. Different display screen credit embrace Elvis (Warner Bros., dir. Baz Luhrmann) and Olivia (lead) in Sean Bell’s The Junket (Autumn Footage), to call a couple of. Krndija was completely chosen for the position of Sophie Sheridan. Her voice was commanding, her look harking back to the movie, and her stage presence was balanced with an easygoing vitality that was fun-loving and spirited.
Donna Sheridan, performed by Elise McCann, was good. McCann embodied the position effortlessly and stole the present in “Cash, Cash, Cash,” “Tremendous Trouper” and “One in all Us.” Her ebullience in every dance quantity and deeply felt emotion in each track she carried out was a phenomenal distinction; her efficiency was second to none. The viewers went wild for each quantity, and the vitality was electrical, and rightfully so. McCann is thought for her position as Miss Honey within the Australian manufacturing of Matilda the Musical For which she gained the 2016 Helpmann Award, the 2015 Sydney Theater Award and was nominated for the 2016 Inexperienced Room Award. She additionally performed Lucille Ball in Everyone Loves Lucy (2015 Sydney Theater Award nomination), Mary in Merrily We Roll Alongside (2021 Sydney Theater Award nomination) and Lynne Woolnough within the Australian tv mini-series Peter Allen: Not the Boy Subsequent Door for Channel Seven.
Sam Carmichael (Martin Crewes), Harry Vivid (Drew Livingston) and Invoice Austin (Tim Wright), Donna’s previous love pursuits, have been merely entertaining and intensely comical. While their musical numbers and motion on stage at occasions appeared to drop in vitality – compared to the remainder of the present – their vocals have been exceptionally melodious and becoming for his or her scenes. Nonetheless, “Take a Probability on Me” with Invoice and Rosie (performed by Bianca Bruce) and “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do,” with Sam (Crewes) and Donna (McCann) and the ensemble was cheerfully amusing.
The 2 stand-out numbers of the night that had the viewers in uncontainable laughter throughout the theater was “Lay All Your Love On Me” carried out by Sophie (Krndija) and Sky (Francis) and backed up by buddies Pepper (Jordan Tomljenovic) and Eddie (Etuate Lutui) and the ensemble, who burst onto the stage wearing tropical swimwear – shorts and skirts, flippers, goggles, and executed essentially the most hilarious and ridiculous balletic seal and mermaid strikes which included a fast change right into a shell bikini. It was merely smashing! The following was “Does Your Mom Know.”“,” carried out by world-class performer Deone Zanotto, who stars as Tanya and exemplified distinctive theatrical attraction in each dance and vocals, together with the rising expertise Tomljenovic who performs Pepper. His vitality was zestful, and nuances in his mastered actions stole the highlight all through the present.
That includes 22 of ABBA’s biggest hits together with “Gimme Gimme Gimme,” “Voulez Vous,” “Dancing Queen” and “SOS,” the manufacturing directed by Gary Younger (OAM), with choreography by Tom Hodgson, iconic costumes designed by Suzy Strout, Music supervision from Stephen (AMOS) and lighting by Gavin Swift all mixed, acquired a roaring standing ovation with an explosion of confetti to have a good time an especially profitable opening evening.
Assured to ship an evening of pure leisure and laughter, MAMMA MIA! shouldn’t be missed!
Catch the present at Sydney Lyric till July 30, Brisbane QPAC Lyric Theater from August 6, and Melbourne Princess Theater from October 4. Tickets and data can be found at www.mammamiathemusical.com.au.
By Renata Ogayar of Dance Informa.
ABBA, Benny Andersson, Bianca Bruce, Björn Ulvaeus, Broadway, Broadway musical, Broadway musicals, Bronwyn Bishop, Catherine Johnson, Crossroads Stay, dance evaluation, dance opinions, David Venn Enterprises, Drew Livingston, Elise McCann, Etuate Lutui, Gary Younger, Gavin Swift, Inexperienced Room Award, Helpmann Award, Jordan Tomljenovic, Judy Craymer, Kadesa Honeyhill, Lewis Francis, Linda Bewick, Louise Withers, Lynne Woolnough, Mamma Mia!, Mamma Mia! The Musical, Martin Crewes, Martin Koch, Michael Coppel, Musical theatre, musical theater Australia, musical theater Sydney, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Nina Carmen, on-line dance evaluation, on-line dance opinions, Rebecca Gibney, evaluation, opinions, Richard East, Rogue Merchants, Sandy Cooper-Reid, Sarah Krndija, Sean Bell, Suzy Strout, Sydney Lyric Theatre, Sydney Theater Award, Tim Wright, Tom Hodgson, Victorian School of the Arts, West Finish