{"id":1962062,"date":"2025-08-15T13:03:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1962062"},"modified":"2025-08-15T13:03:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:03:50","slug":"back-on-broadway-a-much-needed-summer-splash-of-abba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/back-on-broadway-a-much-needed-summer-splash-of-abba\/","title":{"rendered":"Back on Broadway, a much-needed summer splash of ABBA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F08%2Fnewspress-collage-xsulmimeh-1755261758471.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261755247397\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tmovie review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tMAMMA MIA!\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Two hours and 35 minutes, with one intermission. At the Winter Garden Theatre.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s summer again at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, where that dreamy discoth\u00e8que \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d reopened Thursday night after 10 years away from Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>The wonderful, escapist musical, which pairs a romantic farce on a Greek island with the seventies ear-worms of ABBA, always hits cranky critics a lot like the lyrics the song \u201cUnder Attack\u201d describe.<\/p>\n<p>About to crack, defenses breakin\u2019!<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re not supposed to approve of jukebox shows. We\u2019re not supposed to rubber-stamp sit-com silliness. We are supposed to roll our eyes at platform shoes and blindingly colorful bellbottoms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Well, I say, \u201cthank you for the musical.\u201d \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d is a much-needed vacation from all the seriousness and drear. And its foundations could withstand a nuclear blast. The foremother of the old-pop-songs-in-a-new-story genre is still the very best in the game.<\/p>\n<p>I first saw the show more than 20 years ago, and continue to marvel at its tautness and wit.<\/p>\n<p>For those of us who have visited the fictional isle of Kalokairi and ex-pat Donna\u2019s taverna an, er, redacted number of times, there\u2019s been some noticeable pruning at the Winter Garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cMamma Mia!\u201d is back on Broadway after a decade away. <span class=\"credit\">ZUMAPRESS.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What\u2019s onstage is the national tour \u2014 not a custom-built production for Broadway. So it\u2019s smaller and cheaper. The stone floor doesn\u2019t light up during \u201cVoulez-Vous\u201d; the cute ensemble never peeks their heads over the walls when they sing the title tune.<\/p>\n<p>That drachma-pinching irked me at first, but I was quickly won over by \u201cI work all night, I work all day\u201d Donna and her Dynamos and young bride-to-be Sophie and her three possible dads.<\/p>\n<p>How can I resist ya?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Sophie (Amy Weaver) sneakily tries to discover who her real father is. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Audiences certainly won\u2019t be able to resist Christine Sherrill, the fabulous actress playing Donna. She\u2019s among the most memorable to take on the part.<\/p>\n<p>As the overalls-clad \u201cMoney Money Money!\u201d business owner, whose three former flames from the 1970s all arrive at her hotel on the same day two decades later, Sherrill has the flighty fun and smile of Goldie Hawn in \u201cOverboard.\u201d So, her pathos sneaks up on us\u00a0quite powerfully during \u201cSlipping Through My Fingers\u201d and the 11 O\u2019clock \u201cWinner Takes It All.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sherrill bats the ballad right outta the park.<\/p>\n<p>As her \u201cSuper Trooper\u201d pals Rosie and Tanya, Carly Sakolove and Jalynn Steele breathe new life into well-worn gags. The laughs flow like ouzo when they sing \u201cTake a Chance on Me\u201d and \u201cDoes Your Mother Know?\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Christine Sherrill (center) as Donna steals the show, alongside her Dynamos, Tanya (Jaylynn Steele. left) and Rosie (Carla Sakolove). <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While always a great showcase of male abs, \u201cMamma Mia\u201d has never been about male talent. It\u2019s not called \u201cDadda Mia!,\u201d after all. The gents all do their fatherly duties adequately. Victor Wallace playing hunky Sam, Jim Newman as rugged Bill and Rob Marnell as fidgety Brit Harry check the boxes. <\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s par for the course. Fans of the 2008 Meryl Streep movie tend to say \u201cno comment\u201d on the topic of Pierce Brosnan.<\/p>\n<p>And the young lovers Sophie and Sky, played by Amy Weaver and Grant Reynolds, are sweet as ever.<\/p>\n<p>So is the show, even if it\u2019s frayed a bit around the edges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMamma Mia!\u201d is only back on Broadway for six months. But I see no reason they should throw in the towel so quickly.<\/p>\n<p>To quote a much, much newer song by ABBA: \u201cDon\u2019t shut me down!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>movie review MAMMA MIA! Two hours and 35 minutes, with one intermission. At the Winter Garden Theatre. The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself!\u00a0 It\u2019s summer again at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, where that dreamy discoth\u00e8que \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d reopened Thursday night after 10 years away from Broadway. The wonderful, escapist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1962063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[345884,21741,345885,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-1962062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-abba","tag-entertainment","tag-musicals","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Back-on-Broadway-a-much-needed-summer-splash-of-ABBA.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1962062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1962063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1962062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1962062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1962062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}