{"id":2481673,"date":"2026-06-30T10:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2481673"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:15:12","slug":"sequins-dancing-queens-abba-backstage-for-mamma-mia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/sequins-dancing-queens-abba-backstage-for-mamma-mia\/","title":{"rendered":"Sequins! Dancing queens! ABBA! Backstage for ‘Mamma Mia!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Here we go again: Twenty-five years after \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d premiered on Broadway, the national tour returns to Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre with show-stopping set pieces and a crew that knows the show inside and out.<\/p>\n

The beloved jukebox musical, which chronicles a Greek wedding with three potential fathers of the bride, has taken over the Ahmanson through July 19 as part of its 25th anniversary tour, and audience members should expect a full-on ABBA sing-along dance party.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come dressed up,\u201d said associate choreographer Janet Rothermel. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of boas, and there\u2019s a lot of spandex, and platform shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rothermel is one of many people on the creative team who have worked on the show since its original Broadway run in 2001. Associate director Martha Banta and associate music supervisor David Holcenberg have also seen the musical through its nearly 14-year original Broadway run, national tours and numerous international iterations (Holcenberg was its original music director).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were all back together again in rehearsal, it was an extraordinary feeling,\u201d Banta said. \u201cNot with the same cast, but Janet, David and I and others that have done it for years. With everything that\u2019s been going on in the world in the last three years, it was just a soothing thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just been embraced beyond what we were used to, which was pretty great,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Everyone involved in the production echoed a similar sentiment: that the \u201cultimate feel-good musical\u201d is exactly what audiences want to see during painful or overwhelming times. The show\u2019s traveling costume supervisor and associate designer Eva Maciek put it most bluntly: \u201cI love working on it because nobody dies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rehearsals for the original Broadway run coincided with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Holcenberg explained, and he was struck by audience members\u2019 emotional responses to the first shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have people coming down to the pit after the show with tears streaming down their faces saying, \u2018Thank you for letting us forget the world for a couple hours and just have joy,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBecause this show is joy. It\u2019s full of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the absurdly catchy music and the rom-com story, part of the show\u2019s joyfulness comes from its colorful costumes and beachy aesthetic. The onstage set is relatively sparse, consisting only of a pair of rotating \u201ctaverna\u201d walls, but backstage, hundreds of moving parts, including stage mechanics, hand props and costume changes, propel the story forward and keep the production looking effortlessly glamorous.<\/p>\n

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1<\/span>\/6<\/span> <\/p>\n

Blingy microphones backstage for the \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d production at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.\u00a0 (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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2<\/span>\/6<\/span> <\/p>\n

Eva Maciek, the travel costume supervisor of the show, shares some wardrobe pieces backstage.\u00a0 (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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3<\/span>\/6<\/span> <\/p>\n

Ryan Sander, assistant choreographer, left, and Eva Maciek, travel costume supervisor of the show, show off Sander\u2019s \u201cVoulez-Vous\u201d costume.\u00a0 (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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4<\/span>\/6<\/span> <\/p>\n

Life jackets backstage for a musical number.\u00a0 (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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5<\/span>\/6<\/span> <\/p>\n

Shelves full of hats are seen during a backstage tour.\u00a0 (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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6<\/span>\/6<\/span> <\/p>\n

The show\u2018s stage is seen during a backstage tour of the \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d theater production at the Ahmanson Theatre.\u00a0 (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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The obvious choice for coolest costumes, according to Maciek, are the bejeweled jumpsuits worn by titular mamma Donna Sheridan (played by Jessica Crouch) and her Dynamos, Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and Rosie (Carly Sakolove). Each one has hundreds of glittering silver stars attached.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m not the one who had to sew them on originally!\u201d Maciek joked. The costumes all originated in London or New York, but they\u2019ve been traveling from city to city in storage \u201cgondolas\u201d since the current tour started in 2023, requiring constant repairs and touch-ups from local stitchers.<\/p>\n

Thematically, Maciek said, the costumes\u2019 evolving colors tell their own story throughout the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen everybody arrives at the island, they\u2019re all in beige with a little hint of blue,\u201d she explained. More blue gets added by \u201cVoulez Vous,\u201d and then they transition into jewel tones. \u201cWhen you get into the wedding scene, everybody is in pinks, soft reds, oranges and yellows,\u201d Maciek said. \u201cSo there\u2019s a real color story that goes throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Sander, the show\u2019s assistant choreographer, dance captain and current \u201cswing\u201d (an actor covering multiple ensemble roles), has a special relationship to his \u201cVoulez-Vous\u201d costume. He originally wore it as a performer on the national tour more than 20 years ago, and when he was called to come back onstage, he found that it still fit like a glove. The costume, a denim vest and pants set with extremely Y2K lace-up details, is representative of the show\u2019s approach to fashion trends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something timeless about these pieces that\u2019s just so interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a period piece and we stick to that, but there is something timeless about the costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides the costume racks, another crucial backstage element are the vocal booths, where the ensemble contributes to the musical soundscape from behind the curtain.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main things about the \u2018ABBA sound\u2019 is how they layered the vocals, and we do that all live in our show,\u201d Holcenberg said. \u201cThe ensemble works really, really hard, because when they\u2019re not on stage, they don\u2019t get any time off. They\u2019re just singing their little faces off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though the show has been running for decades, the creative team said each cast brings a new energy and tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new Donna, Jess, brings a real rock chick energy to it,\u201d Holcenberg said. \u201cEven though the notes on the page stay the same, the casting and the way they perform it still changes from person to person and night to night.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to stage manager Andrew Volzer, the most \u201cunique\u201d aspects of the show are its long history with a tight crew and its multigenerational appeal \u2014 \u201cNot only from the audience perspective, but also for the people working on the show. People are always coming and going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always say, you never leave the island.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we go again: Twenty-five years after \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d premiered on Broadway, the national tour returns to Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre with show-stopping set pieces and a crew that knows the show inside and out. The beloved jukebox musical, which chronicles a Greek wedding with three potential fathers of the bride, has taken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2481674,"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":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2481673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sequins-Dancing-queens-ABBA-Backstage-for-Mamma-Mia.com2Fda2F0c2F2b029a4e4c79be9ab3f48f5b.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481673","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=2481673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2481675,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481673\/revisions\/2481675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2481674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}