I Could Be a Dancing Queen

The blue rinse crowd was out in full force -husbands aside- at yesterday's matinee performance of "Mamma Mia" at the Royal Alex theatre in Toronto. So were Steve and I (happily) who managed to get cheap student seats in the 11th row, affording me the best view of a show I've ever seen, despite the fact that I forgot to bring my glasses. To tell you the truth, I didn't really notice Mamma Mia's skewed demographic, at least not until the opening bars of the prologue, where the entire baby-boomer population (which filled about 3/4 of the theatre) started to shake their shoulders and tap their feet, wiggle their heads and even sing out loud to the music. I mean, it was noticeable. My favorite in particular was the woman in front of us who simply was unable to stop dancing. I am surprised, now that I think about it, that she managed to stay in her seat for the majority of the performance. I loved her!

Audience aside, the show was fantastic. Going in, I knew precious little about either the book or the music, not being an ABBA fan myself, but was surprised both at the top notch performances and the endearing quality of the story. The show was filled with characters that were meant to be loved, each in their own quirky way, and was supported by music that most people couldn't help but to love in spite of themselves. The characters were fun, silly and full of charm, not to mention strong singers with great comedic timing. With the odd exception (Sam, who couldn't hold a tune, and Skye who, for all practical purposes, was a disposable character), the cast didn't fail to impress. The costume designs, in a palette of reds, oranges and khakis, offset the ocean blue cyc and the sandy set, while giving everyone a "we called each other this morning to match our outfits" kind of look. The lighting design was impressive: the Royal Alex has only one pipe hanging in the house (and another two onstage, I would imagine) but making creative use of side-stage lighting trees, the stage was illuminated in the kind of warm glow that most of us associate with 'home'.

Waking up this morning, I'm still humming the tunes, and hoping for a chance to see the show again. The only thing that remains to be seen is how the hit music from MY generation (Nirvana? Backstreet Boys?) gets made into a musical that will have me dancing in my seat, 40 years from now.