‘Mamma Mia!' Is Back on Broadway. But Did It Ever Really Leave Us?
Or you could see it as the closest we may ever come to a real-life time loop.
Whether it's successive generations discovering, like clockwork, Abba's music or the unsinkable 'Mamma Mia!' itself, anything related to the Swedish quartet seems to reset every time the world appears ready to move on. Even the band's name is a palindromic perfect circle with no end, or maybe no escape.
Similarly, the echo-y title of the musical is made up of just three letters forming an infinite hall of mirrors. An appropriate image, because since its world premiere in 1999 in London — where it has been playing since — 'Mamma Mia!' has been an everlasting part of the pop-culture landscape.
From a wider angle, the show's influence reverberates all over commercial theater, where it ushered in the modern era of jukebox musicals, which for the most part used to be revues organized around a genre, a scene or a musician — think 'Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,' 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' or 'Jelly's Last Jam.' With 'Mamma Mia!' came story-driven books, as well as an often close collaboration with the songs' creators (a trend illustrated by the artistic and commercial successes of the Alicia Keys musical, 'Hell's Kitchen,' and '& Juliet,' featuring the music of the Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin).
It feels as if at any given minute 'Mamma Mia!' is playing somewhere in the world, on land or on sea. The immersive spinoff 'Mamma Mia! The Party,' which is quite popular in Britain, has further reinforced the image of 'Mamma Mia!' as a beloved escape hatch from any gray day. The 2008 film version was the highest-grossing adaptation of a Broadway musical until Jon M. Chu's 'Wicked' came along, and even the misfire of a sequel, 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' (2018), did not inflict a mortal wound to the brand.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'We Need Him To Go Off And Shoot Thor Next.' That Time Chris Hemsworth Wanted To Do An Epic Stunt, But Disney Axed It
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. While Tom Cruise is one of the rare actors who truly does all his own stunts on film, many other actors attempt to do a great deal themselves. Chris Hemsworth has let himself be lit on fire for movies before, which is likely a step further than many others in Hollywood might go. However, while the Thor star has dealt with fire, apparently water is a step too far. It wasn't a stunt for a movie that Chris Hemsworth reveals he wasn't allowed to do recently. He tells THR that for the new season of Limitless: Live Better Now, available with a Disney+ subscription, there had been plans for him to attempt to surf a 40 foot wave. Unfortunately, it seems the powers that be decided such a thing was too risky. Hemsworth said… I was going to attempt to surf a 40-foot wave and train with big wave specialists, but we couldn't get it through the ranks. The risk assessment, basically, was too far gone, so I ended up climbing a 200-meter dam wall. Ironically the episode of Limitless where the wave stunt would have occurred is entitled 'Risk.' Clearly the episode needed to let Hemsworth put himself at some amount of risk, but the wave was seen as too risky, while climbing a dam was apparently fine. One of the major reasons stuntpeople are used in movies isn't that stars are unwilling to put themselves art risk, it's that the studio and/or the insurance company won't let them. If a major film lead gets injured, it can delay movies, costing everybody involved money. Tom Cruise once fired an insurance company for not letting perform a Mission: Impossible stunt. But the issue for Chris Hemsworth wasn't simply that if something went wrong it would cause problems for the Disney+ series. He says it was higher ups at Disney that killed the idea, because getting hurt on Limitless could have jeopardised a his next marvel movie, a film, with a lot riding on it. Hemsworth continued… They both have a fair amount of risk attached to them, but [the dam climb] got past the risk assessment team. So there definitely was [concern from above]: 'No, we need him to go off and shoot Thor next. We can't have him drown while filming a big wave episode.' We know Chris Hemsworth is part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, and that movie is so important to Disney it's honestly a shock any of the cast is let out in public where they might trip and hurt themselves. While Hemsworth recently confirmed a viral video was not part of an announcement he was walking away from Thor, if the actor ever wants to surf a 40 foot wave, he might need to be done with Thor before anybody will let him. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
James Gunn Says He's Shooting the ‘Superman' Sequel ‘Much Sooner Rather Than Later': ‘We're Scheduling it Now'
James Gunn is giving an update on his 'Superman' sequel. During a recent interview with Collider, Gunn said he has completed the treatment for his 'Superman' follow-up and that he and his team are currently scheduling production. More from Variety James Gunn Posts His Emotional On-Set Debate With David Corenswet Over Superman's Big Speech: I Was 'Freaked Out (and So Happy)' It Was Filmed Missed It in Theaters? You Can Now Watch 'Superman' Online James Gunn Says 'Superman' Is Getting Digital Release So Quickly Because of 'Peacemaker' Season 2; Blockbuster Hits PVOD After Just Over a Month in Theaters 'We're scheduling it now,' Gunn said. 'I'm totally done with the treatment. My treatments are incredibly intense. They're not regular treatments. They're 60-page treatments with dialogue and everything. And so, now I'm just turning that into a script. We're planning out when we're going to shoot that. It's going to be much sooner rather than later.' Gunn recently revealed across various interviews during his 'Superman' press tour that he is writing a new film featuring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, although he remained vague whether it was a standalone sequel or an entirely new project. Other upcoming projects on the DC slate include 'Peacemaker' Season 2, 'Supergirl,' the 'Lanterns' TV series, 'Wonder Woman' and 'Clayface.' Gunn said during a recent interview with CBS Mornings that all projects under the DC umbrella will have their own unique tone and style, much like the comics they are based on. ''Clayface' is a totally different thing. Although it's in the same universe, it's a complete horror film, and that's one of the things we want to do,' Gunn explained. 'There's not a company style. It's not like every movie is gonna be like 'Superman.' The artists and the directors and the writers that create each one will bring their own sense to it. … We don't want people being bored.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in August 2025
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chris Hemsworth Got Electrocuted And Pepper-Sprayed For His Disney+ Show, And I Didn't Expect To Relate To His Reasoning
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Fans still have a while to go before seeing Chris Hemsworth rocking the hammer again in Thor-mode for the Russo brothers' Avengers: Doomsday, but there's no wait required to see the actor showing off his impressive badassery in other ways. The second season of his unscripted series LImitless, now subtitled Live Better Now, is finally available to stream via Hulu subscription and Disney+ subscription, nearly three years after the first season. I'm pretty sure Thor never had to deal with pepper spray or game night electrocutions, though. The second season of Limitless comprises three episodes of high-octane and high-intensity situations that do indeed test the limits of the human body in various ways, such as fear-abating cliff dives and playing drums in front of a screaming audience for the first time. For the episode 'Pain,' the Australian agreed to go through some minor electrocutions, as well as getting doused with pepper spray, and it's for a reason that I was surprised I could actually relate to: long-held chronic back pain. Speaking with TVInsider about that episode and others, Hemsworth was asked why he went through such terrible experiences, and he said it was all about trying to find a way to successfully fix or work around the constant back troubles, saying: Because I've struggled with issues with my back and back pain for years, since I was 15. And if someone was going to offer up a solution, I was onboard, whether or not it would mean I'd have to stimulate some more pain to get there. I'm now being a little gentle with myself and having more compassion for the pain and looking at it as, this is my body trying to protect me and saying, 'Hey, just go gentle today,' rather than what I had done for years, which was try and stifle that and compress it and remove it and avoid it and deny it. It's like listening to a whatever makes more sense. Having dealt with pinched nerves and muscle problems with my own back for decades, I can 100% sympathize with the decision to go far outside the box to find relief. In Hemsworth's, that box is full of Jenga pieces. In the episode, Hemsworth and his pals Aaron Grist and Luke Zocchi each get electrodes taped to their chests and stomachs, with a controlled set of shocks encompassing the first part of the process. Then things get more difficult as the mini-electrocutions are delivered as the guys engage in a social activity: playing Jenga! Not that all that much Jenga-playing happens, with each of the men laughing and reacting maniacally as they get jolted. One goal with these experiements is to see whethever or not a secondary form of pain can successfully get someone to refocus their receptors so that the initial pain isn't felt anymore. Kind of like how if you have a bad headache, stubbing the shit out of your toe on a bedframe can temporarily make said headache dissipate. Elsewhere in the episode, Hemsworth teams up with a special forces unit led by someone who, instead of being an expert on pain management, is more of a professional pain-deliverer. Perhaps the most bizzarely excrutiating part of the four-stage process involved everyone getting their faces awashed in pepper spray and then grouping up to pull 300-lb. tires by rope, all while the gases and fumes from flash grenades further impede their sight and breathing abilities. Everything the special forces unit went through sounded and looked like pure hell, and I don't think anyone should expect to see Chris Hemsworth making a repeat appearance. As he put it in the show: I've never been pepper-sprayed before, and...I don't wanna be pepper-sprayed again. For all the aches and pains that Hemsworth went through on Limitless, he actually wasn't allowed to attempt surfing a 40-foot wave as he'd aimed to, due to insurance issues with Disney, who didn't want him injuring himself before Thor's big return. Thankfully, the actor wasn't dealing with any such painful experiences with his family at the series' premiere event in July. All three episodes of LImitless are currently available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. Watching the show hasn't exactly helped my own back problems, but certainly made me grateful about not suffering electrocution pains at the same time. It's the little things. Solve the daily Crossword
