Callie Cuyar, Contributing Reporter|March 8, 2023

The 2008 jukebox musical romantic comedy, Mama Mia, is directed by Phyllida Lloyd and has an amazing cast of actors including Meryl Streep, Amands Seyfried, Pierce Broshan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgara. Mama Mia takes place around 1999 on a fictional Greek Island called Kalokari which is based off the Greek Island of Skopelos. Mama Mia is the story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father before the wedding and the story is told with the help of the music from the 1970s group ABBA.
The story begins a couple days before the wedding on the island of Kalokari where bride-to-be Sophie finds her mom (Donna’s) journal that she kept from the summer when she was pregnant with Sophie. It’s kept a secret that the three guys that were all mentioned in the journal are invited to the wedding in hopes of one of them being Sophies’ biological father. As the story goes on, the songs from ABBA help portray all the emotions and tell the story in a unique way. Shortly after the invitations are sent Sophies’ two best friends Ali and Lisa arrive on the island where they are the first to hear about Sophies’ decision to invite the three possible fathers and that’s where it all starts to fall into place. It’s not known by many other people about Sophies plan, and the audience gets to watch it all fall into place of the young bride trying to finally achieve that family picture.
The cast that makes up the movie are truly all very talented and even performed the songs themselves. Each actor and actress portray their character in a way that distracts you from the fictional idea of what they really are. The cast of Mama Mia is seen in a different light that captures their talents outside of their stereotypical roles. For example, Pierce Broshon was a former James Bond. Seeing him singing and dancing as well as him in a comedic role was a refreshing sight to see from his usual more serious roles. Meryl Streep, on the other hand, may be known for her comedic roles but the musical side of her is something that stood out and brought more attention to her other skills in acting.
Mama Mia’s soundtrack is truly one of the essential aspects to the movie. ABBA’s music is enjoyable to listen to. Each song shows the true emotions and feelings that these characters are experiencing. Before or after each major scene in the movie is where the songs come into play and add extra definition to the scenes on top of the acting. A prime example that shows the relations between the characters is when ‘Dancing Queen’ is performed. In this moment Donna is upset over the arrival of her three exes one of which is Sophies’ father. Donna’s reminiscing about the past and the person she once was when she was younger. Where her two best friends Tanya and Rosie come in and begin to joke around singing Dancing Queen to cheer Donna up and remind her that she can still be the girl she once was while still being the adult she is now.
The whole Mama Mia movie is just something different, with the mix of the entertainment from multiple genres from a love story, encapsulating different family dynamics into a musical and of course the comedic aspects, it provides each viewer a different view of how
to experience it. Mama Mia also has been made into a Broadway Musical as well as the sequel
‘Mama Mia: Here We Go Again’ in 2018 that just adds more to the lives of the characters were introduced to in the original Mama Mia. Essentially, if ABBA’s music even brings joy to your ears you will defiantly find yourself enjoying all the versions of Mama Mia.