Mamma Mia

Who: Joanne and Mom
What: Mamma Mia
Where: the mall theater
Why: I have to admit, I love Abba!

I never went to see the theatrical version of this because I felt that building a musical around music that already existed was hokey. And you know what, it was. However, if you let yourself be drawn into the hokiness of it all, you, like me, may find yourself laughing and singing, getting choked up and dancing in your seat. I went to see Meryl Streep sing. And her performance did not disappoint. She has a lovely voice. And I bought into her free-spirited hippiness. Christine Baranski has a number called "Does Your Mother Know" that made me smile through the whole thing!

I loved the juxtaposition of the daughter (adorably played by Amanda Seyfried) and her friends and the Mother's (Streep) and hers. And there are some lovely touching scenes about mom letting go of her daughter. Yep, I teared up! The "dads" in this movie played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard definitely do NOT have great singing voices but oh are they entertaining!!

Also notable was the stunning location and very well done lighting in this movie. Made me want to go to Greece!!

My advice is to go to this movie to enjoy the feeling that you get from it. It is silly; it is campy and at times over the top, but it is thoroughly entertaining. You leave the theater with a HUGE smile on your face. I have to look for my ABBA's Greatest Hits CD while I anxiously await the DVD release.

P.S. Stay for the credits!! :-)