ABSTRACT
ABBA “is among the most beloved bands on the planet,” writes critic Elisabeth Vincentelli. Much as music writers reviled the Swedish pop group, theatre critics have turned up their noses at Mamma Mia! and the jukebox musicals that followed. The list of Mamma Mia!’s broken records, the catalog of its global firsts, and the account ledger of its box office receipts goes on and on. Moreover, the profits turned by Mamma Mia! have played no small part in convincing artists, record labels, and rights holders to theatricalize the back catalogs of rock and pop groups. In the years since Mamma Mia! music from dozens of recording artists has made its way to workshop theaters and the professional stage. And in 2010, a theater company in Shizuoka chose to commemorate Hiroshima Peace Day, the annual Japanese memorial of the atomic bombing, not with solemn dance or mournful poetry, but by staging Mamma Mia!.
