It was inevitable, I guess. With the resurgence in interest in
\nthe Swedish pop-dance group Abba, it was only a matter of time
\nbefore someone wrote a Broadway-bound musical shaped around their
\nmusic. (Don’t forget the movie
\nMuriel’s Wedding<\/i> from a few years ago as well.) It’s kind of
\na natural fit, if you think about it for a minute. Abba’s music was
\na bit theatrical in and of itself, and it always seemed to be
\nbigger than the basic structure of the songs. It was almost like
\nlistening to a mini-movie soundtrack.<\/p>\n
Who better to create such a musical than Benny Andersson and
\nBj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus, the two male forces behind Abba? (Side note: As
\nmuch as I’ve run hot and cold on Abba’s music, I have to hand it to
\nall four band members, who have refused many lucrative offers to
\nreform, preferring to let their music speak for itself. That’s
\nintegrity you don’t often see in this business.)<\/p>\n
That show,
\nMamma Mia!<\/i>, is making its way around the United States now,
\nexpected to land in New York in the fall of 2001. Until then,
\nunless you live in one of the cities that’s targeted for the
\npre-Broadway tour, the original cast recording of
\nMamma Mia!<\/i> will have to tide you over – and it’s not a bad
\ncollection.<\/p>\n
If you’re looking for me to give away some of the plot of the
\nplay – well, sorry, gang, but I ain’t gonna do it. I have good
\nreason, too… I have no idea what’s going on (and the official web
\nsite didn’t tell me very much), so you’re kind of on your own.<\/p>\n
But in a sense, you don’t need to know the plot to appreciate
\nthe music contained on this cast album, especially if you remember
\nthe glory days of Abba. Hearing these modern renditions of such
\nfavorites as “Dancing Queen,” “Chiquitita” and “Knowing Me, Knowing
\nYou” should evoke memories of the originals.<\/p>\n
In a way, though, you have to divorce the past of these songs in
\norder to try and appreciate them in the context they’re meant to
\nhave now. It’s not the easiest thing to do – especially, on a track
\nlike “Take A Chance On Me,” when the male rhythm vocals kick in. I
\nthink I have an idea what’s supposed to be happening in the play
\nwhen this song is highlighted, but the moment I hear the men kick
\nin, it’s back to 1977 for me.<\/p>\n
Not every new version on
\nMamma Mia!<\/i> is stellar, though. Some of the vocals on
\n“Dancing Queen” aren’t the strongest I’ve heard, and I don’t
\nremember “Super Trouper” or “The Name Of The Game” sounding a bit
\nlifeless. Yet other tracks, such as “I Have A Dream,” “The Winner
\nTakes It All” and “Slipping Through My Fingers” shine on this disc.
\nThe cast should be proud of their accomplishments; they faced a
\ndaunting task of bringing this music into the 21st Century without
\nsounding camp, and they succeed.<\/p>\n
\nMamma Mia!<\/i> is the kind of cast recording which makes me
\nsomewhat interested in seeing the production – and knowing that it
\ncomes to Chicago in May, I might just get my chance. Whether you’re
\na fan of Abba’s or you just like well-executed cast recordings,
\nthis is one you’ll want to make room for in your CD rack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5791],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-36882","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-original-cast-recording","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36882"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36882"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}