Sitting in the dim, with waves of blue light playing on the curtain before us, and strains of familar music washing over us. And then we were greeted with a sweet, pure voice, singing of her dream, as the curtains raise to reveal a simple yet picturesquely beautiful Mediterranean set. And there sat Miria Parvin (playing Sophie), on the steps.
Certainly not a dramatic way to begin a show, but soft and lovely is fine by me, too. Besides, there was plenty of drama as well as fun being served up through the rest of the sellout show that was
Mamma Mia... live in Kuala Lumpur. Who woulda thought we'd see such a quality stage performance here!
And oh mamma mia... and so much there was to love about it. My, my, how can I resist...
The sight of hot, hunky guys prancing about in flesh on the stage right in front of my eyes!
Of course, the girls were great as well. Ms. Parvin, for one, carried her songs beautifully. I could tell Jackie Clune (who played Donna) had a really good voice too, though she probably wasn't feeling too good cause her voice faltered every now and then, and she was constantly drowned out when singing with others. Or maybe it was the sound engineer's fault, but I should have liked to have beheld her in full prowess. Still, it was quite impressive.
It was as impressive as the sight of hot, hunky guys flapping about in wet suits!
I wonder how they do it night after night after night.
Mamma mia, here I go again... and yet they do it repeatedly with unflagging energy and enthusiasm. All thumbs up to Leigh McDonald and Geraldine Fitzgerald, with their roles of Rosie and Tanya (the Dynamos), for their high spirits, great showmanship and bawdy behaviour ("Blow, don't suck" is
such a classic line).
They easily out-bawdied the hot, hunky guys wickedly dirty dancing!
The rest of the principals all had their moments to shine as well. I particularly liked the sequences for
Thank You For The Music, Our Last Summer, Take A Chance On Me, and the comic takes on
Chiquitita and
Dancing Queen (oh my back!).
The Winner Takes It All, of course, is now a classic "talk to the hand" theme. And the ensemble pieces!
Voulez-Vous was fantastic, what with all the Vogue-esque speedup/stop/slowmo-dancing in the shadows in time to each
a-hah...
Gives one time to appreciate all those hot, hunky guys posing in various stages of undress!
Sigh, it's definitely worth more than every penny I could've spent on it. Hollwood rarely gets it right with their remakes, and I'm glad the stage show came here to set this right and make sense of the script, cause the movie was oh so wrong.
Except for their gratuitious use of hot, hunky guys!
Boy, I certainly had no need for a jacket in that theater, the heat from the stage was simply sizzling!
And yay, to the best closing for a musical, for when the show ended, the performance went on! The encores were so great and lively, I just wished our local audience would be less prim and proper (though I do believe a large number could have been simply clueless), and got up and danced and sung along as we were meant to do. But the cast had enough energy to pack the halls anyway. A standing ovation to you guys!
Oh, and a special shoutout goes to a particular dynamo in the ensemble/swing - the petite yet powerfully muscled hottie with a bald pate and razor sharp dance moves; well, whoever it was, I'M A FAN!!!
So I say thank you for the music, for giving me such a wonderful start to the new year!
Mamma mia, here I go again!
