My Ideal Version of Mamma Mia!
TO PREFACE IT:
This is a thing I’m doing where I write these little articles about how I’d personally direct these musicals or whatevs
OVERTURE
(ORCHESTRA)
PROLOGUE: THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC
(SOPHIE)
Ok so here is the first main difference in act 1, the prologue is going from being the first verse of I Have a Dream with the last 4 words spoken out to being just that but with Thank You for The Music.
I always felt like the original prologue was kinda weird in the sense that I Have Dream doesn’t exactly communicate much to the audience or speak to Sophie as a character and I feel like this new version would do a better job at it by having the protagonist ironically say she’s “nothing special” while telling the audience how songs are important to her and thus the whole show. Basically, it sets up the mood and an important motif while bringing back cut lyrics.
As for the execution of the number, it’s going to be fairly similar the original one, the main difference is that instead of simply singing it, Sophie speaks directly to the audience since she’s talking about herself and all. The dialogue and scene after the verse will remain the exact same, save for the underscoring of it all.
HONEY, HONEY
(SOPHIE, ALI & LISA)
The most non-opening-number opening number.
Before actually getting into the song I’d like to point out that the show will be keeping the date mentions, such as 1979 on Donna’s diary, for example. I feel like it helps the story make more sense with its exchange of letters and mentions of the internet as something modern and all that jazz.
The song and dialogue remains the same as it is, the only addition are the cut chorus segments from the original songs, which will be sung by Ali & Lisa as they hop forward on the stage while Sophie watches them, the girls are playfully imitating one of the lovers and Donna for laughs. The chorus parts come before the dialogue and Ali & Lisa switch places when its repeated. You’ll notice throughout this weird article thing that I’m making an effort to include the friends (Ali, Lisa, Pepper and Eddie) more in the show by giving them little moments like these.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
(DONNA, ROSIE, TANYA, PEPPER & ENSEMBLE)
“I hate my job” anthem.
I don’t have any objections on the lyrics of the song, but it’s definitely weird that on the cast album we can hear Rosie, Tanya and Pepper at some points when the actual performance is a Donna solo, its probably due to the cast album being based on an earlier version of the script and they couldn’t go back on the studio and re-record it, that happens very often with soundtracks, another two examples on this in the cast album is the Entr’acte including vocal bits from the songs Summer Night City and The Name of the Game being longer than it is on stage, that’s only on the original album though, the 2004 re-release edited it to match the stage version.
The original cast album of Mamma Mia! has a lot of these quirks where the songs don’t match their stage performances, such as the intros to Money, Money, Money and Dancing Queen being made closer to the original ABBA songs, Honey, Honey being SEVERELY shortened, Under Attack having the dance break cut, Chiquitita having Donna finish her verse and a few other examples. These changes are likely either for time constraints since a CD could only hold 74 minutes of audio or to make the songs more recognizable to people who might not know the musical but know the ABBA songs.
Anyways, the song is being performed by Donna, Rosie, Tanya and Pepper in my version of the show.
I HAVE A DREAM
(SOPHIE, SAM, BILL & HARRY)
Ok so get ready for one of the bigger changes of this version.
The scene leading up to it is exactly the same, except the dads are inside instead of being on the courtyard, but they aren’t far from it either. The real difference is that when Harry stars playing the guitar he does the opening chords of I Have a Dream as the scenery shifts to the courtyard where we see Sophie worriedly singing the first verse to herself just before coming back to deliver Sam’s room key, she continues to the chorus as Harry comes into scene to sing with her while being accompanied by Sam and Bill, after that we get the usual dialogue break with two additional lines, one where Harry asks “how do you know the song I’ve had with Donna?” and a following one where Sophie says “she used to sing me to sleep with it!” to which prompts Sam to ask if she is Donna’s daughter and the scene goes as normal until Sophie interrupts Sam with the second verse of the song and then the chorus with Harry and Bill, after that we get another dialogue break that stays intact, and we finish the song with Sophie singing the third verse and all four singing the finishing chorus. (Gawd, this paragraph is written awfully, Jeez!)
The song seems much more fitting in this situation, it’s a song described as “helping someone cope” which encapsulates Sophie’s fear of not knowing who her father is at first glance pretty well, the lyrics “I have a dream / A fantasy / To help me through / Reality” also describes her dream of knowing who is her true father and how that is a driving force for her throughout the show and the following lyrics (“And my destination / Makes it worth the while / Pushing through the darkness / Still another mile”) make it even clearer that Sophie is completely determined to go through with her plan. Overall, it’s a pretty sweet moment for everyone there. If you’re wondering why, this replaces Thank You for the Music because the latter feels too grand and beautiful to be just a bonding moment smack-dab in the middle of the show, I want to give it the little upgrade it needs.
MAMMA MIA!
(DONNA, SAM, BILL & HARRY)
LOOK GUYS SHE SAID THE THING!!!!
The song remains unchanged.
CHIQUITITA
(ROSIE, TANYA & DONNA)
The part where our hearts melt a little.
This song, too, remains unchanged.
DANCING QUEEN
(ROSIE, TANYA, DONNA & FEMALE ENSEMBLE)
The musical’s money shot
Take a guess (or maybe a chance on me), yeah, the song remains the same. Except for the ending, which is changed to be the WONDERFUL one used in the Movie’s encore/soundtrack. Off-stage female vocals to back up the dynamos and intensify the moment during the last pre-chorus and chorus are also included.
OUR LAST SUMMER
(SAM, BILL, HARRY & SOPHIE)
Definitely the biggest change of them all.
This would be an entirely new scene where Sophie is hanging out with the Dads™ so she can get to know them better and maybe pry some new information that’ll help her discover who is the father of this soon-to-be-married-20-year-old-baby.
The four are on a boat, reminiscing about the past while rummaging through a pile of Donna’s things that Sophie brought, some photos, some magazines, a few cassettes and the iconic HB/DS guitar, the stuff prompts numerous comments from the possible fathers about how Sophie is a rascal and definitely Donna’s daughter, no test needed!
We see nostalgia, we see bonding, we see Harry stealing a body-building magazine, we see the boat prop actually being used for one, we see everything, and all that sweetness eventually leads to Harry picking up the guitar and starting Our Last Summer just like he does in the movie, and the scene itself does go like the movie, not much is changed besides the expected translation to stage, the only big difference is that Sophie notices Sky and goes off to meet him instead of the opposite, that way their scene leading up to the next song can happen with no major alterations. (I wonder how Sophie jumping off to meet Sky would work, though.)
LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME
(SKY, SOPHIE & ENSEMBLE)
The “““sexy””” part (not by much tho’, gotta keep it PG!)
The scene leading up to it and the song itself are the exact same as how it is in the stage show, the only difference in my version is that the song starts when Sky says “I’m here.” Instead of “You’ve turned my world upside down—“, and to accommodate that, the little instrumental intro present in the movie soundtrack would be included after the two drum beats to underscore the dialogue and make the song start less abruptly.
SUPER TROUPER
(DONNA, ROSIE, TANYA, FEMALE ENSEMBLE)
The Dynamos moment, it’s such an adorable song all around <333
And in my version its the same thing as the musical :P
GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!
(ALI, LISA & FEMALE ENSEMBLE)
The best orchestrated one imho, that intro is eargasm material.
These changes are on the bigger size!! The number in both the musical and the movie is just the pre-chorus and the chorus being repeated and intercut with dialogue, which means the song is more for visuals and underscoring than anything, so I’m giving this song the verses it lost. The verses are sung by Ali & Lisa alone, to give them more importance in the show because they didn’t do much originally, the pre-chorus and chorus are sung by the entire female ensemble, save for Sophie since she’s talking with the possible dads. The first and second verses are added before the two pre-chorus sections (“is there a man out there?”), the song goes on as normal after that since those two verses are the only lyrics that were really completely cut, the rest is just repetition and thus doesn’t need any change or rearrangement.
THE NAME OF THE GAME
(SOPHIE & BILL)
#BestSong
It’d be the same way its performed on the original cast album, which is NOT how its performed on stage or on the 2004 album, those two versions are shorter than the track in the 1999 album. Also, some new verses are restored and sung by Bill, like the “I was an impossible case” and “I have no friends / No one to see” ones, I feel like that’d add to his character, even if just a little.
VOULEZ-VOUS
(COMPANY)
The same as always, but with a juicier orchestra, probably possible.
ENTR’ACTE
(COMPANY)
Stays the same, maybe with the Summer Night City vocals removed.
UNDER ATTACK
(SOPHIE & NIGHMARE CHORUS)
Sophie’s nightmare sequence because she backed herself into the worst corner she could’ve.
The song itself remains the same, the changes come into the costume part!
Most productions opt to dress up specific characters in something weird while having the ensemble use silly swim gear. While the swim gear is staying in this version, I’m changing the other nightmare costumes. Sky will be wearing Sophie’s wedding dress and holding flowers that get thrown into the audience by the end of the number, Pepper & Eddie are dressed like a page boy and a flower girl, respectively, and Ali & Lisa are both inside a pastor costume forming a weird two-headed thing. You only ever see them in the singing parts, they disappear during the dance break because they’re all using very un-danceable gear, but worry not for they come back at the end of the song!
This another one of those moment where I give the friends a little spotlight lol.
I do recognize that this creative decision could come at a hefty cost since they’d have to produce some costumes that would only be used once and use non-renewable props, so, I offer an alternative: have Sky wearing Sophie’s wedding dress and the three dads using their Waterloo costumes, it’d be cheaper to re-use stuff.
ONE OF US
(DONNA)
Donna thinks of her past (FAILED) relationships.
Stays the same.
S.O.S.
(SAM, DONNA & ENSEMBLE)
The most angst-filled thing ever like OMG get a room!!
Nothing changes besides an added ensemble for intensity in the last part.
DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW
(TANYA, PEPPER & ENSEMBLE)
Tanya’s bad bitch moment.
KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU
(SAM)
Sam tries giving Sophie some fatherly advice regarding her wedding by talking about his own failed one.
The act 2 songs don’t need much tweaking lol.
I’m not too familiar with the second act in general, so maybe I’ll re-do this list if I ever get to know it better.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE
(HARRY & DONNA)
Since Our Last Summer now appears earlier in act 1 as a bonding moment this version has When All Is Said and Done take its place. This is to be performed as an ironic number with Donna chasing Harry around the stage trying to give him back the check her just gave her, which fits the “and then we’ll pay the bill” line.
Besides lightening the mood and including a movie song, this number also exists almost as a counterpart to The Winner Takes It All, showing how Donna managed to patch it up with everyone except Sam.
SLIPPING THROUGH MY FINGERS
(DONNA & SOPHIE)
A Heart-warming moment by Donna where she sings about her dear daughter, Sophie
This beautiful thing stays the same.
THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
(DONNA & ENSEMBLE)
THE EMOTIONAL TUNE OF THE CENTURYYYYYY
It’s the same thing but with a more people in the ensemble to ramp up the emotion and WRECK the audience just like the other two versions of the song did. The song was made to have a strong chorus so the musical's calmer one makes it sound less intense, but they did have to sing that 8 times a week alongside everything else so its understandable.
TAKE A CHANCE ON ME
(ROSIE & BILL)
Rosie’s little moment where she tries to charm Bill, cute.
Remains unchanged, although I do find it sad I can’t include the little moment Harry had with his lover in the movie.
I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO
(SAM, DONNA, ROSIE, TANYA & ENSAMBLE)
An unexpected moment by Sam where he finally proposed to Donna after the (awfully funny) wedding scene took place.
The lines “Donna—let try it / You love me, don’t deny it” are now “Donna—please show it / You love me, and you know it” to avoid repetition by the ensemble later.
The lines “Let’s get together, every day we'll be better / I love you, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do / Leave it or take it, I believe we can make it / Don't you too? I do, I do, I do, I do, I do” are added after the first “cos’ its true” part so we can extend this wonderful number while bringing back a cut verse!
I just really like this song, having it be longer is a freaking dream.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC
(SOPHIE & COMPANY)
The song itself is performed like it is by ABBA. The song is meant to be taken as Sophie thanking the other characters, and so the choreography would be fairly minimalistic, the main thing about it would be that the characters would come in and out and do something with Sophie, like kiss her, hug her, give her a handshake, etc. before finally looks at the audience to deliver the last “So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me”.
I feel like this song fits much better than I Have a Dream especially in the context of Sophie showing gratitude to all the people who have been there for her before finally sailing off to explore the world.
ENCORE: MAMMA MIA/DANCING QUEEN/WATERLOO
(COMPANY/DONNA, ROSIE & TANYA/WOMEN)
(Fun fact: The Russian production has Waterloo replaced by Happy New Year on new years’ eve)
This super exciting moment where the show turns into a concert remains the same, can’t improve on perfection!
TO POSTFACE IT:
WHY IS BLOGGER ON MOBILE ITS OWN CIRCLE OF HELL???? Geez!! Sure, they don't need to appease to everyone but MY. GOD.
Also, I'll probably be changing the blog's layout later, its blue now even though I much prefer pink or green. The reason for blue is because "James" is very much a blue name, I mean, have you seen any pink or green Jameses in these past few years? I don't think so! Maybe I could be the first one lol
This is shit
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I wonder how people'll react when they see this in the future lol
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