"Mamma Mia!" is more than just a lighthearted musical built around 22 ABBA songs by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. It's become an international entertainment juggernaut.
"Mamma Mia!" premiered on March 23, 1999, in the Prince of Wales Theatre in London's West End, which recently welcomed its 4 millionth patron and is currently booked through January 2007.
The show recently celebrated its 1,000th performance in the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, becoming the longest-running full-scale Broadway musical ever to play along the Strip.
It's been running for four years on Broadway, with no end in sight.
When the show had its North American premiere on May 23, 2000, in Toronto, the producers expected that it might run 26 weeks — in a city where most shows run six weeks or less. It closed last May after five years and 2,044 performances.
The North American touring company is making its second visit to Salt Lake City this week, with a two-week run in the Capitol Theatre. And one of this company's performers — Robert Adelman Hancock, who plays Sky, the young man betrothed to the daughter of the musical's central character — is excited to be back in Utah.
Hancock had a great experience working at the Utah Shakespearean Festival during its fall season in 2001, he said by phone from Sacramento, where "Mamma Mia!" was playing last week. He played Mortimer in "The Fantasticks." (He was directed in that play by Paul Barnes, who has directed many productions in both Cedar City and Salt Lake City, and who was the last director Hancock worked with in college, at the University of Tennessee, and the first who hired him professionally.)
Hancock has been with the current "Mamma Mia!" tour for seven months, and before that he was in the first national tour for eight months. "There's so much horrible 'drama' in the world these days, and this is one of those 'escape' musicals, because it's so joyful. It's about celebrating life and enjoying it." This tour is booked well into 2007, he said.
When "Mamma Mia!" was here in summer 2003, there was some flak about the musical being offensive, but Hancock said, "I think it's pretty innocent; it's definitely not vulgar. It reflects a number of people's lives and it's honest.
"I'm from the South, and we have an over-the-edge element there, too. But most people look past what they'd find offensive because there is so much joy. We're having a ball onstage . . . most of the time. Sometimes it is hard work, but it's such an amazing thing to come into."
Commenting on his work four years ago at the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Hancock said, "It was a great experience. You get to do what you love and be so close to the national parks. It's really quite astounding. Who would guess that the festival is there in southern Utah. It's a great setting with really good, dedicated people."
Hancock added that "Mamma Mia!" travels with its own group of musicians. "It's just because we're reproducing that ABBA sound. There was a lot of work that went into this. They took the original ABBA tracks apart and replicated them. I'm always floored the way it sounds out in the audience."
Growing up in Nashville, Hancock said there was always music around his house. "My grandmother was the one who encouraged me to take voice lessons. She paid for them because she thought I needed to have lessons to take proper care of my voice. I'm so thankful."
If you go . . .
What: "Mamma Mia!"
Where: Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South
When: Tuesday through Nov. 27
How much: $30-$70
Phone: 355-2787
Web site:www.arttix.org
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com