20 Questions I Have About Mamma Mia!
Way back in 2001, my uncle sat down at the theatre and struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to him. His seatmate happened to be an actor, who had just been cast in the Broadway run of Mamma Mia! The hit ABBA jukebox musical. When the actor told my uncle that the show was going into the Winter Garden, my uncle assured him that he’d have a job for a long, long time, without knowing anything about the show itself. After all, Cats had just completed its 18-year run at the same theatre a year earlier.
I got to see the original Broadway production a few months into its run at the tender age of 10. I had no clue what was going on in the plot (and honestly still don’t), but I fell in love with the colorful costumes, Swedish pop score, and cheeky jokes. It was just the thing I (and many others, I’m sure) needed in those first months after 9/11, when so much was uncertain and the world felt very bleak. I’m surprised I didn’t burn a hole in my copy of the original cast recording with the amount of times I listened to “Lay All Your Love On Me” and “Voulez Vous.” I went on to obsess over other musicals of varying levels of fluff, but Donna and Sophie always held a place in my heart.
The 2008 film adaptation of Mamma Mia! Recently arrived on Netflix, just in time for the release of Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again! I found myself with a rare free evening the other night, and decided it was the right time to revisit this cinematic masterpiece. What I ended up with were questions. A lot of questions. Some of these are questions I’ve had since I first saw the film over a decade ago, and some are more recent inquiries. None of them have to do with the casting of Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael. That, as the Buddhists say, is “a question wrongly asked.” We’ll never really know what happened there.
So, in honor of the sequel’s release next week, here are 20 questions I have about the cinematic masterpiece, Mamma Mia!
Why is this musical set in Greece? Was ABBA big in Greece? Or did the creators know going into the process that it would be adapted into a film later down the line, giving them a chance to hang out on a Greek island for several weeks for free? If so, that is the greatest scam of all time.
If Sophie grew up on a remote Greek Island, why are all her friends English? Did they grow up there too? Was there an international school on the mainland???
How do the dads become friends so quickly? They should be competing for Sophie’s time to be the One True Dad! Although the fact that they’re all willing to co-parent Sophie at the end is very Cool and Progressive.
Why isn’t Dominic Cooper more famous?
Sky is already wearing a ring before the wedding. Did Sophie propose to him? This is what I choose to believe.
Why don’t we talk about Julie Walters more (in this movie and in general)? She sings the best song in the whole musical and SHE’S MOLLY FRIGGIN WEASLEY.
“Someone up there has it out for me. I bet it’s my mother.” HER MOTHER’S DEAD??? This sequel has a lot of explaining to do.
So how old IS the guy that Tanya hooks up with? Is he 18? Are we sure?
HOW DOES CHRISTINE BARANSKI LOOK LIKE THAT???
Does Sophie exclusively shop at Land’s End? I’ve definitely seen those one-pieces in a catalog somewhere. I think my mom has that blue one.
Sky met Sophie while he was traveling...so how old is HE?
Was “Slipping Through My Fingers” designed for maximum parent-related weeping? Because if so, great work, ABBA.
People would pay Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly! money to see Meryl star in a musical on Broadway. Why hasn’t that happened yet?
What if someone with limited mobility had to get up to that church? I mean, look at this path.
Why does Sophie walk down the aisle to “Knowing Me, Knowing You?” I know it translates well for brass quartet, but it’s literally a song about divorce.
THEY’RE IN GREECE WHY IS THIS A ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH??? (I’m aware that there are Catholics in Greece, but it’s a remote island, you’d assume the one church on the island would be Orthodox. Also, look at all those icons in the background. C’mon.)
But how cute is the priest who plays a very conveniently tuned set of bells in “I Do, I Do, I Do?”
Why is the guy Harry meets on the island the only Greek person at the wedding who doesn’t work for Donna?
Are they gonna put “Under Attack” in Mamma Mia 2? It’s the most bananas number in the original musical and I honestly felt very cheated when they cut it for the film!
Why wasn’t Rosie gay? She deserves better than Stellan Skarsgard, I’m sorry.
Will the sequel answer any of these questions? Probably not! But I’m holding out hope and will definitely be at the theatre on opening weekend. Here we go again.