"MAMMA MIA!" WHAT A SHOW!

         You don’t need to understand Swedish or even know where Sweden is on a map to fall in love with the ABBA inspired rock musical “Mamma Mia!”  Even if your knowledge of the music group ABBA is non-existent, the show will surely win your heart and your joy even before the overture is complete.

         Dance down the aisle to the Palace Theater in Waterbury from Friday, January 20 to  Sunday, January 22 to catch this lively with a capital L smash hit musical “Mamma Mia!” with music and lyrics by ABBA musicians Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and book by Catherine Johnson.

         Set on a mythical Greek island, the show is about a daughter Sophie, who at 20 is about to marry.  Her greatest wish is to have her father walk her down the aisle, but there’s one small problem.  Her mother Donna, a determined and vivacious independent spirit, who runs the island taverna, has never spoken Sophie’s father’s name.

         So the industrious and clever Sophie sends wedding invitations to the three candidates for fatherhood as determined by invading the privacy of her mom’s diary of twenty one years previously: an architect Sam, an Australian travel writer Bill and a proper British banker Harry . All three men accept the invitation they believe is from Donna and show up conveniently on the eve of Sophie’s nuptials to Sky .

         Fortunately the unsuspecting Donna has the moral grounding of Tanya and Rosie,  the members of her old singing group Donna and the Dynamos, who literally and figuratively support her when the sparks of mistrust and accusations start to fly. The great ABBA songs like “Dancing Queen,” “The Name of the Game,” “S.O.S.,” “Thank You for the Music,” “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do I Do,” and “The Winner Takes It All” and more than a dozen more, make this show sparkle with neon lights that spell Amazing, Bouncy, Beautiful, and Alive, in snappy and pulsating style.  For tickets ($ 50-70), call the Palace, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at www.palacetheaterct.org.  Performances are  Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m.and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The Palace is encouraging women’s groups of all sizes to choose “Mamma Mia!” as their next “Girls Night Out” destination by offering groups of 15 or more a 10-15 % discount on tickets to the show. Bridal parties, co-workers, social club leaders, and soccer moms looking to book their next group outing can contact Box Office and Special Services Coordinator, Deirdre Patterson at 203-345-2011, to plan their excursion and save on tickets.

Special events  include a pre-show brunch at 11 a.m. on Sunday ($75) prepared by Emily’s Catering Group and a Gla’Mar’Ours Girls Night Out on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. with music, appetizers and a cash bar that is free with a ticket to the 6:30 p.m. show.

        

Once upon a time a girl prays to have her father at her side

for her wedding day.  Is it a blessing or a curse when her

prayers are answered three times over?  Catch the joy of

“Mamma Mia!” and discover for yourself.  Wedding gifts are

optional.