Review: Mamma Mia! brings sequins, nostalgia and power of community to Abu Dhabi

There’s a visible shift that spreads across an audience during Mamma Mia! – one that goes from shy engagement to full-bodied joy, as if muscle memory has kicked in and everyone suddenly remembers the words to Dancing Queen.

That collective response, so reliably evoked by this long-running musical, raises a deeper question: what purpose should a stage show serve once it has crossed the threshold from hit to institution?

Since its West End premiere in 1999, the Abba-fuelled jukebox musical Mamma Mia! has gone from being a breakout success to a shared cultural memory. It is a show so familiar to some in the audience, that they often collectively hum the songs before the curtain even rises.

The version currently playing at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, part of an international touring production, is a case study in what it means to stage something so popular and loved. The challenge does not lie in execution. By now, Mamma Mia! has been honed to a fine commercial polish: the touring cast hit their marks, the lighting cues are crisp and the music is performed with faithful gusto. It is, in every sense, a successful production.

The more interesting question is whether that success should still be measured in technical proficiency or whether – once a musical enters the cultural canon – the more pressing task is to find something new within it.

While bobbing my head along to the familiar tunes, I couldn’t help but think: should a show such as Mamma Mia! change? Or perhaps more accurately: for whom must it change? That may not be Mamma Mia!’s burden to bear. Classics endure for a reason, but as the musical celebrates more than two decades of sold-out runs and repeat performances, it invites some reflection: how do we keep something alive without embalming it?

This Abu Dhabi run delivers what audiences expect: escapism, warmth, glitter and the familiar groove of Abba songs. The plot, in which a young bride named Sophie invites three of her mother Donna's former lovers to her wedding to discover who her father is, remains secondary to the soundtrack.

While the dialogue is breezy and the stakes are gentle, the emotional architecture still has the potential to surprise. In this version, that potential is most visible in Steph Parry’s Donna, whose rendition of The Winner Takes It All resists melodrama and leans into a more controlled devastation.

It’s a performance that momentarily lifts the show out of its party-dress expectations and into something more raw and grounded – a vulnerability I’ve always found hard to locate in Meryl Streep’s otherwise formidable interpretation in the film adaptation.

Also deserving of mention is Ellie Kingdon’s Sophie, played with a disarming sincerity and vocal clarity that gives the character both weight and warmth. Donna’s longtime friends and former bandmates, Tanya and Rosie (brought to life with magnificent flair by Sarah Earnshaw and Nicky Swift) inject the production with verve, comic precision and impeccable timing. Their presence offers a necessary counterbalance to the show’s emotional currents, and their scenes together offer pure enjoyment.

These are performances likely shaped by experience rather than invention, but maybe that’s the point. In a play so well-known, elevation doesn’t always mean transformation.

For me, having seen Mamma Mia! multiple times, including when it came to Dubai in 2021, the broader production felt like it was playing too close to the template at points. There was a smoothness to the staging that, while admirable, felt cautious. Even some of the more spirited numbers, such as Voulez-Vous or Does Your Mother Know, were energetic but stopped short of fully surrendering to the moment.

However, for audiences seeing it for the first time, as many in Abu Dhabi could be, the show remains a revelation. The story’s optimism, the undeniable power of hearing Abba sung live – these things still have the capacity to feel fresh, especially when encountered without the weight of prior viewings. In that sense, the production is doing precisely what it needs to: making the old feel new again for someone else.

I attended the opening night, and the venue was near capacity. A decade ago, such productions arrived sporadically in the UAE, often met with curiosity rather than fervent demand. But in recent years, the frequency and reception of large-scale international musicals suggest a cultural shift is underway. It seems the capital is not just importing musicals, but also nurturing an audience for them.

The show’s final encore, a sequinned celebration of Dancing Queen and Waterloo was a beautiful shared moment between the cast, the crowd and even this critic. It was at this point – hands raised, lyrics mouthed back in unison – that Mamma Mia! reminded me why it endures.

The production’s staying power lies in its ability to gather strangers and turn them, at least temporarily, into a community. Is it a sign of theatre culture taking root in the UAE? I’m excited even just by the idea of it.

Mamma Mia! is at Etihad Arena until June 22. Tickets start at Dh125