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'MAMMA MIA!' Music and Stagecraft | The BSB Podcast · The BSB Podcast

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Here we go again listeners, we're journeying back to the Greek island
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of our dreams in this episode of the BSB Podcast.
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You're a super trooper for joining us in our part two of our Mamma Mia discussion.
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However, before we dive back in,
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like, follow, and subscribe to BSB Insider on YouTube and social media
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at BSP.insider.
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Spoiler warning, today we'll be exploring Mamma Mia in depth,
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which is the name of the game.
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So if you haven't seen this touring production,
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pause this podcast and come back once you have.
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RJ, in last episode, we shared how we liked this one a lot more than
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the previous time we saw it, which is only separated by two years and quite
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a few different shows in between.
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But there was something magical about this show.
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~ Is it because...
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It's ABBA music and we're just two queer men here that just a call to
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our nature or is there something like what is it about this music that just
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encapsulates Mamma Mia?
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I mean, it's timeless, right? Much like I always think of like Whitney Houston
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or just like these are the songs that come on and are also nostalgic from even
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like my younger years, even though this wasn't like we weren't around when these
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were incepted, but they were such staples like when you go to a wedding.
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or when you go to a bar or a club,
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like these songs always like if you're if they aren't playing Dancing Queen,
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they are not a DJ. Like I it it just is the truth.
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So it's funny you say that so I was at a wedding last night and at
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the wedding and I'm setting the stage people It's a it was a lesbian wedding.
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So like this lines up because I was told like a long time ago Abba and Mamma
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Mia are for the lesbians But they played Dancing Queen they played
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give me give me give me a man after midnight,
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which was questionable
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And then they also did a another one.
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I can't think of the other one that they did,
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but I was just like, interesting.
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It was literally like, one point it was like,
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~ Dancing Queen, another song,
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give me, me, give me. And then a little bit later they did another ~ song.
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And I was like, take a chance on me.
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And I was like, it's interesting that we are like at a wedding and they were playing
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ABBA, like it was going out of style.
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And you're right. Cause it does have that timeless feel.
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wedding feel, good vibes feel.
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Even though these songs are from the 70s,
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they're still speaking to populations now.
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Yeah, and I mean, of course, like...
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I think it helps that the music is built to be exactly what it is.
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It's built to be dance music. It's built to tell a story and it's built
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to be relatable. And that is even in your lesbian wedding
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experience. ~
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it just... everyone can get down.
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Like everyone. I went to a... an event that
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had a DJ and they played Mamma Mia.
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~
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Or maybe it was Dancing Queen.
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Maybe it was both. ~ And
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Probably.
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again, like people, the dance floor was full.
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Like these songs, they're easy to remember.
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They don't have a lot of words.
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They're easy to get down to and it,
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across the generations, like we can get down to it.
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My mom and your mom can probably get down to it.
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And even like if my grandma was still alive,
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she would be getting down to it.
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So like it just it's cross-generational joy.
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It's funny. I have a few notes here.
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The first one being that at this wedding,
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someone said to me when, Dancing Queen came on and there was
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an excitable scream from most of the party running to the dance floor.
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And someone said to me, we're sitting at the table and they said,
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I have not seen a suburb run to the dance floor so hard since Sweet Caroline came
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on. And it's true because it's just like,
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there's just something about this music that is intoxicating.
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And I think what makes it interesting for this show.
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and I'm gonna use your mother's friend who came with us,
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who was lovely, she had never,
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correct me if wrong, she had never been to Mamma Mia before,
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like live.
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Yeah.
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But she easily knew all these songs because they were songs that like your mother
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and her had heard through the years as they like grew up and they were adults
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and they were living. again, this music's from the 1970s.
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And so you didn't feel as alienated,
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I would assume, in her position here.
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She wouldn't feel as alienated because she knew most of these songs in
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a very pop culture kind of way.
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And so that does allow you to like absorb itself into the story a little bit more.
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~ And again, ABBA just speaks to everybody.
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Yeah, I mean, if you weren't tapping your toes at some period or another,
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I'm not sure that you have a pulse because it just,
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especially in that theater, it was pounding.
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I mean, I turned to you at least twice and I was like,
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holy cow, this is so loud. But the bass was bumping.
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And that,
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You
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again, is the point, like...
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That's intentional. There are sound engineers and designers who are
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on these tours doing all this work to ensure that that is the experience that you're
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getting.
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it is kind of built like a concert in that way.
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I was gonna say when both the overture and the entree act,
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I don't know how to say that word.
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RJ, how do you say that word when you come back?
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perhaps.
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Okay. But both of those, when you just have the riffs to Mamma Mia,
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just da da da da, automatically people were just jazzed.
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You know what I mean? They hadn't even started singing yet.
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The stage hadn't opened up. We're sitting here for at least another five
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or six minutes, because let's be honest,
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these overtures are long.
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But you're just super jazzed pulled it.
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But it's it's loud. It was like,
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~ like, you're just into it.
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Like, you can't even conversations have to stop.
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There's no conversing during this part.
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There's no you're just absorbed into ABBA's music and Mamma Mia.
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Yeah, I mean, which rightfully so,
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again, like the whole purpose of those part of it is to get people in their seats.
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Historically, know Overture's happened to let people know that
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the show was starting, ~ but it does,
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it sets the tone, it gets people excited,
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especially those longer ones, which this is longer.
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~
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And that is also more so the opportunity,
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I think, for people to like hum and sing along.
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Like I would much rather you do that then than when there is
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a performer doing their job.
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Yeah, which we do get to talk about that a little bit in just a bit.
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But before we jump into the audience,
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I want to talk real quick about the music itself.
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But I'm gonna start with the fact that this is a jukebox musical.
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I always find it interesting how jukebox musicals are made.
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And I always go back to how I'm sure I said this before,
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I always think about Glee and how sometimes in Glee,
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the music felt like it fit the storyline.
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And there's sometimes that they made the storyline fit the song.
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And I do feel like there's a lot of jukebox musicals that make the music,
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make the story fit the music. And it feels kind of clunky.
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Like you're just throwing the song in there,
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but sometimes it doesn't fit. I have to say,
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I think this is one of the best shows,
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jukebox shows out there that has intertwined the songs in a way that actually feels.
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layered a little bit better. it feels like there's like if there's some songs that
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are just songs and there's some songs actually most of the songs actually have
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a purpose and it feels like it's almost made for the musical even though it's
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not and I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone but myself.
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Yeah, no, I'd agree. Most of the time,
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as we know, I hate jukebox musicals.
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Hate is a strong word. Strongly dislike.
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Do not prefer. ~
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He
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sighs so hard every time a jukebox musical rolls through that
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the entire earth starts to have an earthquake.
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Let's be honest here.
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But the only noticeable song to me that didn't fit is,
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and maybe it's just my perception of the song,
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is the name of the game. Where
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Correct.
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in this stage version, she's singing
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to one of her potential fathers.
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And I get how they're trying to spin it,
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like this is a game, like stop playing,
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like if you know the answer, blah blah blah,
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I just wanna know.
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That's not how I take the song.
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Like I take the song in a little bit more of a like romantic conflict
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Correct.
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take away. And so it is a little bit weird to be like,
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you're
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I agree.
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like, there's a romantic line with your potential father.
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That's okay. But honestly, if that is like the,
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like the only song, which to me pretty much.
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was the only one that is just like kind of glaringly out there because they
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had to fit it in. And the other like 20 are fine,
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then I'll take it.
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So I will, I'm gonna speak on this one and then I'm gonna throw another song into
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that mix before we talk about the good ones here.
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So the name of the game I think is interesting because first off,
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they take it out of the movie,
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which is probably for a good reason,
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probably for the exact reason you meant.
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It is a romance song. It's a song about a partner talking to another partner.
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Like, why are you playing with my emotions?
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And I think it cuts the energy really hard.
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So like when you go from Gimme,
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Gimme, Gimme, if you went straight into Voulez-Vous and like they did
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in the movie and you have those scenes still played out,
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It builds you to that crescendo of almost anxiety,
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which is where you should be in that show.
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It's where you should, that's your feeling Sophie's anxiety of not knowing what
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to do. And that's a really cool place to start.
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The name of the game just like a hundred percent stops that energy for
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a long period of time. And then it expects you to just pick up that energy again
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with Voulez-Vous And it's a little bit of theatrical whiplash.
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I think the only other song that I feel like doesn't always fit.
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is under attack, which is the opening of Act Two,
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which it just feels so far out of the connected tissue.
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It's a dream sequence. It's the one where she's kind of dreaming about being under
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attack with all these, all the stress,
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but it doesn't feel that part doesn't feel cohesive.
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But I would say a lot of the other ones do feel really cohesive to the story
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and or the energy. Cause a lot of this sometimes is sometimes it matches
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the energy of that.
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I forgot about that one and that is absolutely true.
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I and I forgot that it was even in it.
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Like I literally was sitting there like,
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did we see this last time?
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but the whiplash of name of the game.
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Yes, absolutely. Why they didn't just run it directly in.
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I mean, I understand why they probably like needed to breathe as an ensemble,
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but
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the just total 180, well really ultimately 360 that happens between those three
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songs. And then to come back in with Under Attack,
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I'm almost like,
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were they trying to make a statement about mental health and it just like didn't
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work? Like, because those two things are kind of focused,
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like you said, on her stress, her anxiety,
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and they just didn't land,
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I think, as.
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It almost it reminds me of the dream sequence of ~ in Fiddler on the Roof.
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I knew you were gonna say that,
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yes.
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Yeah, I'm just I was like, what is this compared to like it's so big because
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it is so bizarre, like in the costuming and the lights and just all of the things.
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I mean, it was like somebody was on drugs when they decided to put this song in,
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which is very possible. ~ But I mean,
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They were on drugs when they probably wrote the songs in the 70s.
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I well, yeah, everyone was on drugs
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when those songs were created.
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Yeah. But then to jump into one of us,
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like we're going from like a very kind of
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It's serious in the sense that she's stressed and sleepwalking,
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which that's another, I couldn't remember how that sequence ended.
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So then I was like, the only way for her to get out of this is for
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it to be sleepwalking. So then of course there was that.
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to go into one of us. I don't know.
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Again, it kind of felt like Whiplash,
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Colonel Whiplash.
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not in
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the same as Name of Game,
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but still kind of why are we,
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like I could have done without it,
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honestly.
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I agree. And so when I think of these songs though,
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think those two may be out of it.
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I feel like there's a lot of songs that are high energy and there's a
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lot of songs that you really get to show off your skill.
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And so, know, obviously you can't go wrong with things like Act
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One is really strong. I just want to say that.
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~ Honey, honey, money, money, money,
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mama mia, Chiquitita, Dancing Queen,
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Super Trooper, Gimme Gimme. There's so many strong ones in here.
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I love ABBA.
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I don't know if I ever told you this RJ,
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but I was one of the A*Teens I don't know if you ever grew up on A*Teens
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but there was a band called A*Teens and they just covered ABBA songs
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for like their first album or two albums.
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And so I didn't know who ABBA was.
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I thought that they were all A*Teens songs and then they started writing their
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own music and I found out that it was ABBA.
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But I love these songs. They're high energy.
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They're really good. Something about seeing Mamma Mia.
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be performed live, can you see Super Trooper always makes me slightly emotional
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for some reason. There's a lot of high energy songs and I want to talk about
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the emotional song in a second because I think that really stood out to
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me for the first time ever. But these fast paced songs,
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these iconic dance numbers, you just can't help but feel good when you're
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in Mamma Mia watching these actors perform these songs.
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Yeah, I mean...
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The ensemble, I didn't remember the ensemble being as big as it was until they were
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on the stage or we were reading their bios,
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but they're so vocally strong and physically so much happening,
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not to mention they like change costumes 15 times,
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which I guess is standard for ensemble.
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But like you mentioned, all of these,
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especially in act one, it's predominantly high energy go-get-em.
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Ensemble numbers and then act two we kind of get into the like slow ballads
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and or just like duo trio songs
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Yeah, because how the hell does Donna,
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Jessica Crouch, I should go from Mamma Mia to Chiquitita to Dancing Queen.
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And there's not a lot of time between,
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like, this is one I noticed that there wasn't a lot of clapping in between.
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I feel like last time we saw it,
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there was a lot of clapping in between the songs.
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This one, they moved the show along so quickly.
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I feel like they eliminated some of that.
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So you're talking about Jessica's going from Mamma Mia,
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where it's all about dancing around these men,
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and to Chiquitita where she's...
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all upset and like they're trying to make her happy into a dancing queen where she's
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jumping on beds and stuff like the energy is just crazy.
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It's just crazy in Act one.
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Yeah, I mean, most of the people,
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if you're leading this, don't get a break for like two to three songs at a time.
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~
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which ironically,
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well, mean, no, Donna's just in the whole damn thing,
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but Sophie,
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Yeah
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like somewhat inconsistent. Like I feel like every like five songs
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we get Sophie ~ or she's like part of the ensemble,
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but.
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I mean, these people, and I know some of them do,
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they literally train on treadmills.
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Like they sing while running on a treadmill because that is
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the degree of physicality that you have to keep up with when you
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are dancing and singing.
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However, because of the size of this ensemble,
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I do think there is a lot of offstage singing happening.
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~ Actually, it's something ~ that I spoke.
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to ~ Sharon, the one that we brought with us,
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~ who is less familiar with theater professionally at least.
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~ We talked about it. She was wondering,
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she's like, how can there possibly be that full of a sound when there's only five
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people on stage? Yes, there are off stage folks singing
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~ even when they're coming on and off stage.
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But if I recall correctly,
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There might even be some, and I'd have to look at the bios,
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there might even be some individuals who literally don't come on stage.
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They just exclusively sing off stage.
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I know for community productions,
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I'm 90 % sure that it's built that way,
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again, because it's too,
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you will literally pass out if you try to do all
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of that continuously for two and a half hours.
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I going say, talked, when I talked with Sarah Agrusa about Mamma Mia,
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she mentioned that she's assistant dance captain.
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She's a member of the ensemble.
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She is a swing for a lot of this,
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but a lot of the times she said,
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I'm singing off stage. And I saw,
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I think it was all the way until Gimme Gimme where I was able to actually point
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her out to you and be like, that's her.
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Like it took all the way to through almost act one when they actually needed
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a whole bunch of people on stage at the same time for her to kind of pop up.
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because she's singing a lot of this off stage,
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because it is vocally demanding.
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Even though they're like fast songs,
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they're energetic songs, ABBA is vocally demanding.
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So you need people who are almost not out of breath dancing to be able
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to sing these songs and do it well.
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Yeah, I could never, I mean, I'm just not a dancer,
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so I couldn't be in the show anyway.
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Or if I was, I would literally,
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no, just couldn't, because they all dance.
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Like even the dads, that's who I was thinking,
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like, maybe I could get away. No,
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because they come in, as we know,
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and also do dancing. So.
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Listen, if a community production got rid of the encore,
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you could totally be like Sam Carmichael.
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~ Not sure that's my voice part either,
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but...
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But I do want to talk about one song specifically in Act Two.
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R.J., we both know that I don't love slow songs.
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Slow songs are not my forte. I can appreciate a ballad,
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but I don't want to see ballad after ballad after ballad.
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I have never liked The Winner Takes It All.
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I just wanted that to be very honest.
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I did not like it in the movie.
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I did not like it the previous production that we saw.
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The Winner Takes It All is just not my favorite.
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But I am...
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Gosh darn in love with the song now since Jessica did it.
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She was again, I know we talked about in part one,
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RJ her vocal talent throughout the whole show was phenomenal.
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But when she opted up at the end of winner takes it all,
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I thought I was going to lose my goddamn mind.
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It was so good.
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Yeah, like, again, casting,
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vocal ability, it's so important.
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And like, there's good, there's great,
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and then there is like stunning.
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And I would put Jessica in the stunning category,
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especially in this song. Not only did she,
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yeah, she opted up, which I have never heard anyone do before.
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~
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Yeah.
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But also, she didn't take a breath,
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where a lot of folks typically do.
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She held consistently for measures on end,
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which is insane, and she made
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it seem like easy. Like it didn't look like
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Yeah.
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she was about to pass out from singing this song.
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And I think that's, again,
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one of...
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the draws and one of the differences.
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Because I think before, like we could tell that it was exhausting.
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There's a different level of awestruck when someone is performing and they make
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it seem like it's just a walk in the park,
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but you know from what you're literally seeing and hearing that it's not.
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And she, yeah, she's stunning.
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I was so completely just awestruck in like the pure talent that she had
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in that one moment. And like that song is difficult enough,
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but she's like crying. She's like emoting
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and she's flawlessly hitting those notes.
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Like there's goddess level,
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like there's goddess level performers.
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And Jessica Crouch is one of those individuals who's just an absolute goddess.
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from start to finish of the show,
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that like, this is one of the reasons that I think that everybody needs
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to see Mamma Mia. Like this tour in production with her in it,
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because like there's, yes, there's a lot of talent in show,
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but she is so, so, so, so, so talented in this show.
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Yeah, there's there's few actors or actresses.
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Honestly, I can't recall this in the in this recent season.
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Of one that I was like,
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I want to follow this person. Like,
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I want to actively see where they go.
22:13
Yes.
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Gee, I do like I knowing that she's toured with other productions before.
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I'm like, okay, when when is she coming back?
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And what's she going to do next?
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Because I want to see it.
22:26
Yeah, because I think if we would have saw her in Pretty Woman,
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we would have liked that show a lot more.
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I do think, not that we didn't dislike it,
22:34
but we weren't as starstruck with it.
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And I think that she was in it,
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the production we would have seen.
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That would have been a ~ memorable show for us.
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Like, as we're walking out, and this is not me blowing smoke up any show's
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ass right now, but I turned to RJ and I said,
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never in my wildest dreams that think Mamma Mia would be one of
22:54
the best productions we saw this year at the,
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you know, part of ATG Detroit's Broadway series.
23:00
Cause we've had a lot of great shows.
23:02
We've had a lot of big productions.
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We've had a lot of fantastic performances.
23:06
You would not have ever convinced me that Mamma Mia was going to be at
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the top of that list because of a single performance.
23:13
And that says a lot about the show.
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Yeah, and I truly,
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I mean, I'd have to like look on paper and analyze what my favorite was,
23:24
but for per individual performance,
23:28
per standout for the season, this
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is definitely somewhere up there.
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~ And actually, maybe that'll be something we push out a little bit later
23:41
is kind of our analysis of the season.
23:46
Ooh, like a little post-season video of us with our thoughts.
23:52
Like who was, I mean, could be like our version of the Tonys based
23:58
on the shows that
23:58
Ooh.
23:59
we saw this year or this season,
24:01
I should say. So, you know, I'm just now throwing this at Brian also.
24:06
Don't hold us to it, but might be fun.
24:10
Might be fun.
24:11
The Tonys, who wants a Tony when you have the BSB bony's?
24:14
Nope. Thank you that back.
24:17
That was an outtake. No, no, we're to keep that in because that's,
24:21
thank you so much. tried to, this is what happens when RJ throws me a curve ball
24:25
and I try to improv real quick.
24:26
but I think that would be an interesting take because I wonder if
24:31
we would rank shows differently.
24:33
If we would, we'll talk about it We'll talk about it.
24:36
Anyways.
24:37
Anyway, don't listen to anything R.J.
24:38
has to say right now because Sufs is coming up,
24:40
even though this episode might come out after Sufs.
24:42
And it's all going to change when that arrives here as he cries five times
24:45
in a week from watching that show.
24:47
take it with a grain of salt. But this production itself was definitely
24:53
one of the highlights so far. And that's saying a lot because I got
24:55
to see Family Opera live completely for once.
24:58
We got to see Beauty and the Beast,
25:01
which is one of my favorite Disney films.
25:03
We got to see
25:04
my gosh, that feels
25:05
like so long ago though. Yeah.
25:07
a lifetime. It was it was
25:09
a lifetime ago. And so but this one was truly phenomenal.
25:15
And I will say this, I don't want to this is not me throwing a cab out on that.
25:19
It's the same set. It's pretty much the same costumes.
25:22
Like you're not like you're not necessarily going to for Mamma Mia
25:25
to be impressed with the set. Although I did feel a little more impressed with
25:29
the set this time. So I don't know if it was just because it felt a little more
25:32
I was enjoying the show more.
25:34
So it felt a little more impressive.
25:35
I don't know if it was the digital screen in the back that felt a little more Greek
25:39
Mediterranean feel, ~ but it's a simple design.
25:42
The costumes are simple. There's not a lot going on.
25:45
Where the show shines is the movement of the people,
25:49
the dancing, the singing, the acting really spoke this time as well.
25:53
I think last time we saw the show,
25:54
the singing was good,
25:58
was stellar, but the acting was not its best.
26:02
And so I think that's where
26:03
this show really kind of got to play with it was the fact that the stars
26:06
and the dancers and the cast were really front and center that made this show worth
26:10
seeing.
26:11
Yeah, and the dynamic,
26:15
I mean, I agree. I've never loved the set,
26:18
~ but I understand why it is the way that it is.
26:22
Again, when you have a jukebox musical and it has a story and it's vocally taxing,
26:28
like I think of shows like The Cher Show,
26:31
~ where we're not getting a ton,
26:36
we're getting a little, we're not getting a ton,
26:38
but again, we're focused on vocals.
26:41
in that this again it's the difference of good to great to stellar
26:47
or whatever you want the adjectives to be like for sure obviously
26:52
if you're doing this professional you're good at what you do the difference
26:56
is when i'm looking at an empty stage and you
27:02
are the focal point you're either good or you're great
27:07
Like that makes a difference because you're the only thing I'm looking at.
27:10
You're the only thing I'm seeing or hearing.
27:14
the chemistry too,
27:17
I think plays a big part ~ to combine all of these things together,
27:23
right? When we talk about, I also noticed the lights felt a little bit more
27:29
Yes.
27:30
intentional and dynamic for those moments.
27:34
~
27:36
Granted, was opening night. There were a couple flukes,
27:39
but we kind of always expect that.
27:42
yeah, just every, this time everything added
27:45
up way more than I,
27:50
and maybe part of me is just still shocked because I literally went in,
27:55
like we mentioned in part one.
27:57
I went into this thinking I would absolutely loathe every moment of being there.
28:03
And within, I don't what,
28:06
two scenes? Not even, like two songs?
28:08
I was like, oh.
28:11
Yeah. And, and you know, I, think
28:13
Difference. Different.
28:14
that even too, when you look into how you arrived,
28:17
~ you were running a little.
28:19
yeah, I like was
28:20
running in the building because I was almost late.
28:23
Yeah, and so I feel like right there also too,
28:25
that can change a show as well.
28:27
And the fact that it could overcome even that,
28:29
I mean like the not sit down, relax,
28:31
enjoy the show, we're all here,
28:32
we're having a good time. I think it speaks again volumes to what
28:35
was happening in that room because you didn't,
28:40
you could have very easily been like,
28:42
I don't wanna be here, I'm running behind,
28:44
Brian, just see the show, good luck.
28:45
You know I mean? And you still came in there and you could have still been like,
28:49
this is a horrible show. And within two songs,
28:54
you were laughing and having a good time.
28:56
And I think I felt myself enjoying it more because I was listening to you laugh.
29:02
I could hear your mom laughing.
29:04
I could hear her friend laughing.
29:06
Everybody was enjoying it. So I feel like that energy was really there.
29:12
But they were giving 110 % on that stage.
29:14
And so you were giving 110 % as an audience.
29:18
Yeah, and shows like that, like,
29:19
that's the other thing too, is cast's feed off of energy.
29:24
And so I think we did have a very good audience in regards to that.
29:28
Even with, and I do think they moved the show along differently.
29:34
There was less pause for applause and...
29:41
it lent itself well because then when people did applaud they were really like they
29:45
were into it. It wasn't like, ~ I'm clapping because the scene's over,
29:50
which can feel so mundane. ~
29:54
And there were moments, this is my soapbox for every show
30:01
I feel like.
30:02
Take the mic,
30:04
where we did have folks around us singing or talking or whatever over
30:10
the performance. Let me just reiterate,
30:13
folks, this is a performance.
30:17
It is a theatrical production in which you are paying to see and hear
30:22
the people on the stage, not the people around you.
30:27
While I absolutely love that...
30:31
Any one of us can be so enthralled by the production,
30:34
by the music, by just any part of it.
30:38
That's wonderful. I love that for you.
30:40
I love that for us. I very easily could have sung along to every single song that
30:47
they played. However, I did not.
30:50
Because you didn't pay to hear me sing.
30:53
~ And I can like hold a tune.
30:57
~ Unfortunately, the people around us couldn't.
31:00
And so while it wasn't distracting to the point that we needed to address it,
31:05
it was distracting. I'm sure, because I heard other people shushing.
31:10
~ But again,
31:14
friendly reminder, know,
31:17
sing it in the car, sing it at home,
31:19
sing it in the shower, sing it literally anywhere else.
31:23
Sing it before and or after the show.
31:26
Go sing it at the stage door. They'd probably love to hear you.
31:28
Just for the love of all things,
31:31
please don't do it during the show.
31:35
I will agree. I will agree. It definitely was distracting in some ways.
31:38
More distracting for I would say,
31:40
cause they were closer to you.
31:41
~ I know you guys paid for your tickets.
31:45
We all paid for our tickets. Well,
31:48
metaphorically speaking, like we're all there to see a show.
31:52
Let's see the show. Let's envelope ourselves in the show.
31:54
And speaking of seeing the show,
31:56
I do want to say I'm gonna...
31:58
After the last time we saw this,
32:02
I would not have given my heart and cash to go see the show again.
32:06
I will always see a show the
32:12
way we do it. I will always make time for that.
32:16
But there are some shows that I would pay to see again.
32:18
And they wouldn't have been Mamma Mia after the last time.
32:21
And after opening night when we saw Mamma Mia,
32:25
I...
32:28
actively looked at my schedule to see if I can make another time
32:33
to see this performance. Which I think is the greatest turnaround I could ever have
32:39
emotionally for a show where I would not spend $200 on a ticket to see a show.
32:45
And I was actively asking my mom,
32:48
hey, do you want to go see probably the best performance of Mamma Mia that I've ever
32:51
seen? ~ All that to say,
32:55
if this cast ever comes around again,
32:57
I would
32:58
Absolutely see it. mean, we are sitting here on Sunday,
33:01
March 29th, and the show closes tonight at 630.
33:03
And I'm actively still trying to see if I could fit in a 630 show because
33:08
I would see this cast again because they are that good.
33:11
I think that's my biggest shock from the show is that I never thought
33:16
I would leave it thinking I would see the show again.
33:19
Yeah, I mean, this like completely flipped my idea of even seeing the show again,
33:23
like point blank, like period on any level,
33:26
professional community, whatever.
33:28
Like I was so turned off from it.
33:30
I'm like, even if somebody locally does it,
33:31
I don't want to see it. Nothing about it is interesting to me.
33:34
and now I'm like, yeah,
33:37
I would totally. Yes. I also considered,
33:40
I mean, granted schedule is packed,
33:42
but I also was like, Hmm.
33:46
Who else, the second we got out,
33:49
was telling all my friends, I was like,
33:50
you should go see the show. ~ Which is not always
33:53
Yeah, it is absolutely an event.
33:56
the case.
33:58
Absolutely not. There's some shows that we were just like,
34:01
glad we got to see it once. Please,
34:04
I don't want to see it again. ~
34:07
And I think that this is what I love about what we're doing here is that
34:11
I love seeing the shows. I love being able to promote the shows.
34:13
~ I actually got excited talking to Sarah Agrusa beforehand because
34:17
of the energy she was mentioning and stuff like that.
34:19
And I think that if I would have seen it last time and I never would have seen
34:23
it again, I'm when you're about RJ,
34:24
I would have never wanted to see my mom.
34:26
If it would have to it again, said,
34:28
RJ, we're not seeing Mamma Mia.
34:29
If it would have been in Broadway,
34:31
I'd been like, and you would be like,
34:33
let's go see Mamma Mia. I'd say absolutely not.
34:35
And I do think that while if we're in New York,
34:37
I probably wouldn't go see Mamma Mia again.
34:39
There would be some excitement if it shows up on our doorstep again.
34:44
I'd be like, dude, we almost have to see Mamma Mia again.
34:47
In a way of you just almost want that infectious energy.
34:51
And granted, the show could change again,
34:52
depending on how long these actors are in there,
34:54
a new cast. But truthfully, this was a job well done on all fronts.
34:59
A plus for me, I 100 % would see this again.
35:03
Agreed. I think you said it all.
35:08
And so that concludes our Mamma Mia discussion.
35:10
To continue the conversation, let us know what song from this ABBA musical
35:14
is your favorite. Thanks again for joining us here in our box seats.
35:17
Until next curtain call.