If you would have told me that someday I would race to Target to purchase a CD on its release date and play it over and over, I would say "maybe, if it's John Mayer." But if you would have told me that most of the songs on this CD were sung by Meryl Streep and/or Pierce Brosnan, I would have told you that you were certifiably crazy. I was wrong.

I have been eagerly anticipating the theatrical release of Mamma Mia since I first heard it was on the horizon, over a year ago, for three main reasons...

1. I am obsessed with musicals. My favorite movie (for the last thirty years and counting) is Grease. Not the lame remake Grease 2 (C-O-O-L ... R-I-D-E-R), but "look at me, I am Sandra Dee" original Grease. I love, love, love this movie. My friend Jeannie and I even had a joint sweet sixteen sock hop. The Sound of Music, Saturday Night Fever, Chicago and Hairspray are also favs.


2. I loved Mamma Mia, the play. I saw it in Vegas two years ago with Barb and Andrea (and her sisters Yvonne and DeAun) and it was the perfect girls' weekend Vegas show in my opinion (see #1). I love how they take all of the ABBA songs and weave them into a story. We saw We Will Rock You in Vegas several years ago where they did the same thing with Queen's music, which I enjoyed, but the Mamma Mia story is much more interesting.


3. It has a good beat and is easy to dance to. This is the key to my love of musicals. My elementary school boyfriend and I used to reenact the Grease numbers (with a little Copacabana thrown in) and Danielle and our friends worked out the "tell me more, tell me more, like does he have a car" parts (Danielle was also particularly fond of acting out the dancing movie snack foods scene). Years later, my friends Karen, Michele and Elizabeth and I found ourselves breaking a sweat, singing and dancing ourselves silly in my motorhome to the Chicago soundtrack. And ABBA *is* disco. I have always liked disco, but I will never forget when Jill, Michele and the Angeles Street girls headed to Lips, and I found myself singing Dancing Queen one moment, then suddenly being thrust in the spotlight by one of the "ladies." You have never disco danced until you have done so with a drag queen. They always find the shy, sober girl.

So that, my friends, is why I urge you hear my "SOS," to spend a little "Money, Money, Money" and to "Take a Chance on Me." :)

* ps - Tim would appreciate if Penny, Debbie or Breena would please go see this movie with me on the 18th so he doesn't have to. :)

0 comments