Summer Musicals - Mama Mia!

Yes, I know this is last year's big summer hit, but I love this movie. It is, to me the quintessential summer fun movie. Who could top the fabulous Greek Isles, the golden sunshine, the crystal blue seas? Add an incredible troupe of actors, great ensemble casting, fabulous music, and totally delicious production numbers, and you have sheer summer magic.

I can't remember having this much fun at a movie since Frankie and Annette hit the beach way back when. To be sure, the Beach Blanket Bingo and Wild Bikini movies were far more innocent than the amazingly funny and raunchy "Does Your Mamma Know?" from the ABBA flck, but they were certainly as fresh and fun for their time.

There is just something sooooo romantic about spending the day together, half-dressed hormonal teenagers - hot sun and sand, playing together in the sparkling waters...the segue into the splendor of sunset over the ocean, cooling breezes, starry nights...

Wait a minute! This isn't a recipe for romance, it's a recipe for disaster! ...especially if you are one of the parents.

...and that was generally a jumping off-point for many of those sand and sea epics. Not so with Mamma Mia.

This plot still involves parents (potentially three different candidates for the father role), a summer vacation, and a romantic setting plus the requisite girl and boy. The difference here is the way the plot is woven around the ABBA hits.

This movie is not for the faint of heart. It is, after all, a musical. There will be singing - joyous, funny, lusty and tender. There will be dancing - abandoned, hilarious, and always exciting. There will be fabulous scenery, lovingly photographed - you will want to book your own Greek holiday by about the half-way mark of the film.

...and if you don't know ABBA's music (have you been living on the far side of the moon? ), I guarantee you will be at least tapping your toe along with the cast, if not outright humming along.

For those of you who have been living on the far side of the moon, ABBA was a pop super-group that exploded into super-stardom in the late 1970s. Through the talents of the two singer-songwriters who penned their amazing string of hits, and the vocal talents of the two dynamite ladies who fronted the group during their heyday, ABBA captivated us all with their catchy lyrics and crazy costumes.

Written off as a typical one-hit wonder when they first burst out of Sweden and onto the European music scene, they soon proved that they had the talent to appeal to an amazingly wide audience, and the staying power to outlast many other super-groups of that era.

My favorite album is Super Trouper . The name for the album is taken from the name of the huge, blindingly-bright lighting instruments used to light stage shows. The content of the album shows a maturity that was not as apparent in their earlier works. The lyrics of their up-beat numbers are as joyous and exuberant as always, but the sensitive handling of more serious themes and the multi-layered arrangements supporting the heartfelt vocal renditions showed that ABBA had clearly come of age.

Their success on stage and in the charts while their personal relationships were disintegrating is one of the sad paradoxes of this amazing group.

Much has been written about ABBA, and several good documentaries have aired, pointing to a renewed interest in this perennially pleasing, talented four-some. I, for one, highly reccommend this great, fun-filled, slightly bawdy, but always entertaining movie for your summer enjoyment.