Here we go again... Mama Mia...

MAMMA MIA!'s 25th Anniversary Tour is one of those shoes that is definitely is a product of the time in which it was written. Unless your a massive ABBA fan (Jake and I are not) there are better jukebox musicals out there.

For those unfamilliar with the musical or it's film adaptation, the show is about a young woman named Sophie who invites the three men named in her mother's diary that could potentially be her biological father to her upcoming wedding. All three men show up, the mom freaks out, the fiance freaks out, the three men freak out. Eventually Sophie realizes the big white wedding isn't the dream she wanted after all and everyone gets their happy ending shoehorned into the final number.

(L to R) Lena Owens (Lisa), Juliette M. Ojeda (Sophie Sheridan), and Maddie Garbaty (Ali) Photo by Joan Marcus

There were some minor updates to the book to help set the story up for a modern audience. like the minor tweaks to lines during the opening of the show when Sophie, played by Juliette M. Ojeda in the national tour, is sharing her scheme and the diary entries with her friends. I assume these were to set the time period with how far removed the show now is from the 1970's. However, what hasn't been updated is the minorly transphobic joke during Sophie's nightmare scene during which it's revealed her fiance is the person in the wedding dress and veil. In 2026 the gag of "that's a man in that dress" just feels gross. Hearing the audience erupt with laughter at it felt even more gross.

(L to R) Jalynn Steele (Tanya), Carly Sakolove (Rosie), and Jessica Crouch (Donna Sheridan) Photo by Joan Marcus

Despite the dated material the performances of the touring cast are top notch. The two standouts in the show are Jalynn Steele as Tanya and Carly Sakolove as Rosie, the former bandmates and besties to Sophie's mother, Donna Sheridan (Jessica Crouch). Steel and Sakolove both previously played their respective roles in the show's Broadway run and portray them with such exuberance and joy that they were what I was looking forward to seeing more of most in act two. Visually the show maintains a level of styalized simplicity that I forgot the set didn't do much more than rotate to transition the show into difference locations. The production's designed by Mark Thompson, and lighting design by Howard Harrison, expertly allows the narritive, however much I dislike it, to flow effortlessly. It keeps the audience alwasy peeking around the corner at what comes next rather than focusing too long on the questionable choices of the story's characters.

For information about MAMMA MIA! visit www.mammamiathetour.com