By: Miranda Connolly, Senior
What makes something iconic? What makes something go down in history? Both of these questions can be answered by taking a look at the band ABBA, one of the most successful bands in the history of mankind. Although the band was formed in 1972, they released their most recent album, Voyage, in 2021, and throughout their careers they have released hit after hit. The most interesting thing about the band is that they inspired the musical Mamma Mia!, the most popular and successful jukebox musical of all time. Written by Jody Craymer, Mamma Mia! first opened in 1999, and it became one of the top 10 most successful Broadway musicals of all time. But how did this musical come to be? And what were some of its impacts on musicals and the band?
Jody Craymer, the show’s creator, worked with Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaues (the songwriters of ABBA) on the musical Chess, and this is when her idea of Mamma Mia! was first born. However, Mamma Mia! was not created overnight; it took Craymer a decade to convince Benny and Bjorn to let her produce a musical using their group’s songs. But finally Craymer was able to convince the two songwriters, and in 1999 the musical was ready to be performed. Mamma Mia! premiered on April 6th at the Prince Edward Theater.
Although Mamma Mia! started out as a musical, it was adapted into a film. The cast consisted of several Hollywood A-listers, including none other than Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Christine Baranski. The movie premiered in 2008 on July 18th, and it made over 600 million dollars in box office revenue. Although the movie’s Rotten Tomato score is only 55%, it is still popular and is seen as one of the best musical romantic-comedy movies made to date. The sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has a higher Rotten Tomato score of 79% but it made 200 million dollars less in worldwide revenue when compared to the first film.
ABBA has made their mark on not only the music industry, but also the musical and film industries. ABBA and Mamma Mia! have become synonymous with each other, and the musical was brought back to Broadway in 2021. These past few years have been sort of a revival for ABBA, with their new album bringing back memories of people’s last summer’s listening to the band, or enjoying Mamma Mia! with their families. ABBA has remained a household name since their Eurovision win in 1974, and their talent in songwriting and performance has solidified their relevance and impact on the musical world.