What Would Life Be? Without A Song Or A Dance What Are We? So I Say Thank You For The Music, For Giving It To Me
--"Thank You For The Music (cover)", Amanda Seyfried
Having enjoyed the musical, I knew that I would enjoy the Mamma Mia! the movie. But I had no idea I would enjoy it this much. Not only did they manage to capture all that was magical about the stage show, but shooting on location and seeing all my favorite scenes played out in real life was amazing. Whenever you go see a musical you get this image of how everything's supposed to look, you imagine the sets to be real world locations, you picture the props and the wardrobe to be less extravagant and more mundane, and most of all you get a sense of how the whole story would flow once seen in the actual light of day. Almost always once it is translated to film a musical never turns out the way you imagination.
This film is exactly what I pictured.
Everyone poured their hearts into all the musical numbers. While some of the voices weren't as strong as those of the performers in the stage show, many of them were surprisingly good. Amanda Seyfried does a great job on her pieces and Meryl seemed to be having the most fun with hers. Plus, with a cast of veterans and up-and-comers as the one this movie boasts, I knew the story was in capable hands. I mean--yes, I like ABBA as much as the next guy and, yes, I've been a fan of Amanda's since her days on Veronica Mars, but what ultimately makes this a "hoot-and-a-half," as some would say, is the highly improbable but highly entertaining story. Yes, it's quite unrealistic, but it sure does tie the numbers together and it gives all the performers ample opportunity to go crazy with the material. This is not a story about introverted people. Every character, every last one of them, seems to be bursting with energy and passion. One can't help but be swept in their tale right along with them.
As with any great story, the movie takes something important to these characters, some goal or dream, and spins a series of events that makes it into an unforgettable memory, the likes of which will be carried with all of them for the rest of their lives.
It was as such with me when I first saw Mamma Mia! on stage.
----
I think it was about six months after DeAnn and I broke up, some time in July of 2002. We were traveling together to Vegas for the umpteenth time. In those days it used to be our practice to drive up to the city of Lost Wages every other month or so. I don't know why we went there so often. Perhaps it was for the booze or the buffets. It might have even been for the cheap room rates they constantly sent me notices of. What sticks out in my mind the most were the shows.
Coming from the Los Angeles, there wasn't much opportunity to catch all the latest shows. We are pretty much stuck with whatever's playing in the Pantages and the Ahmanson, and that's it. Coming out to Vegas used to give me a third option to catch whatever show I was dying to see. DeAnn, for her part, was game enough to come along with me because we were still friends at that point and, well, a free trip is a free trip.
I remember when I first spotted the sign that Mamma Mia! was playing in the showroom of the Mirage. We were going through the casino at Treasure Island, where we were staying. I saw the sign for the show plastered up on one of the electronic billboards hanging over the casino. That's when I knew we had to go. That night. I've always been a big fan of ABBA and, at that point, I had heard nothing but raves for that particular show. It didn't take long to pester DeAnn with both my enthusiasm and my lack of giving her any option but to say yes before I was purchasing tickets for the both of us. Providence knows on every other trip out to Nevada I took it upon myself to take in the latest show with her. By that point she should've known the drill.
It was kind of a weird time for me and her then. We'd been broken up for six months and yet there we were still cavorting around together. We were still sharing a room. We were still pretending to be as close as we ever was. However, there was this invisible line that had been erected in those intermittent months that had never been clearly defined. We both knew there were certain things we couldn't do any more. We could sleep in the same bed, but we couldn't sleep together. We could hang out, but we couldn't go to each other's family functions. We were still joined somehow, but no longer together. Like I said, it was an odd arrangement that we found ourselves in.
By the time we got to the theater, I was already half-drunk and DeAnn was only doing slightly better than myself. I think that had a lot to do with why I enjoyed that particular show as much as I did. I mean--yeah, it's a good show and everything, but it's also the kind of show that pure escapism. There are a lot of leaps of faith one has to take when taking it in for the first time. For instance, one has to believe that a woman can engender so many fond memories that not only one, but three former suitors will all be trying to rekindle getting to know her. Or another inconsistency was the fact that they create a world where people can fall out of love with somebody and still want to spend time with them. Lastly, I thought it was kind of odd that at the end Sophie chooses not to know who her real father was instead of getting down to the bottom of the mystery of whom she actually belongs to.
Actually, that isn't true. That's probably how I felt before going into the show, but it certainly wasn't how I felt coming out.
What I was thinking the entire time during the show--aside from how much I loved everything about it--was how it related to me. I understood the three guys wanting to fire that passion up again for a former flame because my whole going to Vegas with DeAnn was about that. I didn't have any delusions that it would go far into winning her back (well, not too many delusions), but I did have the hope that us having a good time would do much in repairing some of the damage we did when we were breaking apart. I did have the hope that we could put back some of the trust that had been missing in the months immediately following our demise. Of course, I saw the immediate relevancy between what Donna had and what DeAnn and I had. She'd fallen out of love with me, but was still willing to give me another chance to win a spot back in her life. And, of course, I saw how the ending where Sophie chooses not to know the concrete facts about her life as something reminiscent of my life.
The two years after our break-up was one extended period of my not asking exactly what we were to each other. At that point it didn't matter if we were just friends, ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, friends with benefits, or a couple attempting another go at it. The most important part was that I was with who I wanted to be with at that time just like it didn't matter to Sophie that she didn't end up marrying Sky. All she wanted was to see the world with the one person she wanted to see the world with.
That's why I think my complete satisfaction with Mamma Mia! as piece of art has less to do with the staging or the performances. Those could have been doggerel for all I knew. What was important to me on that night and in that audience was the fact I connected with something universal in that not-so-simple story. What was happening before my eyes was what was happening to me at that juncture in my life. The lines sounded like as if I could be saying them or hearing them. The people prancing about on stage could have been stand-ins for me.
The songs all sounded like they were being sung for my benefit.
I believe that's the hallmark of any great play, great novel, or great film, that the audience finds that bit of resonance in what they're parting of. If the audience finds that nugget of truth they can relate to then they'll buy into whatever else is being sold to them. Not only that, but the audience will forever identify with that work as being a testament for their own lives. It'll stand as something indelible and something they hold closely in their hearts. It won't be just something they saw sometime long ago. It'll be a piece of them as they seemed to be a piece of the work.
That's why I hold Mamma Mia! in such high regard and why now say thanks for anyone and everyone involved in that magical night. Thanks for putting on a great show for me and DeAnn. Thanks for making it a memorable occasion.
And thank you all for making such great music.
who found out that nothing can capture a heart
like a melody can?
well, whoever it was, I'm a fan
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
Having enjoyed the musical, I knew that I would enjoy the Mamma Mia! the movie. But I had no idea I would enjoy it this much. Not only did they manage to capture all that was magical about the stage show, but shooting on location and seeing all my favorite scenes played out in real life was amazing. Whenever you go see a musical you get this image of how everything's supposed to look, you imagine the sets to be real world locations, you picture the props and the wardrobe to be less extravagant and more mundane, and most of all you get a sense of how the whole story would flow once seen in the actual light of day. Almost always once it is translated to film a musical never turns out the way you imagination.This film is exactly what I pictured.
Everyone poured their hearts into all the musical numbers. While some of the voices weren't as strong as those of the performers in the stage show, many of them were surprisingly good. Amanda Seyfried does a great job on her pieces and Meryl seemed to be having the most fun with hers. Plus, with a cast of veterans and up-and-comers as the one this movie boasts, I knew the story was in capable hands. I mean--yes, I like ABBA as much as the next guy and, yes, I've been a fan of Amanda's since her days on Veronica Mars, but what ultimately makes this a "hoot-and-a-half," as some would say, is the highly improbable but highly entertaining story. Yes, it's quite unrealistic, but it sure does tie the numbers together and it gives all the performers ample opportunity to go crazy with the material. This is not a story about introverted people. Every character, every last one of them, seems to be bursting with energy and passion. One can't help but be swept in their tale right along with them.
As with any great story, the movie takes something important to these characters, some goal or dream, and spins a series of events that makes it into an unforgettable memory, the likes of which will be carried with all of them for the rest of their lives.
It was as such with me when I first saw Mamma Mia! on stage.
----
I think it was about six months after DeAnn and I broke up, some time in July of 2002. We were traveling together to Vegas for the umpteenth time. In those days it used to be our practice to drive up to the city of Lost Wages every other month or so. I don't know why we went there so often. Perhaps it was for the booze or the buffets. It might have even been for the cheap room rates they constantly sent me notices of. What sticks out in my mind the most were the shows.
Coming from the Los Angeles, there wasn't much opportunity to catch all the latest shows. We are pretty much stuck with whatever's playing in the Pantages and the Ahmanson, and that's it. Coming out to Vegas used to give me a third option to catch whatever show I was dying to see. DeAnn, for her part, was game enough to come along with me because we were still friends at that point and, well, a free trip is a free trip.
I remember when I first spotted the sign that Mamma Mia! was playing in the showroom of the Mirage. We were going through the casino at Treasure Island, where we were staying. I saw the sign for the show plastered up on one of the electronic billboards hanging over the casino. That's when I knew we had to go. That night. I've always been a big fan of ABBA and, at that point, I had heard nothing but raves for that particular show. It didn't take long to pester DeAnn with both my enthusiasm and my lack of giving her any option but to say yes before I was purchasing tickets for the both of us. Providence knows on every other trip out to Nevada I took it upon myself to take in the latest show with her. By that point she should've known the drill.
It was kind of a weird time for me and her then. We'd been broken up for six months and yet there we were still cavorting around together. We were still sharing a room. We were still pretending to be as close as we ever was. However, there was this invisible line that had been erected in those intermittent months that had never been clearly defined. We both knew there were certain things we couldn't do any more. We could sleep in the same bed, but we couldn't sleep together. We could hang out, but we couldn't go to each other's family functions. We were still joined somehow, but no longer together. Like I said, it was an odd arrangement that we found ourselves in.
By the time we got to the theater, I was already half-drunk and DeAnn was only doing slightly better than myself. I think that had a lot to do with why I enjoyed that particular show as much as I did. I mean--yeah, it's a good show and everything, but it's also the kind of show that pure escapism. There are a lot of leaps of faith one has to take when taking it in for the first time. For instance, one has to believe that a woman can engender so many fond memories that not only one, but three former suitors will all be trying to rekindle getting to know her. Or another inconsistency was the fact that they create a world where people can fall out of love with somebody and still want to spend time with them. Lastly, I thought it was kind of odd that at the end Sophie chooses not to know who her real father was instead of getting down to the bottom of the mystery of whom she actually belongs to.
Actually, that isn't true. That's probably how I felt before going into the show, but it certainly wasn't how I felt coming out.
What I was thinking the entire time during the show--aside from how much I loved everything about it--was how it related to me. I understood the three guys wanting to fire that passion up again for a former flame because my whole going to Vegas with DeAnn was about that. I didn't have any delusions that it would go far into winning her back (well, not too many delusions), but I did have the hope that us having a good time would do much in repairing some of the damage we did when we were breaking apart. I did have the hope that we could put back some of the trust that had been missing in the months immediately following our demise. Of course, I saw the immediate relevancy between what Donna had and what DeAnn and I had. She'd fallen out of love with me, but was still willing to give me another chance to win a spot back in her life. And, of course, I saw how the ending where Sophie chooses not to know the concrete facts about her life as something reminiscent of my life.
The two years after our break-up was one extended period of my not asking exactly what we were to each other. At that point it didn't matter if we were just friends, ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, friends with benefits, or a couple attempting another go at it. The most important part was that I was with who I wanted to be with at that time just like it didn't matter to Sophie that she didn't end up marrying Sky. All she wanted was to see the world with the one person she wanted to see the world with.
That's why I think my complete satisfaction with Mamma Mia! as piece of art has less to do with the staging or the performances. Those could have been doggerel for all I knew. What was important to me on that night and in that audience was the fact I connected with something universal in that not-so-simple story. What was happening before my eyes was what was happening to me at that juncture in my life. The lines sounded like as if I could be saying them or hearing them. The people prancing about on stage could have been stand-ins for me.
The songs all sounded like they were being sung for my benefit.
I believe that's the hallmark of any great play, great novel, or great film, that the audience finds that bit of resonance in what they're parting of. If the audience finds that nugget of truth they can relate to then they'll buy into whatever else is being sold to them. Not only that, but the audience will forever identify with that work as being a testament for their own lives. It'll stand as something indelible and something they hold closely in their hearts. It won't be just something they saw sometime long ago. It'll be a piece of them as they seemed to be a piece of the work.
That's why I hold Mamma Mia! in such high regard and why now say thanks for anyone and everyone involved in that magical night. Thanks for putting on a great show for me and DeAnn. Thanks for making it a memorable occasion.
And thank you all for making such great music.
who found out that nothing can capture a heart
like a melody can?
well, whoever it was, I'm a fan
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
Labels: Amanda Seyfried, DeAnn, Mamma Mia, Memories, music
posted by mojo shivers @ 7:52 PM
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