#457 [Theater Review/Rave] OVER the Hymn! Shiki Theatre Company's "Mamma Mia!"
Thank you for reading again today!
I'm sorry for all the grumpy posts lately!!
Today I went to see "Mamma Mia!" at KAAT✨
Ah, it was so much fun to see Shiki after such a long time!
As usual, this review contains spoilers.
The stage sets and costumes are beautiful but simple, similar to the feel of "The Little Mermaid."
I personally prefer "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" or "Ghost."
A story of Mia's Mamma
A hymn to the lives of middle-aged women
Since it was my first time seeing it, including the movie, I went in thinking, "I guess it's a story about a young girl having a wedding," but then...
Sophie, the 20-year-old protagonist living on a Greek island, is the only daughter raised by her single mother, Donna, and has never been told who her father is. When Sophie steals a look at her mother's diary and sends letters to the three men who could be her father, all of them arrive on the island the day before the wedding.
I was surprised that the story starts from there!
Who will end up escorting Sophie at the wedding...?!
So, the focus of the story isn't the young couple, but mother Donna and her three ex-boyfriends.
Just as the title says, it was a story of "Mia" (my) "Mamma" (mother).
I might get scolded for calling it a hymn to the lives of middle-aged women, but I really felt that way and was very happy about it.
Long live the Oba-hymn!!
(A hymn to the lives of middle-aged women, abbreviated as Oba-hymn)
"Sparkle and happiness to every life."
"Sparkle and happiness to every life." (1) Both the parent generation and the child generation
Although the MacGuffin in the story is the father, and it is a story about mother Donna and her three ex-boyfriends, the protagonist herself also struggles with "not knowing who she is" because she doesn't know who her father is, and this causes friction with her fiancé, so the story of a young woman's growth and leaving the nest is also well depicted.
Also, it's very fun to see the lively friends of both the parent and child generations popping up.
It's a story about the child generation as well as the parent generation, so it's understandable why there are so many mother-daughter pairs in the audience.
I really liked how "The Imaginary" was also a story about the child generation, but the core was the parent generation.
"Sparkle and happiness to every life." (2) For those with children, those without, the married, the unmarried, and the divorced
What I find modern are Donna's two old friends.
Tanya is a three-time divorcee, and Rosie is unmarried; both are childless.
They are still close friends, and each of them is enjoying their own life in their own way.
Are they targeting the demographic that can afford to spend money on movies and musicals...?
Even so, thank you for including the unmarried and childless in a mother-daughter story!
I'm happy we can enjoy it together.
Also, not just the women, but the three fathers each have completely different personalities and experiences: a "traveler (unmarried, childless)," an "architect (divorced, with children)," and a "banker (has a partner outside of marriage, childless)."
"Sparkle and happiness to every life." (3) Spoilers ahead!!
What this work encompasses doesn't stop there.
Near the end of the story, there is a scene where an important character reveals that they are bisexual.
Although it is an episode told on a different line from the main story, revealing this in the final important scene is a device that deepens the understanding of that character's actions up to that point.
Beyond a hymn to life, OVER the Anthem!
And you know, while all the conflicts and ups and downs are depicted, in the end, everyone gets a happy ending! Isn't that amazing?
I truly love how it embodies the catchphrase, "Sparkle and happiness to every life."
It's a hymn to life among hymns to life, it goes beyond a hymn to life. OVER the Anthem!
Shiki's first curtain call where you sing and dance
Curtain call where penlights are allowed
Shiki's curtain calls are always a happy and fun time with many repetitions, but this was the first time it was an encore-style curtain call where they sang and danced in different costumes from the main show.
No wonder there were penlights in the merchandise. Of course, I bought one. Penlights usually cost about 3,000 yen, but this was 1,000 yen. Very reasonable. It's a mini size, but it's an excellent item that can change colors.
Musicals that have a review at the end are best exemplified by Takarazuka (where the first act is a play and the second act is entirely a review), and I've seen a few like "Moulin Rouge" and "Kinky Boots."
It's fun when it gets exciting at the end, isn't it? Even if there's something bothering you about the play itself, it has an incredible catharsis that blows it all away.
I never expected to see that at Shiki.
It was so much fun!
Oh, Minami Okamura is also playing Donna? I want to see that too. I want to see the Donna & Sam of Deon & Grey (since Okamura played Deon and Hagiwara played Grey in "The Ghost and the Lady"...)
It ended up being an afterthought, but
About ABBA's songs
Oh, I didn't write anything about ABBA's songs...
I realized I don't really like them that much.
Maybe it's because the structure of the songs doesn't allow me to fully enjoy the incredible singing ability of the Shiki actors.
I knew "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen" from before, so those were a lot of fun.
Also, "Slipping Through My Fingers," which Donna sings while helping Sophie put on her wedding dress, matched the scene perfectly and was very poignant and good.
And "One of Us," where Donna sings to Sam about the past she and Sophie lived through together, allowed me to fully enjoy the monster-class singing ability of Ebata as Donna, and the duet with Hagiwara as Sam was the best.