“Nobody thought ‘Mamma Mia!’ was going to work,” said Judy Craymer, its lead producer, on the cusp of the Broadway musical reaching the milestone of 5,000 performances and moving from the Winter Garden Theatre to the Broadhurst. “There was a feeling of ‘What on the earth is this? We’ll give it six months.’”
How about 15 years on the West End instead? And 12 on Broadway? How about worldwide revenues of $2 billion plus an additional $600 million from the 2008 Meryl Streep film? And then there are the 400 major cities in which the musical has played, often in multiple engagements, including being the first British musical to play in China in the native language and one of the few Broadway musicals to succeed in Las Vegas. In fact, a return engagement to that town is planned for next spring.
Obviously Craymer’s gamble on “Mamma Mia!” has paid off handsomely. She mortgaged her London flat in the late ’90s to develop the musical. As a doyenne of “Girl Power,” her first key decision was to bring in two women — writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd — who were then better known as artists in London’s experimental and classical theatrical world. Having been executive producer on “Chess,” the 1986 Tim Rice musical with songs by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, she prevailed on the songwriters to give her the rights to their catalogue to develop the musical.
Craymer hates the term “jukebox” musical, the moniker given to shows such as “Rock of Ages,” “Jersey Boys,” and “Motown,” in which a libretto has been written to an existing pop score. While she can’t think of a word she might substitute, the producer points out that Johnson and Lloyd initially eschewed the music in order to concentrate on fleshing out the story of Sophie, a young girl who, on the cusp of her wedding, wants to find out who her biological father is. Unbeknownst to Donna, her mother, who was once a free-spirited rock singer and now runs a hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Sophie writes a summons to the three likeliest candidates. Mayhem ensues, abetted by Donna’s former backup singers and powered by such ABBA classics as “Money, Money, Money,” “Dancing Queen,” “Honey, Honey,” and “The Winner Takes It All,” the latter being the song that inspired Craymer to think an ABBA musical could work as more than a punchline.
While the show was known as “The ABBA Musical” for many years, time has mitigated the narrowness of that definition, said Craymer. Noting that the rock group has not toured since 1982, she added, “There are whole audiences now coming to the show who have no idea who ABBA is. They just fall in love with the songs and the story and it speaks in a different way to all these new generations.” Indeed, given the success of the movie, they are as likely to call it “The Meryl Streep Musical” as “The ABBA Musical.” There’s no question that the film has given its theatrical source a boost at the box office.
Its remarkable staying power is also a tribute to Craymer as a quality control freak. In order to understand just how well the musical has been maintained around the world — it is now the 10th longest running show on Broadway — it’s helpful to know that the producer was a show jumper in her youth. “I love horses, but I also love the thrill of it, the competitiveness, the rigor and absolute focus,” she said recently. With a laugh, she added, “It’s the only Olympic sport in which men and women compete against each other.”
Judy Craymer
She has brought those same qualities to propagating the brand of “Mamma Mia!” in a world largely dominated by men. The move from the Winter Garden to the more intimate Broadhurst has given her a chance to technically improve the show, especially in the costumes and the lighting which, she said, will be taking its cue from the movie. “It’ll be pinker, bluer, and more gorgeous.”
Craymer’s follow-up to “Mamma Mia!” was something of a disaster: “Viva Forever!” (She obviously has a thing for exclamation points.) Based on the hit songs of the Spice Girls, last year’s West End flop, written by Jennifer Saunders, also told a sisterhood story but one focused on the dilemma of a young girl who must choose between fame and family. The producer is still licking her wounds on that one, though she claims that it was “a great experience.”
“I believed in it,” she said with a sigh. “But the times have changed. It was meant to be a wink at the Spice Girls and the ridiculous obsession that we have with celebrity and I’m not sure that people wanted that in the theater. We are surrounded with reality shows, and online chatter about celebrities all the time. It didn’t have the joy of ‘Mamma Mia!’ and it came at a less-innocent time.” After a pause, she said with laugh, “Hey. It didn’t work!”
As for the future of “Mamma Mia!”, Craymer jokes that she wouldn’t mind being a winner who takes it all: Becoming the longest running show in Broadway history, opening in even more cities, and she’s even thinking about a movie sequel. “We’re toying with the idea,” she said of following those characters for another generation. “They’ve become so loved.”
Mamma Mia! Photo © 2012 Joan Marcus
Judy Craymer photo by Neil Gavin