I saw this show 15 or so years ago and my memory is that it was a fun bit of nonsense - I don’t remember it being this terrible!
The performances were overacted caricatures, amateurish, and pretty painful to watch. Lucy May Barker’s Sophie was a complete brat who you had no sympathy for; and Richard Trinder’s Sam Carmichael lacked any kind of charm or charisma, so Donna still being in love with him made absolutely no sense at all.
Not only was the acting pretty awful, the vocals from the vast majority of the cast were not particularly strong either. The music of ABBA is so well known and fun that it has you bopping along in your seat; but the performances, save for Mazz Murray, really weren’t very good. Murray gave the strongest performance of the night as Donna Sheridan, but even she, who is absolutely sensational, didn’t really come into her own until ‘The Winner Takes It All’ halfway through the second act. The sound balance was also off in the first act, with the band being louder than the vocals, although that may have been a blessing as what I could hear seemed quite pitchy and not comfortable listening.
Maybe everyone was having an off day, or the sound was particularly bad where I was sitting, or I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to see something that is so silly and flimsy, but I found the show really really disappointing. If this is the only musical theatre that people have been exposed to, it isn’t surprising that so many people say that they don’t like it - it was like watching a pantomime!
I also found the front of house experience quite disappointing. On one of the coldest evenings to date this year, they had people queuing outside and around the theatre for at least 20 minutes, if not longer. There was nothing in the booking confirmation about this being a possibility, and no consideration seemed to be being given to the elderly, infirmed, or those with children - everyone had to wait. I’m finding front of house staff are becoming more and more officious and ruining my theatre trips. They are, of course, there to ensure the audience’s (and the performers’) safety, but they are also the accessible, public facing representatives of the theatre, show and production team and, as such, they are there to provide a service. I don’t pay to go to the theatre to feel like I’m back at school. I and the rest of the paying audience are adults, so treat us like one.
All in all, a rather disappointing evening - I’d have much rather been warm and cosy at home!!!