Mamma Mia (2001). This import from Australia featured pop songs by the Swedish soft‐rock group ABBA (Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus) that were forced into a contrived plot by Catherine Johnson about a bride‐to‐be who invites her three possible fathers to her wedding. It opened at the Winter Garden Theatre where audiences, nostalgic for the hits of past decades, forgave the weak script and enjoyed the lively music and spirited performances.

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.