Summary
The hit musical Mamma Mia! opened in London's West End in 1999. Using the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, the stage show was followed in July 2008 by Mamma Mia! the movie and ten years later by a sequel, both of which have broken musical box-office records. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Mamma Mia's creator Judy Craymer about how it all began.
Picture: Mamma Mia! the musical West End promotional poster (Credit: Littlestar Services)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | Hello and |
| 0:45.0 | welcome to the Witness History Podcast here on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:48.0 | I'm Louis Adalgo and today I'm taking you back to 1999 |
| 0:52.0 | and the opening in London's West End of a new musical |
| 0:55.2 | that would take the theatre going public and later the film going public by storm. |
| 0:59.4 | Based on the songs of the Swedish pop group Abba, |
| 1:03.0 | Mamma Mia the movies have broken box office records. |
| 1:08.0 | I've been talking to Mamma's creator Judy Kramer |
| 1:12.0 | about how it all began. |
| 1:13.4 | Mama Mea, here I go again. |
| 1:17.4 | My, how can I resist you? |
| 1:21.0 | Mama mea. |
| 1:22.4 | It was just something I felt completely drawn that I would give up everything to make happen and I think everyone around me felt the same |
| 1:29.7 | I'm not sure beyond Benny felt that but I felt that I had a very precious treasure with their music. Judy Kramer was in her mid-20's |
| 1:45.0 | in her mid-20s, just starting out in theatre production |
... |
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