15

"Mamma Mia" update:

15 shows in 11 different venues across 3 states - the Shubert Theatre formerly in Los Angeles, The Ahmanson in Los Angeles, Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Long Beach Civic Auditorium, the Cadillac Winter Garden in New York, Orange County Performing Arts Center again, the San Diego Civic Theatre, Mandalay Bay again, the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, Segerstrom Center for the Arts again (formerly the Orange County Performing Arts Center) and the Pantages Theatre again.

We've exhausted all of the venues in Southern California that would host the show, so we need to start venturing to Northern California and other states to add more venues to the count.

"Mamma Mia" - 14

As a followup to this blog post, we saw our fourteenth show last Saturday night (June 25) at OCPAC. OK, it's now called Segerstrom Center for the Arts, whatever. We've seen the show there before, so our "different venue" count is still at eleven. I don't think that number is going to change anytime soon since we've pretty much exhausted all the venues in the Southern California area, so adding a new venue would involve some kind of significant overnight travel.

I enjoyed this production of the show, though the mixing of the sound levels was a bit off. There were times I had a really hard time hearing Donna because her mic didn't seem to be turned up enough.

Overall, I thought the company was pretty good. The actress playing Donna seemed a bit more reserved in the first act (the song "Mamma Mia" didn't quite pop as much as I'm used to), but she really got into it in the second act. She killed both "Slipping Through My Fingers" (yep, made me cry again) and "The Winner Takes It All". I wasn't completely happy with the actress who played Sophie. She made choices in both her acting and singing that didn't work for me. She was more shrill than I would have liked. The stand-out performance though, was from Alison Ewing, who played Tanya. She was awesome.

In overhearing bits and pieces of conversations from other people, there were some who were seeing the show for the first time, after having seen the movie, so I'm glad the movie is bringing out more people to see the show.

There was a woman sitting on the other side of the husband from me, and I was amused when I heard her gasp when Sophie told Sky she didn't want to get married. She was one of those who'd seen the movie and was seeing the show for the first time, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to her that Sophie and Sky didn't actually get married, but even if it was a newbie to the whole thing, I didn't think that particular development would actually elicit a gasp from anyone.

I can't believe that it was our first time seeing the show in two years - no wonder I was going through withdrawal! Our fifteenth show is expected to be in late March/early April of next year, when the touring company is coming back to the Pantages.

"Mamma Mia" count and venue update

The "Mamma Mia" overall count is now at thirteen, at eleven different venues: the Shubert Theatre (formerly in Los Angeles), The Ahmanson (in Los Angeles), Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas), the Pantages Theatre (in Los Angeles), Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Long Beach Civic Auditorium, the Cadillac Winter Garden (in New York), Orange County Performing Arts Center again, the San Diego Civic Theatre, Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas) again, the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, and the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.

The show is also currently playing at the Pantages again, but because we weren't terribly enamoured of the company that we saw at the McCallum, who would be the same company playing the Pantages, we decided not to go. How weird is that? But we have seen the same company before multiple times, so that in itself wasn't an issue. We wouldn't have even had the added benefit of a new venue to add to our list since we've already seen the show at the Pantages.

And even weirder than that is that while we're not seeing the show even though it's playing locally, I know five different people who did see the show during its current run at the Pantages.

I think we've actually run out of local venues now.

"The Love Guru" gets five nominations

No, not Oscar nominations - those don't get announced until tomorrow morning. "The Love Guru" got five Golden Raspberry Award nominations - better known as a Razzie.

Here are the nominations in the major categories and my comments on the nominations.


Worst Picture
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
The Happening
The Hottie and the Nottie
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
The Love Guru

I can happily say that I didn't see any of the six nominated movies. I read about "The Happening" - wow, what a stupid movie idea.


Worst Actor
Larry the Cable Guy, Witless Protection
Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave
Mike Myers, The Love Guru
Al Pacino, 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill
Mark Wahlberg, The Happening and Max Payne

I only saw one of the performances, and that was Mark Wahlberg in "Max Payne", and I actually rather enjoyed the movie and liked his performance ok, so I disagree with his nomination for that.


Worst Actress
Jessica Alba, The Eye and The Love Guru
The Cast of The Women (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Meg Ryan)
Cameron Diaz, What Happens in Vegas
Paris Hilton, The Hottie and the Nottie
Kate Hudson, Fool's Gold and My Best Friend's Girl

I had wanted to see "The Women" because I really liked the original, but I never got around to it. The movie did get panned, so it looks like they didn't do a very good job of remaking the film. Guess I'll just watch the original again.


Worst Supporting Actor
Uwe Boll, Uwe Boll's Postal
Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia
Ben Kingsley, The Love Guru, War, Inc. and The Wackness
Burt Reynolds, Deal and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Verne Troyer, The Love Guru and Uwe Boll's Postal

I *so* agree with Pierce Brosnan's nomination for "Mamma Mia". I have not made it a secret in the least that I really didn't care for his performance in the movie, at least in terms of his singing.


Worst Supporting Actress
Carmen Electra, Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
Paris Hilton, Repo: The Genetic Opera
Kim Kardashian, Disaster Movie
Jenny McCarthy, Witless Protection
Leelee Sobieski, 88 Minutes and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

I really disagree with Paris Hilton's nomination for "Repo: The Genetic Opera". I really liked the movie, and I think she did a terrific job. OK, so it was a bit of typecasting, given the character she played, but I thought she pulled it off really well, especially considering how off-beat and twisted that movie was.


A few other random comments about extraneous nominations:

Nominated in the Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel were both "Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". I know a lot of people didn't like either of them. I had my problems with Indy IV, but generally, I enjoyed it. And I *really* liked "The Clone Wars".

M. Night Shyamalan was nominated for Worst Director. I think they should just make that a lifetime award for him and be done with it.

And Worst Career Achievement is being given to Uwe Boll. No, I have no idea who he is. And yes, "achievement" is spelled incorrectly in one place on the website.

"Slipping Through My Fingers"

Since I've spent most of the night watching the extras on the "Mamma Mia" DVD as well as most of the movie itself, I'm showing a segment of the movie here that someone has uploaded to YouTube.

I can't even begin to say how much I love the song "Slipping Through My Fingers". I cry every time I hear the song in the show. I cried when I heard the song in the movie. I usually cry when I listen to the CD soundtrack of the movie.

I have no kids, much less a daughter, and yet, this song just touches me in ways I can't begin to describe. And with the way that Meryl Streep sings it, not to mention the visuals and how perfect Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried are together playing mother and daughter, and especially the nail-painting segment. Yeah, I know, I'm gushing again.

See for yourself.




Are you in tears? I probably am.

"Doubt" for sure

While at the movies this past weekend, I saw the trailer for "Doubt". I think I've heard of the play, and I've seen the one-sheet for the movie, but I didn't really know much about it. The movie is about a nun who suspects a priest of improper behaviour towards a student and is relentless in her pursuit of "the truth", but is she instead making up accusations where no wrong-doing has occurred? The film stars Meryl Streep as the nun and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the priest.

The trailer looks really good, and it seems to be a very tense and involved movie, so I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm glad that I like Meryl Streep again, so that's not a hindrance to me seeing this movie, but I'm disappointed that this film is being released this year because it's very much "Oscar bait", and I think she's going to be touted for her performance in this film as opposed to in "Mamma Mia", which is not generally Oscar material.

Here's the trailer for the film.

"90210" - September 23, 2008 episode

Annie is the understudy for Adrianna, and she's been filling in for Adrianna a lot because Adrianna has been missing rehearsal. Adrianna even misses the first part of the dress rehearsal, but when she finally shows up, Brenda works with her and hears how amazingly she sings and acts. However, Brenda can see that she's troubled, and she brings it to the attention of Kelly and Ryan. They both suggest taking Adrianna out of the show, but Brenda says she thinks it's the only thing she's hanging onto. Shortly before the show, Brenda ends up meeting Adrianna's very pushy mother who is the epitome of a stage mom. She tells Adrianna that she has agents and talent scouts in the audience, and she just has to be good. Yeah, no pressure or anything. 10 minutes before showtime, stage manager Silver can't find Adrianna, but she's apparently resting on the couch in the makeup room. It's obvious that she's loaded though, and Brenda makes the difficult decision to not let her go on, so Annie is called to go on in her place instead. Harry, Debbie and Tabitha (and Ethan) are happy to see Annie in the lead, but Kelly is concerned about Adrianna, so she goes looking for her. After talking to Brenda, she finds Adrianna and ends up having a confrontation with Adrianna's mother, who is livid that Adrianna is not in the show and refuses to listen when Kelly says that Brenda thinks Adrianna might be doing drugs.

During the dinner break at the dress rehearsal, Annie is mortified when Harry catches her and Ty making out backstage, but Harry is even more rattled. He goes home and tells Debbie, and he wants to talk to Annie, but Debbie says it's more of a mother's job. When Annie gets home, Debbie tries to talk to her, but Annie is reluctant. Debbie just tells her to make sure she knows what she's doing. Ty tells Annie that he's gotten a room at the Roosevelt Hotel, where the after-party is being held, which surprises Annie, but she covers. After an incredibly successful show, she decides she's ready to give her virginity to Ty, and she tracks down Dixon to ask him for the condom he's been carrying around in his wallet for 4 years. OK, do brothers and sisters really talk about that sort of thing, so that the sister would know the brother keeps a condom in his wallet? I mean, I have siblings, but that just seems like an odd topic. And to actually *ask* him for it, which means he obviously knows what you need it for. And, not to mention, FOUR YEARS? I thought they told us in health class that they don't really keep for that long, especially in a wallet where it's subjected to heat, so the integrity of the condom isn't really going to be good anyway.

Annie makes her way to Ty's room (though I'm wondering how she knew what room he was in), but she is surprised when Adrianna opens the door dressed only in a towel. When Annie says she was looking for Ty, Adrianna says she has the right room and invites her in. She says Ty is in the shower "rinsing off" and asks if Ty asked Annie to his room too and further wonders how many other girls he asked there. When Adrianna offers to get Ty, Annie declines and runs out, visibly upset. (Naomi had previously mentioned that Ty was a player and that since Annie and Ty were at least friends, Annie should see what other benefits came with them. She also mentioned that she and Ethan pretty much had sex almost immediately.) Adrianna goes into the restroom and pulls back the shower curtain - revealing the water falling on an empty shower. Adrianna had overheard Ty and Annie talking about the room earlier, and she had seen Ty on the balcony of the room, so she had gone to his room. He had said that he was waiting for Annie, but Adrianna had lied that she saw Annie leave with Ethan and that they were making out. Apparently, Ty left after that, which enabled Adrianna to pull off the rest of her charade.

Harry and Debbie are surprised when Annie returns home so early, but she says the party was too loud and she was more tired than she thought, so she is just going to go to her room and go to bed. Harry and Debbie can sense that something is wrong, but they let her go. Annie goes into her room and manages to shut the door before crumbling into tears. So now, both Annie and Ty think the other is messing with Ethan and Adrianna respectively, so that's gonna be a huge mess to work out.

Meanwhile, Naomi berates her mother Tracy since Tracy has been lethargic and depressed for the past week. Naomi's father has apparently moved out and into the beachhouse with Gail, so Naomi says she's going to call him to come help them. But when he arrives, Tracy is all made up again. Later, Naomi is hopeful that her parents will get back together, so she is shocked when she finds her mother gathering all of her father's things to give away. Tracy says she told him to choose between her and Gail, and he said he couldn't, so she made the choice for him. She tells Naomi that they're getting divorced, but that she and Naomi will be ok. So does this mean that Tracy is really going to go after Harry now? Their son was finally mentioned again (Harry and Debbie were talking, with Harry concerned about Annie's budding relationship with Ty, and Debbie telling him that he can't let his past [his mistakes, he said] affect how he is going to treat Annie. Debbie actually had a really good line about how their job is to lead their kids to the right path, but ultimately, the kids have to choose the path for themselves.), so maybe more will come of that soon.

Silver and Dixon are definitely an item now, having shared their first kiss and make-out session. Dixon laments the fact that he's had the condom for so long and on this night, he doesn't have it, but Silver makes it clear that they weren't going to have sex anyway. Just a clothed romp, I guess.


When Kelly, Harry and Ryan arrived at the auditorium to watch the dress rehearsal, they were talking about other musicals, and "Mamma Mia" was brought up. Kelly said she loved it and had seen it twice on Broadway. Yeah, Kelly! Harry made some disparaging comment about the show. Boo, Harry. Kansas people suck.


In a few scenes, but most noticeable to me in the scene where Brenda is talking to Kelly and Ryan about Adrianna, Brenda's eyes were just so incredibly dark, like she was a raccoon or something. It really bothered me because it looked weird. She just seemed to have on so much really dark eye shadow. Was that supposed to be more dramatic?

"Mamma Mia" - spoiler movie review

WARNING!

OK, here's your warning that this is a REALLY LOOOOOOOOOONG review. Yeah, I know, I can hear y'all grumble, "Yeah, so what else is new? You *always* write long reviews." No, I mean, if you take my regular reviews as normal, in comparison, this review is REALLY LOOOOOOOOOONG. If for whatever reason you decide to brave it anyway, I have a few suggestions:

1. Call in sick to work.
2. Take a vacation day off from work.
3. Get a babysitter for the day.
4. Read the review in bits, a little every day when you have a chance. That should occupy all of your free time until the end of the year.

OK, did I mention that this review is REALLY LOOOOOOOOOONG? Can't say I didn't warn you!




You're really going to attempt to read this manuscript, huh?




I mentioned a while ago my feelings concerning the "Mamma Mia" movie that would be coming out, and that I couldn't wait to see it. No, we didn't go to see the movie the morning of opening night at a midnight screening - that honor unexpectedly ended up going to "The Dark Knight". But we did make plans to see it on opening night itself, which is what we did.


Bottom line - I loved it. It was really interesting to see what changes they made from the show, and for the most part, I liked the changes, much of it brought on by the fact that they were doing a movie and didn't have spatial restrictions like they do on stage. Most noticeable in that department occurs later in the film. On stage, the whole segment where Harry gives Donna a check to cover some expenses and where Donna sings "The Winner Takes It All" to Sam are all done inside Donna's bedroom. But why confine yourself to just her bedroom when you have the expanse of an island, not to mention the gorgeous scenery of the trail leading up to where the wedding took place and the surrounding parts of the island and the water. You also get all the beautiful shots as Sam, Bill and Harry are sailing on the boat with Sophie during the "Our Last Summer" segment, something that's totally different than in the show.

There were a number of nice nods to the Broadway show that got incorporated into the movie, but I think they were done so in a way that wasn't intrusive. If you've seen the show, the bits are funnier. If not, they're still funny and good. There's a segment in "Mamma Mia" where heads pop up over the edge of the roof, which during the show always brings a round of laughter, and it did pretty much the same thing in the movie. There's also a lot of choreography during songs like "Lay All Your Love On Me", "Super Trouper" and "Does Your Mother Know" that are identical to what's in the show. The very end of the film might be odd for viewers who don't know the show since most films don't end with a concert segment. It's one thing to just have the 3 women performing, but then Meryl Streep does this bit where she's talking into the camera as if she's addressing the audience, which comes off a bit more odd. But those who've seen the show know that the end is in fact pretty much just a concert, with the songs as encores and oftentimes, with the audience up and dancing and singing along.

Most of my thoughts are tied to performances and characters and songs, so I'll break down my comments that way.

As I'd mentioned previously, I had some trepidation when they first announced that Meryl Streep was cast as Donna because that's not how I envisioned her. I always think of Meryl as being very refined and cultured, and I wasn't sure she'd be loose enough to play Donna the way Donna needs to be. Many years ago, I was a fan of hers from films like "Holocaust", "Kramer vs. Kramer", "The Deer Hunter" and "Sophie's Choice". Then there was a period when she seemed to either got nominated or actually won for whatever role she played in a film, no matter what it was, almost as a knee-jerk reaction, and I got tired of that so really stopped watching her in films, though I did think she was very good in "Death Becomes Her", which was also the first time I remember seeing her in something not serious and heavy. Then I saw her in "The Devil Wears Prada", and I was a fan again. She was amazing in that, especially since her performance was so understated but her character still had a strong grip, really without any shouting or carrying on. I'm glad her performance in "Mamma Mia" came after that, because otherwise, I think I would have had a real problem with her casting. I hadn't seen "A Prairie Home Companion", so I wasn't aware that she apparently sings in that film.

Here are two pictures of Meryl Streep, one from "The Devil Wears Prada" and one from "Mamma Mia". Of course, you can change a person's looks with hair and makeup and costume and she's an actress after all, but I always think of her more the way she looks in the first picture, more austere, prim, prissy, refined, and usually in "important" films, but definitely not something as carefree as a musical incorporating the songs of ABBA. In the second picture, they've really played down and simplified her looks, which befits Donna much better.



Well, she had me sold in this film. She was terrific as Donna, and she has a great singing voice, which is important for this role. There were many very silly and free moments and a few more that were slightly on the risque side, and she handled it all beautifully. Here's a segment from "Dancing Queen" where you can see the funny, silly and carefree side of her, something I didn't previously associate with Meryl Streep. As you'd expect, she was also great in the scenes where she had to be poignant or any of the scenes dealing with Donna's relationship with Sam. I particularly liked her performance at the earlier part of "Chiquitita". In the show, Donna is upset and just buries herself, but in the film, she's actually in tears as her friends try to comfort her.


My biggest praise for this movie, though, goes to Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sophie, and she doesn't just play her - she is *perfect* as Sophie. I could not think of one thing she did that I didn't like or that I would have liked to have seen done differently. Her inflections in speaking and singing were dead on, and her expressions were as well. As many times as I've seen the show, I haven't always been completely happy with the actresses who have played Sophie. Some of them were terrific, but I'd occasionally see someone who didn't sing the songs as well or who didn't play the part as well. Amanda shines in both departments. Yes, I know, I'm gushing, and I wasn't even familiar with Amanda prior to this, but I'm just so thrilled that for the version that I'll have on DVD and that I'll be able to watch any time, the person playing Sophie is just absolutely perfect.

There is one particular bit in the story where, whether by Amanda's choice or the director's, her interpretation isn't the one I like. During her bachelorette party, she's sitting and talking to Bill at one point, who asks if her father is there, and she says she doesn't know. My preferred reading of her line is as a throwaway - she doesn't mean to say that, but she's let down her guard ever so slightly so accidentally reveals more than she means to, and it's not until after she says it that she realizes she's said more than she should have. I have seen some actresses play the line intentionally instead, as a sort of deliberate bait to Bill, and for me, that's too calculating for someone as seemingly naive and sweet as Sophie. Amanda does play the line not as something she didn't mean to say but rather as something she is well aware that she is saying, but her delivery and expression are very coy and shy when she says it, so it's not bait per se but a sort of hope that she's tossing out to Bill, so even though the overall intention is not what I normally like, she does manage to pull off the delivery so that it still works for me.

One curious observation I had is that Amanda's credit in the main billing is later than I would expect. Yeah, Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan get top billing, and Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters and Colin Firth are billed above her since they're established actors. Christine Baranski is last, but the last position is sometimes used as a position of honor when there's a large ensemble, so that makes sense too. But Amanda is also billed after Dominic Cooper, who plays Sky. I would say Sky is a minor lead in the film, but Sophie is definitely a much bigger part of the story and has much more to do in the story, and while I haven't heard of the actor before, I also don't get the idea that he's very well known generally, so I'm just surprised her credit comes after his, especially since the credits aren't in alphabetical order.

Yeah, I know, most people don't even notice little stuff like this. Yeah, I know, I'm odd because I do.

I'm amused that the husband's approval of Amanda comes partly from the fact that she's blonde. Even though the song isn't sung during the course of the film proper, there's a line in "Thank You For The Music" about being "the girl with golden hair". The song is sung in the show itself, so it always annoys the husband when the actress playing Sophie is a brunette instead of a blonde.

Here's a short video of Amanda practicing "Thank You For The Music". And here's a short interview with Amanda talking about her love of ABBA songs. She's actually very cute here with her enthusiasm.


When I heard that Pierce Brosnan was cast as Sam, it made sense to me because his good looks and attitude would certainly work for Sam's character, and I was fine with his acting performance. I get the impression, though, that they basically overlooked his singing ability and hired him anyway. In my opinion, his singing is the weakest of everyone in the film, which is a bit unfortunate since he's the leading man. You don't notice as much on songs where he's singing with other people, but his solos on "S.O.S.", and especially the very beginning of the song, are very jarring. He seems to be trying too hard in trying to emote both musically and facially, and I think his expressions are quite odd in the close-ups on him during the first verse of the song. It was interesting to me that they cut the song "Knowing Me, Knowing You" from the film version, a song that's quite powerful in the show and comes right after Sam is questioning Sophie about whether she really should be getting married, especially after Sam witnesses a disagreement between Sophie and Sky. I'd be curious to know whether the song was cut before or after he was cast, as I don't think he would have been able to handle that song at all. I did find it interesting, though, that he was basically given a solo in the dinner scene at the end with "When All Is Said And Done". I think he did better on that than on "S.O.S.", so it might have been that the notes and pitch were easier for him to hit on the later song. I kept trying to figure out what was "wrong" with his singing, and one thing that occurred to me is that he's not singing with the English accent I might expect - instead, because he kind of slurs and mushes his words together, he almost sounds like you'd expect Alan Rickman to sound when he's singing, since he sort of mushes his words together when he's talking. Hmmm, I can't remember what Rickman sounded like in "Sweeney Todd", which he did sing in. Well, at least Brosnan didn't have that much singing to do, and it was only the one song where it was really obvious that he was weak in that department, unlike a certain other filmed musical where one of the leading male roles went to an actor who could by no means handle the singing, which was especially a problem because his character's whole enchantment was because of his beautiful voice and amazing musical ability. Umm, yeah, not so much in that case.


When I first heard that Colin Firth was cast as Harry, I laughed because I knew he would fit so well. I've been a fan of his since "Circle of Friends", and I really liked him in "Bridget Jones' Diary", "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "Love, Actually". He was very good as Harry, as I expected him to be.

They downplayed a little bit of Harry bristling at having previously been told that he's too stuffy and him basically going back to the days when he was spontaneous and free, when he knew Donna. One major change they made with Harry is that in the show, he has a partner, so it's more of a surprise/shock when we learn later in the story that his partner is male - Nigel. In the film, he is presented as being unattached, though the reaction was still there when he mentioned that Donna was the last woman that he loved, and they cut to a guy he obviously has hooked up with while on the island - I did love that shot, though. There's an odd scene earlier in the movie where Bill seems to think that Harry is coming out to him, while Harry assumes that something is going on between Bill and another woman. (I think Harry is referring to Rosie, but there were times that I almost thought he might be referring to Sophie, so that was odd.) His being single also kind of throws off the line sung by Sophie in "Our Last Summer" where Sophie mentions him being a family man. I would have preferred that the story was that he was attached but his significant other has recently left him, and so you could almost interpret his acceptance of the invitation that he thought was from Donna as maybe being sorry that he lost track of her and maybe he was coming to rekindle the relationship. They managed to convey that Harry has an SO in the show without revealing the person's gender or even making it obvious that they were specifically avoiding stating the SO's gender, so I don't think that would have been a problem for the film.

In the show, "Our Last Summer" is a duet by Harry and Donna, when he comes to see her to give her the check, and he actually sings part of "Thank You For The Music" soon after he arrives at the taverna, and it's the first connection made between him and Sophie, so when they were on the boat in the film, and he picks up his guitar, I was expecting him to sing "Thank You For The Music", so I was surprised when it turned out to be "Our Last Summer". I think he sounded great in the first couple of lines by himself, though I did enjoy the ensemble work on the song in the film, so I would have liked to have heard him sing a bit more rather than just as part of everyone else or a line or two in "Take A Chance On Me". Maybe in another film.


Another bit of perfect casting when I heard about it was Christine Baranski as Tanya, who is pretty much the character she played in the television series "Cybill". There are added bits in the show that rounded out Tanya's character a bit more that were omitted from the film, but she was still good and particularly spectacular in "Does Your Mother Know".


Both Stellan Skarsgard and Julie Walters were fine in the film, though they didn't have all that much to do. I think their characters are the least developed in the show anyway. "Take A Chance On Me" is done much differently - in the show, it's a duet between the two of them before the wedding starts, whereas in the film, it's after the wedding, in front of the entire wedding party and guests and eventually becomes an ensemble song.


Dominic Cooper was fine as Sky, and he did a really good job on "Lay All Your Love On Me", but unfortunately, in my mind, Sky will always be Timothy Ware. Sky was always a sort of forgettable character in the show until the first time I saw Ware, who was in the North America touring company of "Mamma Mia" at the time - he is no longer with them. His performance was just incredible. His delivery during a couple specific parts of the story (when Sophie asks him if he really thinks of his bachelor party as his last day of freedom and when Sky finds out that Sophie has invited her three potential fathers and breathed not a word of it to him) were just different from everyone else's that I'd seen, and it made Sky into a real character for me.


Sky and Sophie from the North America touring company.


The cast of the North America touring company celebrating an anniversary.


I found it interesting that in the show, the character of Eddie, one of Donna's employees, has quite a number of lines and is a minor named character, but he's pretty much just ensemble in the film. I don't think he's even referred to by name. I don't think Pepper is named either (he's the one Tanya plays with in "Does Your Mother Know"), but he has a bigger part in the movie than Eddie, whereas Eddie is really the bigger role in the show.

Oh, and there are cameos by the two male members of ABBA who wrote the songs - Benny Andersson is the piano player during the "Dancing Queen" segment and Bjorn Ulvaeus is dressed as a Greek god during the closing credits sequence.


thoughts on some of the songs


"Money, Money, Money" - The first song by Meryl Streep, where you can hear and see that she's right for the role of Donna. Nicely done.

"Mamma Mia" - I love this song, but I thought the choreography choices were a bit odd. Here's a segment from the song, which shows some of the odd choreography I mentioned. The song as done in the show is much more sedate, with Donna making her way among the three men, all of whom are frozen, and she is incredulous at their presence but disturbed most of all by Sam. She is obviously much more frenzied here, and there's not quite the same feeling of longing. You can also see the "heads popping up" moment that I mentioned earlier, which is mitigated by the fact that she is apparently unable to see them herself, so they're really not a part of the story.

"Dancing Queen" - Loved how they played this - Donna joining in was much more natural. In the show, Donna pretty much wants nothing to do with this and then just pops up and joins in. In the film, Donna is mostly hiding, but she's peeking at Rosie and Tanya, and you can see her concealing a smile, so you're not surprised when she jumps in. I love the pied piper moment as they run through the town, gathering women along the way, and I love that they end up on the dock, all singing and dancing. The ending with Donna pushing Rosie and Tanya in the water and then jumping in herself was too funny.

"Our Last Summer" - As I mentioned, it's in a different spot than in the show, and I would have liked to have heard just Colin Firth sing more of the song, but I did love the scenery and the bits showing Sophie bonding with each of her potential fathers.

"Lay All Your Love On Me" - Loved this segment - even more sexy than in the show. Doesn't hurt that Amanda is so beautiful and Dominic is definitely not hard on the eyes. This is a little segment of the song, where you can see how good Amanda is, both in acting and singing. The very end of the segment also shows the boys showing up for their part of the song. In the show, the boys arrive on stage in their flippers to kidnap Sky, so I was wondering how that was going to work in the movie. And then I saw the shot of them swimming in from the ocean. Perfect, and too much fun. There were more boys in the film than on stage, so the line of them in their flippers was even funnier. And yes, much of the same choreography.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - Love this segment in the show and loved that they pulled it off well in the film without it being quite as stylized as in the show, which I don't think would have worked in the movie.

"Voulez-Vous" - This segment also keeps much of what's in the show, which I also love, especially since you actually get to see Sophie's perspective, something you can't do in the show. Love the choreography. Here's a segment of the song being shot. I hope there's lots of this kind of footage on the DVD.

"S.O.S." - I've already mentioned how much Pierce Brosnan's performance on this song so does not do it for me. It's especially jarring once Meryl Streep starts to sing, since she does such a good job, which makes it even more obvious that he really can't handle it.

"Does Your Mother Know" - Love, love, love this song. Love that they captured the fun and flirty in the film. The towel diaper is new though and not done in the show!

"Slipping Through My Fingers" - This is the song that brings me to tears every time during the show, with Sophie just sitting at the makeup table as Donna helps her get ready. I can't even describe why it has that effect on me since I don't have a daughter or any kids at all, but the lyrics are just so affecting, and even when there's been a Donna in a show that I haven't necessarily loved, they always nail this song. In the film though, when Sophie asks Donna to help her get ready, I was confused because in the show, she does that when she's mostly ready - all she needs is her hair put up and her dress put on. In the film, she hasn't even started, so I didn't know how that was going to work. Oh my goodness. The sequence starting with Donna just looking at Sophie, and the montage of them bonding, playing, having fun, Sophie sitting on Donna's lap like a little girl as Donna paints her toenails - not to mention Meryl Streep's dead on performance of the song - I was a wreck. I also liked the little coda later when Sophie's in her wedding gown making her way up the hill. This is the ending part of the song where Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried duet on the song. And yes, even just this bit brings me to tears. I also love the little exchange between them at the beginning of the clip - Meryl Streep is terrific in that little segment, and I like the two of them looking into the mirror together. On stage, they're facing each other.

"The Winner Takes It All" - This is a very powerful song in the film, and Meryl Streep does a really good job with it. (In the pre-recordings of this song, she apparently did the entire song in just one take.) She doesn't take on some of the more extended higher notes, but she still manages to very well handle a few of the difficult parts.

"When All Is Said And Done" - This is actually not an ABBA song that I'm familiar with, and it's not used in the stage show. It was done well, and I'll have to find the original sometime to hear what it sounds like.

"Take A Chance On Me" - The abrupt change in both Rosie and Bill with regard to relationships has never really sat well with me, so the surprise coupling always seemed forced to me. Practicality isn't really high on the list in musicals since people don't generally burst into song and proceed to dance in unison, but I thought the dancing/walking on the tables was a bit odd. In the show, they make a mess of the chairs, but that's when no one else is there. The water bursting through was also kind of odd, but it's a fun sequence nevertheless.

"I Have A Dream" - This is the song that brackets the beginning and end of the show, so I'm glad they kept that for the film. It was a nice background to Sky and Sophie's departure.

"Thank You For The Music" - It's too bad the song didn't make it into the film proper, but it's actually the perfect song to play over the end credits, and I see it as a sort of tribute to the writers of the songs used in the film from the filmmakers and cast. Amanda also does a terrific job with this song.


I managed to refrain from buying the soundtrack until after I'd seen the film so that I'd be hearing these versions of the songs for the first time when I saw the film. I am particularly happy that I generally love all the new versions because I now have a CD of the show versions of the songs that I can actually listen to because I *hate* the London cast recording of the show. However, the soundtrack does not have all of the songs in the movie, perhaps because of how much they can put on one CD. "Chiquitita" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" aren't on the soundtrack. They don't have "Waterloo" on the soundtrack either, but I'm used to that because they didn't put the ending "concert" songs on the CD of the Broadway show either. And, of course, you don't get Donna humming "Fernando". ;)

I do find it interesting that they have "The Name of the Game" on the CD even though Sophie doesn't sing it in the film. They changed that part so that even though they kept the lines before and after, she didn't have the song itself. I'm wondering if they actually did shoot the scene and it ended up being cut from the film and will show up on the DVD. Or, since I heard that they recorded the songs before they shot the film, maybe they thought they were going to do a scene so had her do the song but ended up cutting the scene even before any of it was shot. In any case, I do love this version of the song, and Amanda does a good job with it. However, while I love how it's arranged, there's something about it that almost makes it not quite right for a daughter to sing to a father. I think it might be the underlying bass line, which gives it a sexier feel. I'm sure Amanda would have been able to pull it off with her acting and expressions, but in just listening to the song, it almost is a throwback to the original meaning of the song. [OK, I wrote all that and then did some more research and apparently, they did shoot the sequence but ended up cutting it out of the film, so I'm expecting to see it on the DVD.]

From the Broadway show, in addition to "Knowing Me, Knowing You", they also omitted "One of Us" and "Under Attack". I've never been a huge fan of the "Under Attack" segment, so I was glad they didn't shoehorn it in, since I had no idea how that would work. I'm sorry "One of Us" didn't make it because I think Meryl Streep would have done it well. Maybe they decided Donna already had too many brooding scenes and didn't want yet another one.

I was disappointed not to see "Thank You For The Music" included in the soundtrack, but when we actually listened to the CD, we found a surprise. OK, actually, the husband found it. They actually do have "Thank You For The Music" on the CD as a hidden track. The last song listed is "I Have A Dream" (track 17), which we were listening to, and as it ended, the husband said to just let it keep playing. The track kept going but was playing many seconds of silence, and then eventually, it starts playing "Thank You For The Music", not as another track but just as a continuation of track 17. I'm glad they did include that song, even though it takes a bit of work to find.


Here's an article I found that has a lot of information about the movie and the show. The formatting is a bit odd and makes it difficult to go through, but it's well worth the digging.

Here are a few quotes I want to highlight:

[Regarding] the production's choice for Donna: "We had always leant towards Meryl Streep playing the lead character. It was beyond joyful that she said yes to the offer immediately. We knew she had seen the show on Broadway a few years ago, as she'd written a rather wonderful letter to the cast, telling them how much she loved the show and how she'd wanted to get up on stage and feel what it was like to be part of Mamma Mia! Like schoolgirls, we kept this letter."

"We dreamt of asking Meryl to play Donna," says director Lloyd. "We knew she sang; we knew she wanted to do a musical. She combines everything that is required. She's one of those unique actors who can laugh the world's laughs and cry the world's tears. That's what Mamma Mia! needed, and we have it in her."

Streep had indeed seen the show in New York and recounts, "It was pure joy." She was drawn to the role for its humanity, its spirit and, of course, the music. "The songs are timeless," says Streep. "They just enter your body. When I came to learn them, I found I knew every single one. They have amazing hooks and great melodies."

Streep also responded to the fact that women had created Mamma Mia! and this would be a challenging, physical role that demanded a great deal of stamina. Among other moves, she would have to scale the side of a 40-foot building and sing "Mamma Mia" while balancing precariously on a rooftop. Too, she would sing "Dancing Queen" while performing a series of stunts, which included sliding down banisters to jumping off a jetty and into the sea.

Explains Craymer: "Finding Sophie was a huge task. She had to be impish, but innocent at the same time. She had to be fun, and she needed to sing really well, of course. Amanda ticked every box; she is our ideal Sophie."

Seyfried, known to audiences from her standout roles as "weather girl" Karen in Mean Girls and as Sarah Henrickson, daughter of a polygamist in HBO's Big Love, had previous singing and dance experience. But she would be up against a veritable who's who of young Hollywood eager to land the part. Seyfried describes being chosen for the role of Sophie as "every girl's dream."

The auditioning process was intense. Up against a number of young women, Seyfried's astonishing vocals distinguished her. Recalls Lloyd of the audition: "Amanda has that completely winning, radiant warmth and an almost childlike youthfulness. She also has a fabulously natural voice that made Benny and Björn ask her to sing tracks she wasn't even singing in this film. She walked in and, from the first note she sang, you could feel everybody in the room go, 'This is it.'"

During her audition process, Seyfried saw the show in Las Vegas and was hooked. "It was fantastic," she relates. Like others, she acknowledges the timeless quality of ABBA's songs and relished the opportunity of performing them. Seyfried also admits how excited she was at the prospect of following in the footsteps of the select actresses who had played opposite Streep: "She's incredible. She's so aware of how people might react to her presence and did her best to make me feel comfortable. I feel I have learned so much from the opportunity of working opposite her."

...

Amanda Seyfried also had Lowe, Ulvaeus, Andersson and Lloyd present during her recordings, but it couldn't have been more of a freeing experience. "It was so exciting and surreal to work with them. They didn't direct me too much," she says. "I had a tone and sound they liked, so they just let me be free with it."
Lowe points out that many of the songs Seyfried has to sing for the film are tricky, such as the complicated phrasing in parts of "I Have a Dream." "The line 'I believe in angels' falls on a break and sits in an awkward place in the song," he provides. "Some women at the audition just couldn't hit it. Thank the Lord we found Amanda, who just came in and did it. When she walked out of her audition, the camera operator and the sound guy just went, 'This is Sophie.' And they hadn't spoken all day!"

See, I'm totally dead on the mark with my gushing over Amanda Seyfried!


Unlike with the show, I only really plan to see the movie again in theatres one more time, and then I'll wait for the DVD release, happily having the CD to listen to in the meantime.


Did you really make it all the way through? Wow, I'm impressed! I probably owe you dinner or something.

Fred Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza - venue review

I have previously talked about my fascination with the Broadway musical "Mamma Mia". The running joke has now been that we have to see the show in as many different venues as possible, but we're running out of places locally. I think we've been everywhere in Los Angeles and Orange County where it could possibly play, and we've even gone down to San Diego, so when we found out that the touring company would be coming to Thousand Oaks, we decided that was next on the list.

The show was performed at the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. I hadn't known what the theatre seating looked like, so I was surprised upon entering the theatre to see that it wasn't very big. It wasn't as deep as many of the theatres I'm used to but was rather more shallow, like the theatres we'd been to in New York, so that even if you're towards the back of the theatre (which we were - row Q near the control booth), you still had a good view. The theatre does have a mezzanine and a balcony, both of which started further back than I expected.

Generally, I thought it was a very nice theatre. One downside that we didn't encounter because of the row we were in but people in almost all of the other rows would have is that like the Orange County Performing Arts Center, it's just one big section, with aisles only on the end seats, so if your seat is anywhere in the middle, you have to step past a whole lot of people to get to and from your seat.

All in all, I was very satisfied with our visit, and though because of the distance, it's not somewhere we'd go to on a regular basis, I could certainly see going again if they had a show I wanted to see badly enough.

The Civic Arts Center is conveniently located in that there are a number of places nearby to have dinner before or after a show, with the added benefit that you can comfortably walk between the restaurant and the venue.


As for the show itself, we did enjoy it, but it was probably my least favorite cast overall. According to the playbill, many were newcomers to the show, and I wasn't necessarily happy with how some of them performed. In particular, the actress who played the lead of Donna didn't really quite have the voice to pull it off. There are a few songs where Donna has to hit and carry a number of fairly strong notes, and on many of those points, the actress pitched it differently so she didn't have to. In particular, on "The Winner Takes It All", she didn't carry the song like she should have, only hitting the longer, stronger notes on the last verse rather than throughout the entire song. She also made some interpretation choices in the character that I didn't care for. "Sophie" was a very good singer, but she also had some characterizations that I didn't like. "Sam" was quite good overall and had a great voice for his solos and duets. "Tanya" was a bit more non-descript than I'm used to, and "Rosie" bothered me for reasons I can't really explain. "Harry" was good, though a quite different type than I'm used to for that character, but he did have a few blocking changes that I liked. I really enjoyed "Bill", who brought more humour to the role than I've seen from previous actors.


BTW, the "Mamma Mia" count is now at an even dozen: the Shubert Theatre (formerly in Los Angeles), The Ahmanson (in Los Angeles), Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas), the Pantages Theatre (in Los Angeles), Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Long Beach Civic Auditorium, the Cadillac Winter Garden (in New York), Orange County Performing Arts Center again, the San Diego Civic Theatre, Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas) again and the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks.

The show will be at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert in March of 2009, so we may be going to that to add yet another venue to our list. We were at that theatre earlier this year to see Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone in concert together, and I liked the venue quite a bit.

upcoming movies

Since I've been spending quite a bit of time at the movies lately, that also means I've been seeing lots of trailers. When we're not seeing a lot of movies, I miss seeing all the stuff that's coming up, although sometimes that can be a blessing as well. I can't tell you how tired I got of seeing numerous trailers for "The Eye" and "The Ruins".

But with the summer movie season about to kick in, there are quite a number of movies coming up in the next multiple months that I'm interested in seeing. Here's a rundown of them.

I first saw the theatre standee for "Made of Honor", which is being released May 2, and it didn't do anything for me, but as I've been seeing the trailers, it looks funny. Yeah, it looks to be pretty predictable with standard romantic comedy overtones, but I like the physical comedy I've seen in the previews. Here's the link to the trailer.

When I first saw the trailer for "Iron Man", which is being released May 2, I was very surprised to see Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead role. I guess everyone is doing these kinds of films nowadays. It looks like it'll be interesting, though. Here's the link to the trailer.

I remember watching and loving "Speed Racer" as a child, and even though I really can't tell you much about what I watched (other than that whenever I've been stuck at a train crossing, I've always wished I had his car so that I could jump over everything and be on my way), I'm interested in seeing the live-action feature film version, which is being released May 9. I'm not crazy about the Matrix-like funky special effects, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Here's the link to the trailer.

I enjoyed "The Chronicles of Narnia", so I'm interested in seeing "Prince Caspian", which is being released May 16. I've never read the books and haven't yet decided whether I want to attempt them. I've got too much stuff in the queue as it is, so it's not like I'm looking for things to read, but it's something I might consider in the future. I might have to watch the first film again to orient myself before seeing this one. Here's the link to the trailer.

You would pretty much have to be living under a rock to not know that the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series is being released May 22. I'll be spending the majority of May trying really hard to avoid spoilers, especially once the film premieres at Cannes. I'm looking forward to seeing the film - the trailer looks great, I'm excited that Marion (Karen Allen) is back, and I'm interested in seeing how Shia LeBeouf does in the film. Here's the link to the trailer.

I hadn't heard until recently that they were making yet another version of "The Incredible Hulk", which is being released June 13. The last version didn't interest me enough to actually see it, especially with the horrid special effects, so I was pretty ho-hum about this version - until I saw the trailer. It looks pretty good, and I find it interesting that Edward Norton is playing Bruce Banner. With the cast also including Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Robert Downey, Jr., I'm looking forward to seeing how this version pans out. Here's the link to the trailer.

I've already talked about being excited to see "Wall-E", which is being released June 27. We're planning on getting tickets for opening night at the El Capitan as soon as they go on sale. (You don't really need me to link to the trailers, do you?)

It'll be a two-movie weekend since I'm also interested in seeing "Wanted", which is also being released June 27. I'm not a particular fan of Angelina Jolie, but the trailer looks awesome, and Morgan Freeman is in it, so how could you go wrong? Here's the link to the trailer.

I recently saw the trailer for "Hellboy II", which is being released July 11, and it looks kind of interesting. I've never seen the first film, and watching this trailer made me think about a city full of the inhabitants of Tatooine's cantina. The husband wants to see the film, and he's recommending that I watch the first film so that I can understand this one better. Here's the link to the trailer.

The second installment of the new Batman series, "The Dark Knight", is being released July 18. I was looking forward to seeing the film anyway as I love this particular incarnation of the story (I was not a fan of Batman being played by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer or George Clooney though admittedly, I didn't see the last couple movies in the series.), but it'll be sad to see Heath Ledger's last role, in which he supposedly does an amazing job. Here's the link to the trailer.

The movie I'm most excited to see, "Mamma Mia", is also being released July 18. It's going to be a bit of a schizophrenic weekend at the movies. (You don't need me to link to this trailer either, do you?)

I had heard nothing about "Tropic Thunder", which is being released August 15, and as I watched the trailer, it wasn't really the kind of movie I'd normally be interested in - except for one element. The apparently-very-busy Robert Downey, Jr. is in this film, playing a critically-acclaimed Australian actor who undergoes a controversial medical procedure so that he can play an African-American character in the movie-within-a-movie. The trailer footage of him looks incredible, so I think I'm going to have to see this movie just for him alone. Here's the link to the trailer.

Another movie that I'd known nothing about is "Hamlet 2", which is being released August 22. But we saw the trailer recently, and we were laughing so hard that it's one of the movies I'm looking forward to seeing the most. It's just completely irreverent, and the show-within-the-movie just looks outrageous. Here's the link to the trailer.

I'd heard that they were doing a remake of "The Women", which is being released October 10. I'd seen the original film as well as read the original play and enjoyed them both. The casting of this new version is pretty interesting, so I'm interested to see how it comes out. There's apparently no trailer available yet.

Reprise Theatre Company

I'd never heard of this theatre company before, but an announcement they made last week certainly caught my attention. Jason Alexander (who I *have* heard of - OK, I actually saw him in "The Producers" too) is Reprise's new artistic director, and he recently announced the lineup of the 2008-09 season. The show that got my attention was "Once On This Island". A friend had given me the CD of the original Broadway cast recording of the show a number of years ago after I had mentioned how much I liked "Anastasia" and the songs in the movie - Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens wrote the songs for the movie as well as the Broadway versions of both "Once On This Island" and "Ragtime". Well, once I heard the CD, I was in love with the show - but what chance would I get to see it?

A couple of years ago, I found out that International City Theatre in Long Beach was putting on a production of the show, so we decided to go, and the friend who gave me the CD ended up being able to go as well. It was a very minimalist production, no big sets or fancy scenery, even given the setting of the story, but it was really about the performers, and it was a terrific show.

So you can imagine how happy I am that Reprise will also be putting on the show. I'm not sure how elaborate the production would be (I'd love to see a full-scale production of the show with amazing sets and all. It's the kind of show I can definitely see Disney putting on, though they might prefer to change the ending of the story.), but I don't really care. Even if it's like the ICT production, I'll be glad to see it.

The other show on Reprise's 2008-09 season that interests me is "Chess". I'm intrigued because it was a collaboration between the two men from ABBA (responsible for "Mamma Mia", one of my favorite shows) and Tim Rice which actually pre-dates "Mamma Mia". I'm going to have to track down the original Broadway cast CD to have a listen. I'm amused at the hit song that apparently came out of that show.

"Mamma Mia"

I can't wait for July 18, 2008. What's happening that day? Am I excited because it's the day after Disneyland's 53rd birthday? Nope. Am I just looking forward to the 29th Friday of 2008? Nope. July 18, 2008 is the release date for the film version of the stage musical "Mamma Mia".

I've been a fan of the show for a long time. The first time I saw the show was at the now non-existent Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, and I loved it. I'm a huge fan of Abba anyway, so the fact that their music was used as the basis for the show was a good start anyway (especially since the two men from Abba were involved in the creation of the show). But after seeing the show, I loved the fact that they did actually create a real story, one that stands alone even if you don't know the songs beforehand. During a young woman's wedding preparations, she decides that she wants to know who her biological father is, and since there are three possibilities, she invites them all to her wedding, hoping to find out who her real father is before the wedding, much to her independent mother's surprise and dismay when the three men show up. And the energy behind the songs really draws you in as well.

We have now seen the show 10 times in 9 different locales: the Shubert Theatre (formerly in Los Angeles), The Ahmanson (in Los Angeles), Mandalay Bay (in Las Vegas), the Pantages Theatre (in Los Angeles), Orange County Performing Arts Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Long Beach Civic Auditorium, the Cadillac Winter Garden (in New York), Orange County Performing Arts Center again, and the San Diego Civic Theatre. Some productions have been better than others, but I don't think any of them have been bad. I think my overall favorites have been the original show at the Shubert, the company that we saw in Las Vegas (who had an absolutely fabulous Tanya) and the company that we saw in New York, where every single main cast member was just incredible. (And that was before we found out during the intermission that one of the things they liked to sing during rehearsal as practice was "Once on This Island", which I also love, but I digress.)

When I first heard that they were going to make a movie of the show, I was concerned. You never know how the adaptation is going to work. I was happy to hear that the Abba guys were involved in the movie itself, but having the creator involved doesn't always guarantee that the film will be good. Heck, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was involved in the making of the film for "The Phantom of the Opera", and he allowed them to hire a guy in the title role who wasn't that great a singer, *and* he let them destroy the "All I Ask of You" sequence.

And then I heard about the first castings. The lead role of the mother, Donna, was going to be played by Meryl Streep. Now, I know she's been nominated a billion times for Oscars, and I was pretty much kind of over her. However, she was amazing in "The Devil Wears Prada" with her completely understated portrayal of the shark boss, so I was at least feeling favorably towards her again. She's not who I would have envisioned as Donna, but I was willing to withhold judgement. And I also heard that Pierce Brosnan was cast as Sam, one of the potential fathers, and I thought that had serious potential. And then I heard about the rest of the cast as the information became available. Colin Firth as Harry Bright is going to be a complete riot, Stellan Skarsgard (who most people might know as Bill Turner, Will Turner's father in "Pirates of the Caribbean") as Bill (hmmm, yet another Bill...) will be interesting to see, Julie Walters as Rosie is dead on, and the most inspired casting is Christine Baranski as Tanya. The bride-to-be is being portrayed by Amanda Seyfried, who I don't know but who apparently is known for her role in "Mean Girls". After seeing the casting choices, I was much more optimistic about the film.

Well, I just saw the trailer over the weekend, and I can't wait for this film. The trailer looks amazing, and it looks like they really did the show justice. The stage production is fairly low key as far as sets are concerned - "The Phantom of the Opera" it's not, so having that transformed into a full-length feature film could be problematic. The setting looks great though, and I've heard the title song, and I'm presuming the lead is being sung by Meryl Streep since it's her character's song, and it sounds great too. I'm pretty sure the movie soundtrack is going to be released before the film, but I'm going to try really hard to wait until after I've seen the film before I get the soundtrack because I don't want to hear all the new versions of the songs before seeing the movie itself.

The trailer for the film is available online. Go to the official website, enter the site, and if the trailer doesn't start automatically, just click on the "trailer" link.

Merry Christmas!

"How can I resist you."