Why is mamma mia so successful

The stage show was the brainchild of British producer Judy Craymer, who met Benny and Bjorn as they worked on the musical Chess. It has since been performed in more than 50 countries, from South Korea to Qatar, and been translated into 22 languages. Named after a Abba chart topper, Mamma Mia! Indeed none of the male leads had any singing history, while Oscar-winner Streep was also taking a leap into the unknown when it came to holding a tune.

But every time we finished a take we would look at one another and wonder what on earth we were doing. Committing career suicide? Cue barbs about the Hollywood stars meeting their Waterloo, with one harsh critic concluding that all that was wrong with Mamma Mia!

But audiences adored the movie, which was shot on the Aegean island of Skopelos and at Pinewood studios, for its foot-tapping exuberance. Perhaps the real stars were the idyllic setting and the 24 Abba hits packed into two hours.

It's also been suggested that the timing of the release at the height of the global recession was an accidental master stroke because everyone was looking for the escapism which Mamma Mia!

And it crosses the generations. Of course, Abba first came around in the s, so for people who liked them then - and I can't say I was one of them - there's a link to that era. But then there are all these and year-olds discovering the music and loving it too.

My daughters adored it. I'll be interested to see whether they'll get the DVD, and whether watching it will be the same experience, because from my point of view the power of it was in connecting strangers in the audience. You're all having the same experience, and I'm all for anything that gets people sharing things in a positive way. I've seen the stage show seven times and I have to say I was disappointed by the film. What's wonderful about the show is that it fizzes with wit, and the timing is just so perfect and so funny, and somehow in the film they lost some of that spontaneity.

I am Mamma Mia! It's a show that draws female friendship beautifully. And it celebrates a woman having had, not hundreds of lovers, but three - and treats that with such subtlety and fun. The relationship between the mother and daughter is beautifully drawn, and the song that the mother sings about losing her daughter makes me cry every time.

It's about a woman being independent and determined that she's going to bring up her child alone and then, when love comes along, opening herself up to it entirely.

It's a life-affirming piece of work and I love it. In the film the basics are all there, and I cried at the same song, but it lacked that subtlety and fizz. I can see why people have enjoyed it, because there are few films that celebrate women with such joy. And it's so rare that you find a film that presents relationships in that way.

It's political, but it's a romance. So to people who have seen the film, and enjoyed it for those reasons, I would say see the show. My parents are dead now, but they came down for a weekend once and I took them to see it - they loved it just as much as I did. I took my kids, and they loved it too.

It's a show for everyone. The film was a disaster - over the top, absolutely ridiculous - and I kept thinking "I shouldn't be enjoying this," but I did. Because it's fun, and I could sing along, I knew all the words. It's like a rollercoaster: you know you're going to hate it, but you give in to it and find yourself enjoying it.

It picked me up. I can see why women respond to it. The production team was female, it's about the relationships between women and the female characters are incredibly strong, if a little bit mad. Even my sister in South Africa, who is very Muslim - at the other end of the religious spectrum to myself - loved it.

She's getting married and she's decided that instead of a traditional henna party, she wants to have an Abba party - everyone has to sing a song and wear an Abba outfit. So before stepping into the cinema, here's why the Mamma Mia! A post shared by Mamma Mia! It's safe to say that Mamma Mia! The cast of the movie is incredible and filled with power-packed film icons. The excitement only doubles in the next film as many more characters played by Cher, Andy Garcia and Lily James join the gang.

If it wasn't the music that captured your attention in Mamma Mia! Filmed on the tiny Greek island of Skopelos and the Pelion area, the movie is filled with blissful blue skies, pristine waters and quiet sceneries.