Great fun

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2008)

Loved it! A great adaptation of the stage show. Why shouldn't it be, with the creators of the stage show at the helm. As for Benny and Bjorn's songs, how amazing to think the the fabulous arrangements of 30 years ago still sound joyful and infectious. Catherine Johnson does a neat job of constructing a story round the songs. So when Meryl (brilliant!) starts MONEY,MONEY,MONEY, it makes sense - Donna has been struggling for years. Of course, having Meryl, Christine and Julie as a singing group (Donna and the Dynamos) meant songs like SUPER TROUPER and DANCING QUEEN didn't need a story context. I liked the use of the Greek villagers as chorus. And the imaginative staging of each number was very good. My only quibble (as with CHICAGO and MOULIN ROUGE)was the over editing of dance scenes. Cutting every 5 or 10 seco0nds is ridiculous. Let's see the dancing! Wonder why the soundtrack cd doesn't have the wonderful finale of DANCING QUEEN and WATERLOO. I hope the DVD has lots of extras! My favorite song is THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL, sung so passionately by Meryl. I don't suppose Meryl would do any concerts but if she did and she came to my home town Glasgow, we have a lovely Royal Concert Hall. I can imagine the reception she would get if she sang SUPER TROUPER and got to that line: "..When I called you last night from Glasgow.."! If Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical version of SUNSET BOULEVARD is ever film, move over Glenn Close!