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Mamma Mia 31st October 2002 It was Halloween and we didn't want to stay at home, skulking with the lights out and avoiding kids. We wanted to go out and do stuff. After all, we were fresh back from the cruise and we were used to going out in the evening and seeing shows and doing stuff. The only show in town that night was the Abba musical Mamma Mia. I didn't know anything about it, except that it was full of Abba songs. I'm fond of the Abba songs. Always have been, despite the condemnation of my purist friends. I've got Abba cds. I like the music. So we went. It was fun. The story was a bit light but it was fun, and the songs were the same old happy Abba songs I know. The voices of the younger singers had a harsh note to them, but most musicals these days focus on this style of harsh voice. The older female singers didn't have the harshness, just the younger ones. But that's okay, I wasn't expecting opera. It was fun. I enjoyed it. It's been a while since I last enjoyed a musical. Les Miserables was the last one I really liked. There was only one thing that made me cringe, and that was the Australian in the story. Oh boy, did I suffer the Great Aussie Cultural Cringe when he started on his larrikin, yobbo act. However, he was pretty accurate, if you consider the Aussie expats of 20 or 30 years ago. The character grew on me, and I cringed less as the story went on. At the end of the show, there was a plea for a contribution to AIDS research. To help that along, they were selling photos with the cast members, all proceeds donated to the AIDS Research cause. So we lined up and got our photo taken. If you want to see a lot more photos of the cast and the show, visit Tina's web site about this production of Mamma Mia - www.mammamiafan.com.