Judy Craymer talks of her enthusiasm and love for the theatrical music of
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus

A musical of the size and success of MAMMA MIA! doesn’t happen overnight. As creative producer, my job began long before the script had been written. In fact, the story begins 22 years ago when I first met Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, the song-writing geniuses behind ABBA. I was working for Tim Rice who was collaborating with Benny and Björn on the musical Chess. I was immediately smitten. After all, these were the men who had written ‘Dancing Queen’, one of the greatest pop songs of all time – but it was another of their songs ‘The Winner Takes It All’ that first suggested to me the potential of an original musical using Benny and Björn’s classic compositions. The lyrics tell a roller-coaster story of love and loss: it is extraordinarily theatrical.

Now I had to approach Benny and Björn who were understandably a little unsure of my intentions. I explained that the project I had in mind would focus on a new and exciting story. It would not be a tribute show or the ‘ABBA Story’, but a truly original book musical. They were not 100% convinced but they didn’t absolutely close the door and I took hope.

So I sat on the floor of my apartment listening to ABBA’s records late into the night. I was driving my neighbours to despair but I was more and more certain of my idea. In 1995 my tenacity finally paid off. Björn said, “If you can find the right writer and story, well… let’s see what happens…”

A year later I was on location of a film I was producing when the director mentioned Catherine Johnson. I was aware of her work as a playwright and, even better, I knew her agent. We met in January of 1997 and I was able to confidently tell Björn that we had found our writer.

My co-producer, Richard East, and I commissioned Catherine to write the story. My brief to her was that the lyrics could not change, the story should be a contemporary, ironic, romantic comedy and that if she listened carefully to ABBA’s songs, she would notice how they fell into two different generations – the slightly younger, playful songs like ‘Honey, Honey’ and ‘Dancing Queen’, and the more mature, emotional songs such as ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’. The idea of a cross-generational love-story was devised.

By the end of the year Catherine had finished the first draft of a script and I persuaded Phyllida Lloyd to come on board as our director. Her background was serious, legit theatre and opera. Her secret weapon was her “dry Martini wit”. We discovered we all shared the same birth-year and soon firmly bonded.

It was unusual, if not unheard of, for three women to be the collaborative creative force behind what was to become such a commercial success. From a personal point of view, I think it readdressed the balance and had a great nurturing effect on the production. We were all happy to jump in and make the tea. Appropriately, MAMMA MIA! features three strong women in the story. Their characters are completely different – slightly bossy, a bit chaotic, extremely practical, and very high maintenance! We have a lot of laughs about who is who in real life, and, as time goes by, it’s a little worrying that we have become even more like those characters on stage.

It was time to give up my day job as a television and film producer and prepare for the white-knuckle ride of making the dream a reality: money to raise, a theatre to find, artwork to create, ticket agents to seduce, deadlines to meet. It was summer 1998 and we had to open by April 7th 1999 or we would lose Phyllida who had been booked years in advance to direct an opera at The Coliseum in London. The suggested opening dates were April 6th or April 9th. April 6th happened to be the anniversary, to the day, of ABBA winning the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’ 25 years before. It seemed a good omen.

Although Björn was enthusiastic and shared the vision for the musical, Benny was a little more cautious and at any time both could have put an end to the whole process. It was a tense time. Their emotional backing as well as their creative input was important to me. If they were going to trust me with their fabulous songs I did not want to let them down. Benny and I agreed that on opening night one of us would be able to tell the other “I told you so”.

We had a date for opening but we had no theatre. We had been looking at smaller venues when suddenly the rather large and prestigious Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End became available. It was the very same theatre that Chess had opened at ten years earlier – another omen? But it meant that the scale of the production had to expand dramatically and cast, crew, set and budget would have to be reworked. A lot of fingers were crossed for the big night.

April 6th 1999 – the world premiere of MAMMA MIA!. The audience were charmed and one British critic said “MAMMA MIA! could put Prozac out of business”! Benny heartily accepted his defeat – while the entire theatre danced in the aisles, he turned to me and said, “You can say it now”. I flashed back, “I told you so!”. We still joke about it.

The idea of taking the show abroad had never been discussed but with a certifiable hit in London came the opportunity to recreate the show in other countries. In May 2000 we had our North American premiere at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre. The production was initially set to run for six months. Four years later, MAMMA MIA! is still the most successful show ever at The Royal Alexandra.

The first US Tour ventured into the United States, opening at The Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco in November 2000. We were warned that America was not so familiar with ABBA’s music. We were cautious. Broadway was still a dream away.

In June 2001 we opened MAMMA MIA! at The Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. We were all now living out of suitcases, accumulating air miles and working with amazing teams of people around the world. October 2001 heralded our Broadway premiere at The Winter Garden Theatre. MAMMA MIA! opened to one of the biggest advance sales in theatre history.

America was hooked – they found ABBA’s music irresistible. The second US touring company opened in Providence, Rhode Island, in February 2002 and has now played in over 60 cities. In February 2003 we were invited to produce a production for The Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas, as the first full length West End musical to ever premiere on the Strip.

Since October 2003 MAMMA MIA! has opened eleven non-English language productions in Hamburg, Tokyo, Utrecht, Seoul, Stuttgart, Madrid, Stockholm, Antwerp, Moscow, Essen, Berlin and Barcelona. We have risen to the challenge of translating both Catherine Johnson’s heart-warming story of a mother and daughter and Björn’s legendary lyrics. MAMMA MIA! plays to 17,000 people a night around the world and has been seen by over 40 million people. My seed of an idea has become a juggernaut.

In 2004 the focus shifted back to where it all began. The London production celebrated its 5th anniversary and moved into new premises at the beautifully refurbished Prince of Wales Theatre. His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales officially reopened the theatre and attended a performance. He admitted to knowing all the lyrics to ABBA’s songs.

In Dublin on September 9th 2004, the International Tour premiered at The Point Theatre before setting off on its own adventure to Edinburgh, South Africa, Tallinn, Lisbon, Brussels, Paris and beyond. One thing I have learnt from ten fun and frantic years of overseeing and co-ordinating the many productions of MAMMA MIA! is that the potential and possibilities are exciting and limitless.

For me the experience of MAMMA MIA! has been life-changing and would not have been possible without an amazing creative team or the trust and co-operation of Benny and Björn. Also my special thanks must go to the wonderful actors, musicians, stage management, crew and everyone who makes MAMMA MIA! happen night after night.

Enjoy the show. Have fun!