Sequins! Dancing queens! ABBA! Go backstage for 'Mamma Mia!'s' 25th anniversary tour at the Ahmanson

Here we spell again: Twenty-five years aft “Mamma Mia!” premiered connected Broadway, the nationalist circuit returns to Los Angeles astatine the Ahmanson Theatre with show-stopping acceptable pieces and a unit that knows the amusement wrong and out.

The beloved jukebox musical, which chronicles a Greek wedding with 3 imaginable fathers of the bride, has taken implicit the Ahmanson done July 19 arsenic portion of its 25th day tour, and assemblage members should expect a full-on ABBA sing-along creation party.

“People travel dressed up,” said subordinate choreographer Janet Rothermel. “There’s a batch of boas, and there’s a batch of spandex, and level shoes.”

Rothermel is 1 of galore radical connected the originative squad who person worked connected the amusement since its archetypal Broadway tally successful 2001. Associate manager Martha Banta and subordinate euphony supervisor David Holcenberg person besides seen the philharmonic done its astir 14-year archetypal Broadway run, nationalist tours and galore planetary iterations (Holcenberg was its archetypal euphony director).

“When we were each backmost unneurotic again successful rehearsal, it was an bonzer feeling,” Banta said. “Not with the aforesaid cast, but Janet, David and I and others that person done it for years. With everything that’s been going connected successful the satellite successful the past 3 years, it was conscionable a soothing happening to do.”

“We’ve conscionable been embraced beyond what we were utilized to, which was beauteous great,” she added.

Everyone progressive successful the accumulation echoed a akin sentiment: that the “ultimate feel-good musical” is precisely what audiences privation to spot during achy oregon overwhelming times. The show’s traveling costume supervisor and subordinate decorator Eva Maciek enactment it astir bluntly: “I emotion moving connected it due to the fact that cipher dies.”

Rehearsals for the archetypal Broadway tally coincided with the Sept. 11 violent attacks, Holcenberg explained, and helium was struck by assemblage members’ affectional responses to the archetypal shows.

“I’d person radical coming down to the pit aft the amusement with tears streaming down their faces saying, ‘Thank you for letting america hide the satellite for a mates hours and conscionable person joy,’” helium said. “Because this amusement is joy. It’s afloat of joy.”

Beyond the absurdly catchy euphony and the rom-com story, portion of the show’s joyfulness comes from its colorful costumes and beachy aesthetic. The onstage acceptable is comparatively sparse, consisting lone of a brace of rotating “taverna” walls, but backstage, hundreds of moving parts, including signifier mechanics, manus props and costume changes, propel the communicative guardant and support the accumulation looking effortlessly glamorous.

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Blingy microphones backstage for the “Mamma Mia!” accumulation astatine the Ahmanson Theatre successful downtown Los Angeles.  (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Eva Maciek, the question costume supervisor of the show, shares immoderate wardrobe pieces backstage.  (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Ryan Sander, adjunct choreographer, left, and Eva Maciek, question costume supervisor of the show, amusement disconnected Sander’s “Voulez-Vous” costume.  (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Life jackets backstage for a philharmonic number.  (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Shelves afloat of hats are seen during a backstage tour.  (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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The show‘s signifier is seen during a backstage circuit of the “Mamma Mia!” theatre accumulation astatine the Ahmanson Theatre.  (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The evident prime for coolest costumes, according to Maciek, are the bejeweled jumpsuits worn by titular mamma Donna Sheridan (played by Jessica Crouch) and her Dynamos, Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and Rosie (Carly Sakolove). Each 1 has hundreds of glittering metallic stars attached.

“I’m gladsome I’m not the 1 who had to sew them connected originally!” Maciek joked. The costumes each originated successful London oregon New York, but they’ve been traveling from metropolis to metropolis successful retention “gondolas” since the existent circuit started successful 2023, requiring changeless repairs and touch-ups from section stitchers.

Thematically, Maciek said, the costumes’ evolving colors archer their ain communicative passim the show.

“When everybody arrives astatine the island, they’re each successful beige with a small hint of blue,” she explained. More bluish gets added by “Voulez Vous,” and past they modulation into jewel tones. “When you get into the wedding scene, everybody is successful pinks, brushed reds, oranges and yellows,” Maciek said. “So there’s a existent colour communicative that goes throughout.”

Ryan Sander, the show’s adjunct choreographer, creation skipper and existent “swing” (an histrion covering aggregate ensemble roles), has a peculiar narration to his “Voulez-Vous” costume. He primitively wore it arsenic a performer connected the nationalist circuit much than 20 years ago, and erstwhile helium was called to travel backmost onstage, helium recovered that it inactive acceptable similar a glove. The costume, a denim vest and pants acceptable with highly Y2K lace-up details, is typical of the show’s attack to manner trends.

“There is thing timeless astir these pieces that’s conscionable truthful interesting,” helium said. “It is simply a play portion and we instrumentality to that, but determination is thing timeless astir the costumes.”

Besides the costume racks, different important backstage constituent are the vocal booths, wherever the ensemble contributes to the philharmonic soundscape from down the curtain.

“One of the main things astir the ‘ABBA sound’ is however they layered the vocals, and we bash that each unrecorded successful our show,” Holcenberg said. “The ensemble works really, truly hard, due to the fact that erstwhile they’re not connected stage, they don’t get immoderate clip off. They’re conscionable singing their small faces off.”

Even though the amusement has been moving for decades, the originative squad said each formed brings a caller vigor and tone.

“Our caller Donna, Jess, brings a existent stone chick vigor to it,” Holcenberg said. “Even though the notes connected the leafage enactment the same, the casting and the mode they execute it inactive changes from idiosyncratic to idiosyncratic and nighttime to night.”

According to signifier manager Andrew Volzer, the astir “unique” aspects of the amusement are its agelong past with a choky unit and its multigenerational entreaty — “Not lone from the assemblage perspective, but besides for the radical moving connected the show. People are ever coming and going,” helium said.

“We ever say, you ne'er permission the island.”