Mamma Mia- Novello Theatre

Last night (10/01/24) I went to watch Mamma Mia at the Novello Theatre. I managed to snag a great seat (Dress Circle AA18) for a great price on Official London Theatre in the morning using my Christmas theatre tokens and was really impressed with the view and comfort of this seat given the warnings online about needing to lean forward and limited legroom. Granted I am only 5ft so legroom isn’t a problem for me but I could see the whole stage and the actors’ facial expressions so clearly and therefore I would highly recommend this seat.

On arrival at the Novello, I was handed a cover slip along with my programme and was initially slightly gutted that the understudy (Lèa Desjacques) was on for Sophie as I had booked this performance specifically to see the lovely Meg Hateley. However, covers, swings and understudies are the unsung heroes of musical theatre and live performance in general; they completely deserve all our praise and recognition for their hard work so I quickly became quite excited when the show started.

The absolute star of the show was without a doubt Mazz Murray who plays Donna Sheridan. She completely stole every scene she was in with her powerhouse vocals and her ‘Winner Takes It All’ was absolutely breathtaking. Both her emotional delivery and comic timing hit the marks every time, particularly when sharing the stage with Nicola-Dawn Brook and Kate Graham (who play Rosie and Tanya respectively). All three of these actresses looked, acted and sounded the part and the camaraderie between the three of them seemed so natural and made for easy viewing.

Haydn Oakley, Stephen Beckett and Christopher Dickins (Sam Carmichael, Bill Austin and Harry Bright respectively) are three well cast, equally strong performers who managed to create a real sense of banter between the characters on stage and were able to bounce off of each other really well. I should give a special mention to Nicola- Dawn and Stephen because it would be really easy to take the flirtatious comedy of Take A Chance On Me too far and become over the top but these two completely sold that number.

All of the big ensemble dance numbers, particularly Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!/Voulez-Vou and Under Attack, created a stunning visual effect, particularly from above where I was seated. The entire cast had clearly put a lot of effort into these numbers which absolutely paid off as they were slick, polished and sharp; for me, these moments completely sell this show.

The two lovebirds, Sophie and Sky, were played by Léa Desjacques and Miles Henderson at this performance. Miles was a great actor and embodied the part of Sky, in particular during his scenes with Lèa where their great chemistry really shone. Unfortunately, his vocals during Lay All Your Love On Me fell slightly short in my opinion but the overall feel of the number and strong ensemble more than made up for it. Lèa is a stunning actress and the epitome of Sophie Sheridan in every way. However, I’m not sure if she was having an off day or had been told she was going on at the last minute but it did feel as if she was ‘singing by numbers’ and unfortunately her voice was almost completely lost during her duet ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ with Mazz although this could simply be due to Mazz being an established actress and Lèa performing her West End debut role. I’m sure with time and experience Lèa will grow in confidence and go on to perform many more successful roles.

Overall, this show is 100% a cult classic and everyone both on stage and in the audience seemed to be having the time of their lives, you can’t help but get up and dance (of course only in the encore) of this timeless hit.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️