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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2003)
jiiiw->fl ?nm THEATER j M t a ^ j 39 .............. w .............. repare for an Abba-lanche. Mamma Mia!, the hit Broadway musical with 22 songs by disco icons and gay faves Abba, rolls into Portland on July 1 for a two-week run. Loosely based on the 1968 movie Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, the show tells the story of proudly independent innkeeper Donna, who has raised her daughter, Sophie, alone ever since Sophie’s father left their Greek island. Now Sophie’s get ting married and dreams of a white wedding with her father giving her away; the only problem is she doesn’t know who that father might be. It seems Donna fell into the arms of three men in quick succession (no wonder this show is so popular with gay men), so Sophie invites all three to her wedding in hopes of discover ing which is her papa. Writer Catherine Johnson has skillfully woven Abba’s songs into the story, in much the way that the musicals Crazy for You and My One and Only were designed around Gershwin tunes. Director Phyllida Lloyd and choreogra pher Anthony van Laast have camped it up with polyester disco costumes and an all-male chorus line in various states of undress. Throw in a man in a wedding dress, and gay audiences are eating it up around the world. M amma Mia! premiered 25 years to the day after Abba’s triumphant 1974 victory at the famous Eurovision annual song contest (which also launched the careers of Celine Dion and Michael Flatley). The Swedish singers made their first record ing together in 1970 but didn’t assume the name Abba until 1973, which is an acronym for the first initials of the four musicians— Agnetha Faltskog and Björn Ulvaeus, who married in 1971, and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad, who married in 1978. T he group won Eurovision with its first single, “Waterloo” (beating Olivia Newton- Thank you for the music P Hit show based on music of A bba comes to Portland by F loyd S klaver T he Abba-inspired musical Mamma M iai bits town July 1 in all its polyester glory John, who came in a disappointing fourth). T he song was a huge sensation in Europe and went on to hit No. 6 in the United States. A string of Top 10 hits followed, including everyone’s club favorite “Dancing Queen,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Between 1974 and 1982, Abba sold more than 350 million records. So what is it about Abba that so delights gay men? Here were two straight Scandinavian couples without any of the sex appeal, outsider status or emotional excess of the divas we Pappa pia! James Kali plays o u r kind of dad by L isa B radshaw ow does a nice gay boy from outside Cleveland get all the way to Broadway? “You get on Highway 8 0 .. .it’s pretty easy,” deadpans James Kali, who plays one of three potential biological fathers of the bride in Mamma Mia! And it’s this kind of attitude that makes the Toronto-based Kail a popular theater and tele vision actor— as well as makes him love his cur rent Broadway show. Mamma Mia! is “like com fort food,” he laughs. “You’re just going to sit back and have a good time, and you know you H probably shouldn’t enjoy it as much as you are.” Kali studied theater at Northwestern U ni versity in Chicago and Gay actor Jam es worked professionally KaU is delighted to there for 10 years serve com fort food before auditioning for in Portland the graduate program at Yale Drama School on a whim. “I knew they only took a handful of actors every year. But I adore. Even their private lives were dull, with friendly divorces and no juicy gossip. Yet gays feel a definite ownership. Even though their music is not about us, it’s as if we are personally validated when they sing, “See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen.” Abba’s melodies are a musical stimu lant, an infectious treat that tickles our bodies and makes us feel energetic and alive. W ho can forget Toni Collette in M uriel’s Wedding telling her new best friend, “Since 1 met you and moved to Sydney, my life is as 2640 N .E . A LB ER TA 50 3-28 8-40 67 and VIDEO CHEST 2310 N. LOMBARD 503.289.8408 » FOREIGN « CULT PLUS THE LATEST CHARTBUSTERS Portland O pera presents M am m a M ia ! from July I to 13 at Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St. Tickets are $3I-$71 from the opera box office or Ticketmaster. F loyd S klaver is a free-lance writer who used to dance to A bba at Studio 54. . auditioned, and I got in .... 1 never really envi sioned going back to school, but it was a great detour, it made me a much more confident actor.” From there, it was on to New York City, where he worked in theater and commercials. “I know • some actors who sort of look down their nose at commercials, but 111 tell ya.. .one day’s work, and those checks keep rollin’ in,” he Laughs. “Even gay men can do Budweiser commercials.” In fact, his Bud com m ercial a couple of years ago was voted best Super Bowl ad. “I thought, i f they only knew!’ ” His more “gay friendly” roles include appear ances on Q ueer as Folk and in Life with Judy G ar land: M e and M y Shadows. “And I’m playing a gay character in Momma M ia! now,” he says. W ait, isn’t that supposed to be a secret? “You’d have to be pretty naive to not figure it out earli- VID e J rama « ARTHOUSE « GAY A LESBIAN good as an Abba song"? (In fact, the poster art for that movie— a young woman in a wedding dress, her arms outstretched, her bearping face upturned with anticipation— has been cun ningly imitated for the Mamma Mia! logo.) W hat’s more, gays adore Abba for the kitsch value, taking into our hearts the sappy, over-the-top arrangements and silly 1970s hair styles and costumes. W hat’s so wonderful about them is their unapologetic and unbridled enthusiasm. Abba sounds as if it gets as much pleasure from its music as we do. Despite breaking up in 1982, the band con tinues to sell millions of albums a year interna tionally. In 1992 the British duo Erasure (fea turing gay lead singer Andy Bell) produced the cover album A bba'esque, which is thought to have set in motion the current worldwide Abba explosion. And, like Elvis, Abba has spawned “tribute” acts (most notably one called Bjorn Again) as well as fanzines and conventions that draw thousands of obsessed admirers. In early 2000 the quartet was offered $1 bil lion (yes, you read that right) for a series of 100 reunion concerts. They refused the offer. “It is a hell of a lot of money to say no to,” said Benny Andersson, “but we decided it wasn’t for us.” While audiences may never see Abba reunite, we can still recapture the magical spirit of their blissful music during Momma Mia! You will dance, you will jive, you will have the time of your life. JH3 Cha CRa Country Ml er," he assures. “But, still, there are people who are shocked Mainly the older matinee crowds— h e re ’s sort of a gasp of surprise when I come out at the end. But that’s half the fun.” Abba’s music appeals to everyone, KaU says, but especially the gay crowd. “W hen I was a kid in Maple H eights, O hio, there was some thing so innocent and accepting about their music; it allowed you to be fun and silly. My partner— the first record he ever bought was the 45 of ‘Dancing Q ueen.’ He was a farm boy from Canada, and I thought, well there you go,” he laughs* “W e’ve had this Abba connec tion all these decades.” Although it might be com fort food, KaU notes Mamma Mia? has “a beautiful message. It’s all about your family and friends and how im portant they should be in your life. And there’s adults wearing spandex.” JH YY Swing Waltz Learn to Dance F o »trot 503 236-5129 -
