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THEATER
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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
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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
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