Act One
On the sunkissed Greek island of Calicos, Sophie, a 20-year-old young woman, is preparing to marry her fiancé, Sky. She wants nothing more than her father to walk her down the aisle, ("Prologue: I have A Dream") but doesn't know his identity. Sophie finds her mother's old diary and finds entries which describe intimate dates with three men (Sam Carmichael, Bill Andersson, and Harry Bright) ("Honey Honey"). Sophie believes that one of these men could be her father and, three months prior to the wedding, sends each one an invitation to her wedding writing in the name of her mother, Donna, without letting the unsuspecting latter know.
The day before the wedding, Donna begins receiving guests at her taverna. The first to arrive are her old best friends, Tanya, a rich woman who has been both married and divorced three times, and Rosie, an unmarried, free spirit . The trio used to be a girl group called Donna and the Dynamo's and the three women catch up and talk about how their lives have been ("Money Money Money")
Later in the day, Sophie's three possible fathers all arrive: Sam (an American architect), Harry (a British banker), and Bill (a Swedish writer and adventurer). Sophie convinces them all not to tell Donna that she invited them ("Thank You For The Music"). Donna is surprised to see her ex-lovers ("Mamma Mia") and leaves in tears. Donna, whilst still crying, explains to Tanya and Rosie the situation, and they cheer her up ("Chiquitita"). Tanya and Rosie try their hardest to convince Donna that she can still be the girl that she once was ("Dancing Queen")
Sophie had hoped that she would know her father from the moment she saw him, but is now only even more confused. She tries to tell her fiancé, Sky, how she feels without confessing what she has done. Sky tells her that he is the only man she will ever need ("Lay All Your Love On Me")
At Sophie's hen night, Donna and the Dynamos get into their old costumes and perform a song, ("Super Trouper"). Sam, Bill and Harry accidentally walk in on the party, but the guests persuade them to stay ("Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight"). Sophie first pulls Sam out of the room to talk to him. After he asks why he is here, she is overcome with guilt, and goes to speak to Harry instead. But Harry asks if Sophie's father is at the party, and she finally tells him the whole truth. Lastly, she draws Bill aside to talk with him. She learns that Bill has an aunt Sophia who left all her money to Donna's family. Bill learns that Donna built the taverna with money that she inherited from a friend she lived with when Sophie was just a baby; that friend was Bill's aunt. They both think that this means he is her father.
Sophie then asks Bill to walk her down the aisle, but Bill wants to discuss it first with Donna. This has been her big secret after all. But no one knows yet that even Donna does not know who the father really is, because she slept with the three men in such swift succession. Sophie insists that they must not tell Donna anything ("The Name Of The Game") and eventually, Bill agrees.
Everybody, including the boys from the stag party then crashes the hen party. During the dance, Sam pulls Sophie aside and tells her that he has figured out why she invited him. He knows that he is her father, and promises that he will walk her down the aisle the next day. Then, Harry approaches Sophie, apologizing for being so slow on the uptake, and he is also convinced that she is his daughter and promises to walk her down the aisle. Sophie leaves the party, hopelessly confused and wanting to turn any of them down ("Voulez-Vous")
Act Two
Sophie is having a nightmare, with all her three possible fathers fighting for the right to walk her down the aisle and wakes up despairing ("Under Attack")
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Sophie is extremely upset, and Donna assumes that Sophie wants to cancel the wedding and offers to handle all the details. Sophie is offended and vows that her children will not grow up without knowing who their father is. As Sophie storms out of the room, Sam enters and tries to tell Donna that Sophie may not be all she seems, but Donna will not listen ("One Of Us"). She hates Sam; at the end of their love affair, she said she never wanted to see him again. But it seems that Sam was the man Donna cared about the most, and both of them wish they could go back to the beginning ("SOS")
Down at the beach, Harry asks Tanya what the father of the bride should be doing for Sophie's wedding. Tanya explains that for her part, her father gave her his advice and then paid. Pepper, one of the guys who works at Donna's taverna, to make advances to Tanya, but she rebuffs him ("Does Your Mother Know")
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Sky finds out what Sophie has done in inviting Sam, Bill and Harry to the wedding. He accuses her of wanting a big white wedding only so that she can find out who her father really is. He is very hurt that she kept her plan a secret from him and storms off just as Sam walks in. Sam tries to give Sophie some fatherly advice by describing his failed marriage ("Knowing Me Knowing You") but Sophie is not consoled.
Harry makes an offer to Donna to pay for the wedding, and they reminisce about their fling ("Our Last Summer"). Sophie arrives and Donna helps her to get dressed. She cannot believe her daughter is going to be a bride ("Slipping Through My Fingers"). Donna admits that her own mother disowned her when she learned that she was pregnant. They reconcile and Sophie asks her mother if she will walk her down the aisle. Sam then arrives and attempts to speak to Donna again, but she does not want to see him, and asks him to leave. He refuses, and a bitter confrontation ensues with Donna telling Sam that he broke her heart, presumably when she found out he was engaged ("The Winner Takes It All"). It emerges that the two still love each other dearly, albeit against Donna's better judgment.
Rosie is making the final preparations in the taverna when Bill suddenly arrives. He is upset because he has received a note that Donna will be walking Sophie down the aisle. Bill reaffirms his commitment to the single life, but Rosie has become attracted to him, and urges him to reconsider ("Take A Chance On Me"). They are just about to have sex in the taverna, when the guests arrive, leaving Rosie quite stunned.
The wedding begins, with Donna walking Sophie down the aisle but before the priest has a chance to begin the ceremonies, Donna acknowledges to everyone that Sophie's father is indeed present. Sophie tells her mother that she knows about her father. Donna then realizes that Sophie invited them all to the wedding for that very reason. The issue of Sophie's parentage is left unsettled, as none of them have any idea whether they are actually her father or not. Everyone involved agrees that it does not matter which one of them her biological parent is, as Sophie loves all three equally and they are all happy to be "one-third of a father" and a part of her life at last.
Finally, Harry, who has made frequent references to his "other half" throughout the show, is revealed to be in a committed gay relationship.
Sophie then calls a sudden halt to the proceedings saying that she is not ready to get married and Sky agrees with Sophie about not getting married. Sam seizes his chance and proposes to Donna in order to prevent the wedding preparations from going to waste. He explains that he loved her, even when he left to get married. It is revealed that he called off his wedding and came back to the island, only to be told that Donna was going out with another man (Bill). He went back, married his fiancée and had children but later got divorced. Surprisingly, Donna accepts, ("I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do"). In the end, Sam and Donna get married, and at the end of the night, Sophie and Sky depart on a trip around the world ("I Have A Dream")
Finale
After the performers' bow to the audience, the cast performs the following songs together: "Dancing Queen", "Mamma Mia", and "Waterloo" featuring Donna, Tanya, Rosie, Bill, Sam, and Harry in ABBA-inspired costumes.
Theatre tickets to all performances of Mamma Mia at the Prince Of Wales Theatre in London are available to book securely through this website.
been thrilling London audiences for over a decade playing to a packed house at the Prince Of Wales Theatre. It's popularity grew even more when it recently became the biggest grossing British movie of all time when the three women who created the stage show adapted it for the silver screen.
