ABBA-solutely Fabulous

Don your widest bell-bottoms Tuesday night and take a chance on Mamma Mia!, the lighthearted comedy-cum-musical that manages to squeeze 24 ABBA songs inside an original plot without changing a single lyric. As you unabashedly belt out your favorite tunes, like “Waterloo,” “Dancing Queen,” and “Take a Chance on Me,” the cast will enact the tale of a 20-something girl searching to find which of three men could be her daddy. The thing is, Sophie didn’t tell Mommy Dearest that she invited the guys all the way to their home in the Greek Islands a day before her wedding. Yep, the fiercely independent single mother’s carefree summer-of-free-lovin’ past will rear its ugly head. Having flashbacks concerning the movie version with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan? Don’t let that horrific ear bud violation deter you; the Fort Lauderdale cast actually possesses impressive vocal abilities.

Spend your “Money, Money, Money” — $23 to $69 of it, to be exact — at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts’ Au-Rene Theater (201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale). Shows take place Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 8 p.m.; Wednesday and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m. Call 954-462-0222, or visit browardcenter.org.
Jan. 22-28, 2009