THE mother of all musicals – MAMMA MIA! – is being performed at the Hall for Cornwall between June 3 and 10.

Judy Craymer, it’s visionary producer and creative dynamo who dreamt up the idea for the show, has spoken ahead of its arrival to the Cornwall Playhouse.

The global, record-breaking super trouper of a show has been seen by more than 70 million people worldwide, in 50 countries and 16 different languages.

MAMMA MIA! is the fastest premiering musical in history, having opened in more than 45 cities worldwide.

The feelgood musical with a score of irresistible ABBA songs, has given birth to two smash-hit films: the first, released in 2008, and 2018’s MAMMA MIA! Here We Go Again, the most successful musical movie sequel of all time.

Now the show is back, on a new UK tour set to run into 2027, as well as returning to Broadway, back at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it received its New York premiere back in 2001.

Since its first opening night, on April 6, 1999, at the Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End, MAMMA MIA! has established its place in theatre history. Judy remembers: “A lot of people doubted us. They just couldn’t get their heads around it.”

Together with writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd, Craymer achieved a landmark theatrical triumph with blockbuster, cross-generational appeal, that would delight ABBA’s loyal fans and win them legions of new ones.

This was, however, no overnight feat. Craymer—who trained in stage management at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama—was working in the production office of musical-theatre royalty Tim Rice in the early 1980s when she first met Benny and Björn, who at the time were collaborating with Rice on Chess.

One of Craymer’s first tasks was to collect Ulvaeus from the airport, and the pair quickly struck up a friendship. “It was huge fun,” Craymer remembers. “I was flying to Stockholm with Tim Rice every week, working in Benny and Björn’s studio.”

The access she had to the ABBA pair was crucial, “It was very fortunate, because otherwise I’m not sure they would have taken this on. I had to pester them for a long time!”

She goes on: “I listened to their songs with a whole different ear, having met the guys. They take you on a journey. And that was the beginning of me falling in love with those songs.” Craymer began to see the dramatic potential in ABBA’s infectious pop. “I started thinking about how to turn them into narrative.”

At first, she wasn’t sure what form this dramatisation would take. It was Johnson who suggested centering the story on a mother and daughter. Craymer knew at once she’d found the right formula. “We were both penniless, Catherine was a single mum,” she recalls. “I only had about £1,000, so I said, I’ll pay you £500 now, and £500 when you’ve written it.

“It’s so difficult to get a project going, but we just got on with it.”

Lloyd, who came on board as director, shared their passion, and the trio put together a female-led show full of joyous romance and fierce mother-daughter affection: an exuberant matrimonial comedy set on an idyllic Greek island, with a playful nod to the family dramas of classical tragedy.

It’s the strength of that narrative, Craymer believes, that sets Mamma Mia apart. “I don’t consider MAMMA MIA! a jukebox musical,” she says. "My vision was always for it to be an original stage musical, using existing songs that fit perfectly within a new, original story. I do believe it’s had an enormous influence on music and theatre-going culture.”

That universal appeal has seen the show play to packed houses around the world. In New York, it helped revitalise Broadway after 9/11, proving an unexpected balm for theatre-goers.

Now it’s back – and that, says Craymer, feels very special. “Reopening on Broadway feels like a landmark, especially as we’ve we brought the show back to its original Broadway home, It’s inspiring to see that the show still has a huge cultural resonance.

It seems that many people who saw it previously are coming back – and introducing younger family members. I’d always hoped we’d be back on Broadway, and to see this ongoing connection across generations has been wonderful.”

MAMMA MIA! was one of the first big shows to return in the UK after the Covid crisis; in a typically astute move, Craymer mounted its first ever open-air production, in the grounds of Harewood House in Yorkshire.

Yet again, it proved a tonic. “It offers escapism,” Craymer explains. “The audience is transported to a glorious, sun-kissed Greek Island with blue skies, turquoise sea, a fabulous cast and an uplifting story. This has become even more important to our audiences in times of uncertainty. I think the show’s joyful energy and the shared experience of being in a theatre is a great comfort during darker times. It's not just entertainment – it's almost therapeutic.”

And MAMMA MIA! has been genuinely ground-breaking, on a global scale. In 2011 it became the first ever Mandarin-speaking production of a Western musical in China. Craymer has particularly fond memories of the opening of the Japanese production.

“Because of theatre etiquette there, the cast can’t leave the stage until the audience stop clapping. I thought they’d be there all night!” Craymer’s groundwork paid off and Hollywood quickly took notice, prompting eager calls from several studios including Universal Pictures.

She held out for her ambitious dream casting – none other than Meryl Streep, who leapt at the chance. It was a coup that Craymer repeated with the film’s sequel, in which Cher delivers a magnificent diva turn as Donna’s mother.

The icon had, according to Craymer, already been to see the show twice in London, where she danced in the aisle; “The success of the two films reignited passion for the show,” Craymer says. “They also helped introduce broader audiences to musicals in general.”

Two years ago, MAMMA MIA! hit the primetime small screen, in the reality talent competition ‘MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream’.

The series, presented by Zoe Ball, tracked the search for two fresh talents to play the leading roles of Sophie Sheridan and Sky Ramand. Samantha Barks, Alan Carr, Amber Riley and Jessie Ware featured as judges.

"It was an incredible opportunity,” recalls Craymer. “The series was part of the musical’s 25th West End anniversary celebrations, and it was wonderful for all of us to relive the MAMMA MIA! experience on a TV set in Greece.”

She’s rightly proud of the life-changing chance ‘MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream’ gave its two winners, Stevie Doc and Tobias Turley – as well as fellow contestant Maisie Waller, who is in the current West End production.

Almost three decades on from MAMMA MIA!’s original West End opening, you might think Craymer would be resting on her laurels. Not a bit of it. She’s still up for more, busily planning for a third movie. “It’s something I have in my sights – I think there’s a trilogy there,” she says.

“There are lots of wonderful ABBA songs that we haven’t yet mined, and Björn and Benny have written a couple of new ones. These things take time – but it’s in the works, fingers crossed!”

So, for now, fans will have to wait and see – but one thing’s for sure, whatever comes next for this sunniest of shows, there’s sure to be an eager audience for it. To misquote those famous, singalong lyrics: how can we resist it?