What character does Andy Garcia play? I've been somewhat interested, but I could move to interested easily ;)

I agree! DD, DGD and I went to see it Saturday afternoon. We all loved it and thought the casting was good too. Not quite as good as the first but it does hold its own. And yes to Andy Garcia! He played Fernando.

Garcia is the hotel caretaker. And he has a love interest, too. And a brother!

I didn't see the first one. Actually I m not interested in musicals, but 2 friends wanted to see the new one and I went along. I'm glad I did, it is really fun and the music was great. Andy Garcia was superb.

Amiee and I went Saturday. I LOVED the first movie but liked the second. I felt it dragged thru the first half not really comming alive until Dancing Queen. All the actors were wonderful. I won't mention any spoilers but perhaps another post with a spoiler alert will pop up.

Eta...I did enjoy ABBAS B side songs and thought them so perfect for the scenes.

Saw it Sunday afternoon with friends. Seeing it again tomorrow with other friends. Thouroughly enjoyed it. Might even consider a third round!

Is this a complete remake or a continuation of the storyline?

New story, part flashback to all characters as young (great casting, too) and part is 5 years after the original movie.

Lauren and I are going Sunday! Can't wait. Saw the first movie in the theater, bought it on DVD, then saw the musical twice, once with friends and once with Lauren.

In June2001 DH and I were going to London for vacation. Across the board I kept hearing people say you must see Mamma Mia. Believe it or not, I had zero clue what it was about. I just kept hearing that it was a must see/ must do, and got tickets before we left.

....background- I did not at all care for Abba back in the day . We saw the show and were dancing at our seats- bought the cd at the Prince Edward theatre- I mean we LOVED it.

I went to see it on Broadway and enjoyed it quite a bit (but it was not as good as in London). I saw the first movie and was so so on it.

I am planning to see this one- and thank you for all talking it up I cannot wait. I have not seen anyone not like it.

So here is my Mamma Mia story - we have very dear friends who are Swedes and worked in the agency in Sweden when ABBA was in their heyday. So ABBA was a big deal in our family over the years. So when Mamma Mia (Broadway stage version) opened in NY, we all went together with great seats from Benny Andersson's stock, who is our friend's special friend. AND LOVED IT! And so then afterwards we took many house guests to see Mamma Mia on Broadway and I honestly cannot count how many times I've seen it on stage. And loved it.

The movie, well, I did see it and it was fine. But nothing can be better than those songs performed live!

I may see the second film because I am a Cher fan and I've seen her and Andy Garcia on tv and I think I'd love them!

Yes but as I'm sure you know both Cher and Andy both have short scenes...but Chers is great.

Me and my daughters saw it on Saturday and we all loved it. I didn't use my movie pass so I will go see it again.

first saw play in theater. had never been a raging fan of ABBA but found it very interesting how someone took all their hits and built a story/plot with them. since then same thing was done with "Jersey Boys" (haven't seem that) and one about Carol King... maybe even Billy Joel and/or Elton John.

OMG - go see Jersey Boys right away, An Original! You'll love it!!!

There's a wrinkle to Mama Mia (the stage and first movie versions) that hasn't been mentioned. Most musical theater starts with a story, whether fiction or not, whether existing or written for the project. Then songs are written to accompany, flavor, or otherwise tell the story. An exception is recent productions like Jersey Boys, or Beautiful (Carol King), where a play is written about a known subject in the music world and the existing songs sprinkle the story as highlights or flavorings of the underlying quasi-biographical plot.

Mama Mia is different, in that that Benny and Bjorn (the two "B's" of ABBA and composers of most of their songs) decided to try to take long existing ABBA songs about unrelated and diverse topics and somehow try to concoct a story that loosely fit them. The result was preposterous, as they well knew, and so the light-hearted and almost clowning spirit of the play comes from the ridiculous story that they settled on. I remember seeing an early production when at midplay, an actor turned to the audience and said "You won't believe what my next line is and what her response will be". I don't know if that was scripted or not but it was very funny and more than fit with the tone.

So to me, seeing the play is about ignoring the ridiculous story and enjoying the music. I've seen it a number of times, in both NY and London and locally with a national touring company, and the experience each time was like going to a rock concert where the songs were known and the audience stood, danced, and sang for their enjoyment. I thought the movie was dumb and lacked what the play is all about - the spontaneity and fun of a live performance.

I saw the first one twice, saw in on Broadway where we all were dancing in the aisles and plan to see this one. I also saw Jersey Boys on Broadway and just watched the movie on TV the other night. Liked that one too but the storyline is not as uplifting. In these dire times, we need ABBA.