It’s hard to believe, but Mamma Mia! is now 25 years old. It was initially developed by producer Judy Craymer, along with ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd. Opening in 1999, it has delighted audiences ever since. The story, set in Greece, sees Donna and her daughter, Sophie, preparing for Sophie’s wedding to Sky. Chaos ensues when three men, each of whom could be Sophie’s dad, come along for the party. Written around ABBA songs, it is an early example of a musical drawing on the back catalogue of a single pop act.

The show proved a hit on the West End and spawned several international and touring versions. But its most high-profile incarnations were the 2008 film adaptation and its 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Both were huge box-office successes and starred the likes of Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski and Cher.

As Judy Craymer recalls: ‘I think everyone was like, “Oh, you’ll never get Meryl.” But we did! She’d seen the stage show on Broadway and loved it. And we knew that, but we didn’t know she’d love to play the role. And once Meryl was in, it changed the landscape.’

Mamma Mia!’s most recent innovation was the ITV talent show Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream which saw 14 young performers compete for the roles of Sophie and Sky. Much of the series was filmed on location in Greece, before the live final at the Novello Theatre where the public voted Stevie Doc and Tobias Turley the winners.

Craymer decided to do it after being approached by Thames TV: ‘It just seemed right for the 25th anniversary to do something special and to bring in a new generation of talent.’

The current West End cast of Mamma Mia! (Image credit: Mögenburg & Brinkhoff)

Of course, the programme had precedents in the Andrew Lloyd Webber reality talent shows of the 2000s and 2010s which catapulted the likes of Jodie Prenger, Jessie Buckley, Daniel Boys and Samantha Barks into the spotlight. Barks was brought into the Mamma Mia! show as a judge and, as Craymer reflects, ‘It was so great having Sam on the panel of judges because she had that experience and she was like “What’s your problem, I came third?!”’

Craymer sees real value in these TV talent searches: ‘I think it’s great for the West End because it can bring in different audiences to watch the show. But it also says [to viewers] you can do it if you try. Because some of our contestants had had some training, but some hadn’t at all.’

She notes two things that distinguished this programme from its predecessors. Firstly, that it was on location. And secondly, ‘that the “Andrew shows” were casting for new productions that were going to open in the West End. [Whereas] we were casting for a show that was established and ongoing where you go straight in – your first night is a full paying audience and you don’t get much more [rehearsal time] than your tech and dress rehearsal.’

Stevie Doc (far left) and fellow contestants on ITV's Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream (Image credit: Matt Frost)

The audition process was intense. Doc and Turley recall going through eight to 10 stages, from initially sending intro videos and self-tapes, to several in-person audition rounds and phone interviews over a period of a few months. From thousands of applicants, just seven Sophies and seven Skys went to Greece.

Location filming in Greece took just over a month, although the weather wasn’t always as sunny as it seems in the musical. In the first two weeks, recalls Craymer, ‘It was freezing and we had hot water bottles and heaters under the table!’ The contestants suffered too. Says Turley: ‘The first week was awful. We had to wait between each take. So we’d be getting our make-up done and then the sun would break out for a moment and the director would go, “We’ve got sun! We’re going in 10, nine…” and we’d have to run!’ Doc has similar memories: ‘The second day there was just torrential rain and we were running down a cobblestone path and they’d keep having to get towels to try and dry it. In the take they used, the other Sophies are all walking and I slide right in!’

Craymer actually featured in the televised show, alongside the judges (Samantha Barks, Alan Carr, Amber Riley and Jessie Ware) and the creatives: choreographer Anthony Van Laast, and composer/MD Martin Lowe. What was it like for Craymer to step out from behind the scenes? ‘I’ll always be sympathetic to talent really – how much you have to hang around. It was fun because we were all there together, but it was certainly longer days.’ Mazz Murray, who plays Donna, appeared in one of the episodes to work with the contestants as a mentor and guest judge: ‘I was very careful that I didn’t want to scratch somebody’s personality or performance for the rest of their life, because it’s totally down to taste. However, I feel there is still room to say to somebody, “Don’t do that”, or “Try that”, and I wanted to offer them advice. For example, in an audition you have about four lines to show somebody they’re safe with you – you can’t wait till the middle eight’. Her key bit of advice for aspiring stars, whether auditioning for Mamma Mia! or other shows? ‘Don’t lose your uniqueness. I was never hired to be in certain shows when I was younger because I sounded different, but because of that I picked up unique jobs. As my mum used to say to me, be different’.

Mazz Murray (centre) plays Donna (Image credit: Mögenburg & Brinkhoff)

When the winners were announced, Doc says that she went completely blank. ‘I’m an emotional person and I’d assumed I would cry but it felt like I was in shock, it took about five seconds to realise what they’d said.’ Turley’s feelings were similar: ‘I went numb, it was a really weird feeling, I don’t think I could describe it if I tried!’

Doc and Turley were quickly thrust into the rehearsal process. They were nervous about joining an established cast but, in fact, Doc found it helpful that everyone else knew what they were doing – ‘So they can move you around and show you where to stand!’ On 29 January this year, just over a month after the TV show final, they realised their dreams and started performing for the public. According to recent social media posts, they are both working hard and having a blast: Turley wrote recently, ‘What a wonderful island to be on,’ while ‘Having a lot of fun’ was one of Doc’s latest posts. Both were at the London Palladium last month to present a prize at the WhatsOnStage Awards and seemed thrilled to be there.

Doc and Turley with Judy Craymer (Image credit: David Jensen)

While for the cast of Mamma Mia! it’s mostly about being show-ready from one day to the next, for Craymer there’s also the chance to look ahead. She is, she confides, currently looking to produce a biopic about Cher: ‘It’s about a wonderful, amazing woman who’s had a huge life – how to cram that into, like, 120 minutes is the challenge.’ Murray, meanwhile, though committed to playing Donna for the foreseeable, is also going to be performing a Dusty Springfield tribute show in November, ‘to celebrate her uniqueness, her voice and her music’, and would love to do more TV mentoring or judging if the opportunity comes along.

For Doc and Turley, their focus for now remains the show but, further down the line, Doc would love to do more Musical Theatre. Turley, a self-professed ‘big film guy’, would like to do ‘TV and film, plays, musicals – I’m ready for all of it!’

As for the future of Mamma Mia!, this year is a pivotal year for the show in the West End. Beyond that, Craymer is hoping for a return to Broadway and is keen do another movie: ‘I think it has to be a trilogy, we have to know what happens to everyone on the island.’ And might she consider a stage version of the second movie? ‘It’s very difficult to get a theatre, but people do ask me about it. I think it could be done one day. It could be a Harry Potter experience – two shows in a day.’

Doc and Turley as Sophie and Sky (Image credit: Mögenburg & Brinkhoff)

So why has Mamma Mia! endured? For Murray, who has played Tanya as well as Donna, the consistency of the show is the key to its long success: ‘Judy, Björn, Benny, Catherine and Phyllida designed something that really works. They protected the flavour and the formula. So there is consistency with that show. You can count on the fact that if you go, you know what you’re going to get.’ Craymer sees it as being a magic formula: ‘It hits for every generation, it’s the story of second chances. It’s very unpretentious and I think it really is the story combined with the ABBA songs. It does everything from romance to comedy - it’s just two hours of escapism.’

Mamma Mia! is booking at the Novello Theatre, London, until 28 September 2024 – visit mamma-mia.com

Knowing Me, Knowing You

The show’s leading lights share their top moments in the musical plus some surprising career goals

Favourite moments?

Mazz Murray I obviously love that whole 12 minutes of ‘Our Last Summer’, ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ into ‘The Winner Takes it All’. It’s a marathon, but it is so rewarding. Second is ‘Mamma Mia’ when I first see the dads and it all goes chaotic.

Judy Craymer I literally love all of it. ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’, of course, ‘The Winner Takes It All’. The fun and silliness of the ‘flipper dance’. ‘Chiquitita’ and ‘Fernando’ in the movies. And seeing different actors playing the different roles.

Stevie Doc It’s probably ‘Dancing Queen’ – when they’re trying to cheer up Donna and get all the props out. It’s so funny!

Tobias Turley It changes all the time but ‘SOS’ has always been a favourite of mine.

Favourite ABBA song?

Mazz Murray ‘The Winner Takes it All’ is just the perfect song, because it has every stage of a break-up in it, and because they themselves were going through break-ups at the time. It comes from such a place of truth. ‘Chiquitita’ would be, if not joint first, then a very close second.

Judy Craymer All of them! ‘Dancing Queen’ is a real booster, but they all have a storytelling moment.

Tobias Turley Right now I’m loving ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’. The way Haydn [Oakley] sings it is beautiful.

Stevie Doc ‘Thank You for the Music’. I love when it comes after the scene with the dads and it’s just so wholesome.

Dream role?

Mazz Murray Norma Desmond was a dream role and I got to do that. Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!… There’s loads, there’s absolutely loads.

Stevie Doc Sophie was a dream role. My ultimate dream would be to do a movie musical. I’d love to be a Disney princess. Rapunzel in Tangled would be the ideal.

Tobias Turley We need to market this, I’ll be your Flynn Rider! I’d also love to do some Shakespeare, or Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard.