Seven not a charm for touring jukebox musical ‘Mama Mia!’

PROVIDENCE – While the moral at the end of the jukebox musical “Mamma Mia!” is that true love comes but once in a lifetime, the show itself – which uses the highly synthesized ’70s pop songs of the Swedish band ABBA as its inspiration, musical score and box office bait – apparently comes with much greater frequency.

The show premiered in London in 1999, landed on Broadway in 2001 (where it ran for 14 years and 5,758 performances) and launched a national tour that has visited the Providence Performing Arts Center six times since 2008. Its current engagement makes seven. Collectively, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ global smash hit has generated ticket sales that exceed the GNP of some small nations.

Not bad for a show that The New York Times referred to as “vacuous” and “artful in manufacturing its air of artlessness.” Which it most certainly is.

The Washington Post suggested that “Mamma Mia!” is a “twinkie of a musical” – overly sweet, largely indigestible and practically indestructible. Yup.

But therein lies its appeal and the best possible explanation for this musical’s longevity and popularity. The show requires little more from its audience than a pleasure system sensitive to saccharine, driven by romantic comedy sensibilities and which produces dopamine at the first signs of a disco beat. Remarkably infectious songs, delivered by simply drawn and very endearing characters, are supported by a tight six-piece band. They erupt in highly caffeinated fashion and with very little if any provocation. Audiences need to be good with that. Apparently they are.

For those few still unindoctrinated, “Mamma Mia!” is about an independent, single mother named Donna (played by understudy Stephanie Genito on opening night) who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island. The hotel is hosting the wedding of Donna’s spirited 20-year-old daughter, Sophie (Amy Weaver, recently promoted from the ensemble), who has invited three men from her mother’s past – Sam (Victor Wallace), Harry (Rob Marnell) and Bill (Jim Newman) – to discover which is her father.

Joining the party are Donna’s comic relief friends and former band mates – thrice-married Tanya (Jalynn Steele) and self-described lone wolf Rosie (Carly Sakolove). Sophie’s adorable best friends, Ali (Haley Wright) and Lisa (Lena Owens), are also in attendance as are husband-to-be Sky’s (Grant Reynolds) equally adorable best friends, Pepper (Justin Sudderth) and Eddie (Ethan Van Slyke).

All this takes place in front of two attractive, manually rotated set pieces that represent the hotel’s exterior and interior, designed by Mark Thompson and backlit by Howard Harrison in the idyllic pastel colors of the Greek island skies. The production as a whole is low-tech and not particularly inventive, which stands out as a defining feature that was charming in its day but less so in light of the bells, whistles and imaginations found in other touring productions.

Neither the story, the scenic design, nor Anthony Van Laast’s energetic but standard-issue choreography have changed much since “Mamma Mia!” first arrived at PPAC. And the talent possessed by the featured and ensemble players has been consistently top-notch, which gives way to some wonderful musical moments, including Genito’s powerful rendition of the anthem about lost love, “The Winner Takes It All,” and Weaver’s lovely “I Have a Dream,” as well as very entertaining production numbers like the Steele-led “Does Your Mother Know.”

But the thing that seems to vary from tour to tour is the production’s heart. And by heart, we’re talking an intangible but overriding quality generated by the onstage chemistry of the cast, the work that has gone into establishing an authentic relationship between the characters and the director’s artistic vision.

Some of the past touring productions have had plenty of heart. The one currently on stage at PPAC, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, does not.

This may be a short-term manifestation of having an understudy in the lead role, for Genito seems to have created a rather detached Donna and established no rapport with her castmates in this capacity. But mostly, all the actors play everything as if they were in a bad TV sitcom, where the acting is artificial, the movement lacks spontaneity and passion equals volume. Performers often seem distant from one another, even while engaged in emotional duets like Genito and Weaver’s “Slipping Through My Fingers” and Genito and Marnell’s “Our Last Summer.”

Sure, there’s still much to like in this production. But even repeat customers of “Mamma Mia!” whose adoration has long been set on automatic pilot, will likely find this staging wanting.

BOB ABELMAN is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle and Cleveland Jewish News.