{"id":958926,"date":"2026-05-14T08:56:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958926\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:56:24","slug":"review-mamma-mia-at-birmingham-hippodrome-a-love-letter-from-a-superfan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958926\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Mamma Mia at Birmingham Hippodrome – a love letter from a superfan"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to the opening night of Mamma Mia! at the Hippodrome – here’s how it went<\/p>\n

08:53, 14 May 2026Updated 09:41, 14 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Mamma<\/p>\n

Mamma Mia! at the Hippodrome(Image: Hannah Ahmed\/Birmingham Mail)<\/p>\n

They say the third time’s the charm, and as a Mamma Mia! superfan who has seen the stage show multiple times and watched the film over 40 times – I was well equipped to pull out my critique hat and absorb every detail.<\/p>\n

While I might try and think of what could have been done better on the opening night of Mamma Mia! at the Hippodrome yesterday (May 13), I simply cannot find one fault with any of the production so director, Phyllida Lloyd, my hat’s off to you.<\/p>\n

ABBA to me is glitz, glamour and feel good music to last a lifetime – and the UK tour cast certainly put on a show stopping performance last night.<\/p>\n

The only downside, however, was the ‘no singing’ signs shown at the beginning of the evening, and while I, of course, understood the reason for it, the Mamma Mia! superfan inside me was begging to escape with every soundtrack played.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Birmingham’s male dominated council – the truth about our leaders after local elections 2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

So, bopping (silently) in my seat, I settled in for what would be my favourite performance of Mamma Mia! I have ever seen.<\/p>\n

Right from the get go, I knew this cast would blow me away, with Lydia Hunt (Sophie Sheridan)’s impeccable vocals, supported by her terrific duo Bibi Jay (Ali) and Eve Parsons (Lisa) they carried Honey, Honey wonderfully, setting the scene on the Greek island of Kalokairi.<\/p>\n

The trio in their 20s laid the groundwork for the entrance of our Donna and the Dynamos – and I cannot stress enough how fantastic Jenn Griffin (Donna Sheridan), Rosie Glossip (Rosie) and Sarah Earnshaw (Tanya) were as the dynamic trio.<\/p>\n

\"dancers\"<\/p>\n

(L-R) Sarah Earnshaw (Tanya), Jenn Griffin (Donna) and Rosie Glossop (Rosie)(Image: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg\/Birmingham Hippodrome PR)<\/p>\n

The performance of Dancing Queen was just electric, as I looked around the room to see every person of every age silently resisting the urge to get up and boogie along with the cast.<\/p>\n

From Sarah Earnshaw’s and Rosie Glossip’s use of props to make the audience giggle, to Jenn Griffin’s beautiful vocals – as a group they really are unstoppable.<\/p>\n

And for this trio, we have our three leading men – Luke Jasztal (Sam Carmichael), Richard Meek (Harry Bright) and Mark Goldthorp (Bill Austin) who embraced each character to a T.<\/p>\n

I am desperate to gush about every moment of the show if I’m completely honest – but to pick out a few other songs which stood out – I would have to seriously commend the performance of Money, Money, Money for the strength of the ensemble and the sheer power it brought to the table.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the show, I can’t not mention Joe Grundy (Sky) and Lydia Hunt’s rendition of Lay All Your Love On Me.<\/p>\n

Both of their vocals and passion matched impressively, but what really pulled it all together was the ensemble cast in the moment they all descended onto the stage in flippers and diving gear to pull Sky away for his bachelor night.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Image: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg)<\/p>\n

Other notable scenes included Sarah Earnshaw and Joseph Vella’s (Pepper) fiery take on Does Your Mother Know – which set the room into a fit of smiles and laughter.<\/p>\n

Joseph’s energy and Sarah’s bold and brilliant sass combined with a little bit of cheeky humour made it a scene you just couldn’t turn away from.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Image: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg)<\/p>\n

But, the one which really left me in a puddle of tears was the emotional moment between Jenn Griffin and Lydia Hunt – right before she gets married.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Every new Birmingham City Council councillor – full list<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Slipping Through My Fingers is one that always makes me cry. Even when writing this I’m choking back tears.<\/p>\n

\"Jenn<\/p>\n

Jenn Griffin (Donna) and Lydia Hunt (Sophie) during Slipping Through My Fingers(Image: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg)<\/p>\n

I won’t spoil the beauty of the performance, but this episode of the show struck a chord in my heart and peppered goosebumps all over my arms in a way I won’t forget soon.<\/p>\n

The image of growing up and moving on, and that bond between mother and daughter always resonates with me – with my own mother I took along with me to the evening also sat their wiping her eyes as we held hands during the song.<\/p>\n

For this superfan, this was an impeccable performance all round, and it’s safe to say I will have to watch the UK tour again.<\/p>\n

If you can want to hop across the pond to sunny Greece to see the show while it’s in Birmingham<\/a> – you have until May 30 to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I went to the opening night of Mamma Mia! at the Hippodrome – here’s how it went 08:53,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":958927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,28618,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-958926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-hippodrome","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116572100922100266","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}