The story of a double phenomenon: the group who reinvented the world's perception of pop music in the 1970s, and the show based around their hits which became an entertainment industry legend in its own right, opening in over 180 cities and seen by over 32 million people. This paperback edition ends the story with insights into Mamma Mia! the movie and features fascinating interviews with those involved, plus tons of great photos from the set. Through the stories, recollections and reflections of ABBA, intertwined with the commentary and observations of the MAMMA MIA! team and the inside look at the film, this book is one for all ABBA and MAMMA MIA! fans.

It was October 2009, on a cold autumn evening in New York. It was not in my plans to be dancing between the seats of an old theatre on Broadway. I had flown a few days earlier from Madrid, to do some commercial research on the participation of American wedding dress companies in trade fairs. Since I had some free time, when I finished interviewing designers at the Waldforf Astoria, I immersed myself in the skyscrapers of that city, soaking up the culture of the world’s capital. I visited the MOMA and the Chrysler Building; I walked through Central Park and took the orange ferry to Staten Island to see the city through the eyes of an immigrant on the way back; I crossed the first bridge to Brooklyn, admired the design of the Guggenheim and prayed at St. Patrick’s Church. I had foreseen all of this in my travel plans, except for dancing.

ABBA: the soundtrack of my whole life Why is ABBA suddenly appearing in our lives now? My sister-in-law asked me in a family reunion when I told her that I was writing a case of ABBA. Many people will think that the main reason is because I am an ABBA freak. Nothing could be further from the truth. The main reason is because it seems to me that we do have a lot to learn from Björn and Benny’s career. One of the longest-lived and most productive creative couples in the history of music. They met on 5th June 1966 and, and they are still active and successful today. However, my sister-in-law’s question remained in my teacher’s mind. In class I jokingly say that this is the question of José Mourinho, a famous football coach: Why? It is also the question of the researcher, the journalist, the academic, the businessperson. It is the question that drives us forward as human beings. Man seeks explanations. There are many businesses from which many things can be learned, but why ABBA? It was then that I realized ABBA was the soundtrack that had been with me all my life. I was born in Galicia, in the Northwest of Spain, in the early sixties of the last century. From there, when I was just a child, I watched them, live and in black and white, win the Eurovision Song Contest. It was 1974. At that moment, ABBA was born. The group, designed by Stig Anderson, was formed after that triumph, to manage the success. For the next eight years they swept the world. They went as far as Australia where, when a special TV program about their visit to the country was broadcast, it had a 54% audience share, beating the record set by the broadcast of the man landing on the moon a few years earlier. I saw them born. [...]

This critical introduction to British musical theatre since 1950 is the first book to discuss its post-war developments from the perspective of British – as opposed to American – popular culture. The genre is situated within the historical context of post-war British society in order to explore the range of forms through which significant sociocultural moments are represented. Introductory chapters analyse the way British musicals have responded to social change, the forms of popular theatre and music from which they have developed and their originality in elaborating new narrative strategies since the seventies. A key feature of the book is its close readings of twelve key works, from Salad Days (1954) and Oliver! (1960) to global smash hits such as Les Misérables (1985) and The Phantom of the Opera (1986) and beyond, including the latest critical and box-office success Matilda (2011). Also analysed are British favourites (Blood Brothers, 1983), cult shows (The Rocky Horror Show, 1975) and musicals with a pre-existing fan-base, such as Mamma Mia! (1999).

The musical, whether on stage or screen, is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable musical genres, yet one of the most perplexing. What are its defining features? How does it negotiate multiple socio-cultural-economic spaces? Is it a popular tradition? Is it a commercial enterprise? Is it a sophisticated cultural product and signifier? This research guide includes more than 1,400 annotated entries related to the genre as it appears on stage and screen. It includes reference works, monographs, articles, anthologies, and websites related to the musical. Separate sections are devoted to sub-genres (such as operetta and megamusical), non-English language musical genres in the U.S., traditions outside the U.S., individual shows, creators, performers, and performance. The second edition reflects the notable increase in musical theater scholarship since 2000. In addition to printed materials, it includes multimedia and electronic resources.

This volume in the Routledge Key Guides series provides a round-up of the fifty musicals whose creations were seminal in altering the landscape of musical theater discourse in the English-speaking world. Each entry summarises a show, including a full synopsis, discussion of the creators' process, show's critical reception, and its impact on the landscape of musical theater. This is the ideal primer for students of musical theater – its performance, history, and place in the modern theatrical world – as well as fans and lovers of musicals.

Poems & Songs Old & New is a collection of 120 songs and 55 poems by a writer that clearly adores them. There is a lot of love in the reproduction of so many songs and poems that people remember and appreciate, including such classic songs as, "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Hey Jude," "Hotel California," "November Rain," Let It Be," "Beer Barrel Polka." "Sounds of Silence," "You Are My Sunshine," "Mama Mia," "Ramblin Rose," " Yellow Bird," "Goodnight Irene," "You Are My Sunshine" and "Satisfaction." A brief biography of some of the famous singers , who sang the songs, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald is also included. The collection of poems includes "In Flanders Fields" by John McRae, "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe, "A Girl" by Ezra Pound and "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth. McCavour also includes some of his own poems, including "A Friend of Ours," which was first published when he was only fourteen years old.