'Mamma Mia!' dances into theaters

MY 9-YEAR-OLD son asked me the other morning why I was dancing around the breakfast table singing "Take a Chance on Me." I don't usually sing in the morning. I definitely don't dance. And I didn't know I knew any ABBA songs (I've never actually bought an album), but there they were -- "S.O.S," "Dancing Queen" and "Mamma Mia" -- bouncing around in my subconscious, like unmoored neurons, suddenly revitalized by an infusion of "Mamma Mia!," the big-screen adaptation of the musical, which I'd seen the night before.

By Rachel Abramowitz

July 16, 2008