Sure, It’s a Boogie Fest, but Is It Worth the Price?

The ABBA song celebration “Mamma Mia!” is known for its ability to reveal the inner dancing queen in just about anyone. Presented in a spirit of goofy good fun, it shoehorns 22 of the Swedish foursome’s infectious songs into a story that is dressed up in ‘70s-era jumpsuits and platform boots and presented with full-out energy.

In its return to Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre, the show transformed a recent audience into a sea of disco demons, with senior citizens swaying and boogieing as enthusiastically as those who had come dressed in bell-bottoms and dangling-sleeved blouses.

It should be hard to dislike a show that can do that to an audience--especially when the production is fronted by three-time Tony Award nominee Dee Hoty and three audience favorites from the show’s presentation early last year at the Shubert.

Yet, for all it accomplishes, “Mamma Mia!” remains a disappointment to at least a few of us.

As a teenager in the ‘70s, I wore down the vinyl on my copies of the ABBA albums containing “Dancing Queen,” “S.O.S.” and “Mamma Mia.” But after buying a pair of tickets to last year’s presentation of the musical that includes those songs, I spent the entire performance thinking, “I spent $140 for this?”

The story--random events cobbled together to justify use of the songs--was so stupid that it made my head hurt.

And the set--which looks like a rusting ship but is meant to be a Greek-isle taverna--appeared to have been built by a high school drama club, an impression heightened by the fact that few in the cast seemed to have reached drinking age.

The songs, however, were terrific--sounding much as ABBA recorded them, despite vocal adjustments necessary to match the tunes to characters.

For better or worse, the touring production at the Ahmanson equals the pre-Broadway presentation at the Shubert.

Hoty (best-known for her work in New York and Los Angeles in “The Will Rogers Follies”) is steely yet appealingly vulnerable as an unmarried mom whose swinging past as a ‘70s pop singer comes back to haunt her on the eve of her daughter’s wedding. Hoty’s dusky mezzo-soprano drives the music, much as Louise Pitre’s powerful pipes propelled a star-making turn at the Shubert.

In supporting roles, Mary Ellen Mahoney and Gabrielle Jones return with their humorously over-the-top performances as the mom’s former backup singers, and Gary P. Lynch continues to display flinty sex appeal as one of three possible fathers of the bride-to-be daughter (now played by sweet but bland Michelle Aravena).

If ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus want to do this right, though, here’s a suggestion: The show’s best feature is its five-minute dance-along curtain call. Drop the dippy story and turn this into a disco dance party at, say, $25 a head. Then it’ll be worth the price of admission.

“Mamma Mia!,” Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m., with some variations. Ends Nov. 23. $25-$80. (213) 628-2772. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.