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Post by icy1979 on Mar 21, 2008 8:13:10 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Mar 21, 2008 9:34:27 GMT -5
Thanks, though the download isn't working right now -- there seems to be some kind of warning/explanation in German
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Post by icy1979 on Mar 21, 2008 10:04:01 GMT -5
Hi Ace, I'm sorry ... the warning just says you have to save it by a right-click (save target as). Then it works perfectly
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Post by Johanna on Mar 21, 2008 21:12:43 GMT -5
I don`t know, but I did exactly what you said icycalm and the video starts to download but it doesn`t finish.
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Post by icy1979 on Mar 22, 2008 7:24:09 GMT -5
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Post by Johanna on Mar 22, 2008 18:10:33 GMT -5
Thanks But still the german page it´s not working, at least not for me. I`ll download it from yousendit. Happy Easter to you too. Johanna
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Post by lerose103 on Mar 27, 2008 1:39:34 GMT -5
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Post by donnamcg on Mar 27, 2008 7:59:50 GMT -5
Ohhhh I love this poster, thank you!!! 'Bout time Pierce showed up on one of these! There's a different trailer at this site. Go to the right side of the page, pick trailers...then Mamma Mia. Cool! www.bbc.co.uk/switch/Donna
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Post by judithmoose on Mar 28, 2008 12:15:27 GMT -5
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Post by Johanna on Mar 28, 2008 15:58:55 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Mar 30, 2008 20:25:14 GMT -5
NST Online: Feel-good vibes with Abba and Streep
31 March, 2008
A highly successful musical, Mamma Mia! draws record earnings whenever staged around the world. Now fans can look forward to the film version, with plenty of Abba’s music and A-List Hollywood stars. THE 007 stage at Pinewood Studios is jumping; Abba’s 1979 hit Voulez-Vous belting out high-tempo, glitzy Swedish pop music and rattling the bones of anyone within earshot.
Outside, it is a typically British summer’s day; inside the James Bond stage is currently dressed in the warm and cosy clothing of a bright Greek Taverna, playing host to the set of Mamma Mia!, the big-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical.
The northern end of the studio is draped in a lightweight blue canvas, punctured by thousands of tiny light bulbs, miniscule impostors mimicking the twinkling stars, while below is a thick brick wall that overlooks an imaginary sea. Sprawling down the studio stretches a large Mediterranean homestead, a small hillock cresting the southern arches, buildings standing tall and neat on three of the four sides, while all around glides a swirling troupe of scantily-clad dancers.
“You know what,” beams the film’s production designer, Maria Djurkovic, during a break in the thundering music, “really this stage isn’t big enough for what we wanted to do.” Which, given the size of the stage — and the fact that it regularly plays host to the high-octane hi-jinks of Britain’s most famous spy — only adds to the sense of scale. This is a super-sized production.
“Of course, mounting a film production is very different from the stage show,” chimes producer Judy Craymer, who developed the stage musical with the Abba duo Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and who is now overseeing its cinematic interpretation.
“But we’re working with the same director, Phyllida Lloyd, who did such a good job directing the show, and of course Benny and Bjorn have been involved all along.”
As Benny and Bjorn again make their presence felt at Pinewood — the music picking up, and Voulez-Vous once more ringing around the stage — the dancers begin to spin around stationary cameras, hand in hand, while dotted among them, grinning broadly, go a cluster of famous faces: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Stellen Skarsgard, each one of these distinguished players a leading character in the film.
The characters that they play mirror those in Craymer’s stage show, with 22-year-old Amanda Seyfried starring as Sophie, the bride-to-be who bids to discover the identity of her father by inviting the three potential candidates to her wedding — Sam, Harry and Bill, played by Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard — and who, by doing so, whips up an emotional maelstrom for her single mother, Donna, played by Streep, and Donna’s two best friends, Tanya and Rosie, played by Christine Baranski and Julie Walters.
“Getting Meryl Streep to play Donna was so exciting,” continues Craymer.
“Meryl has such a lovely singing voice, too, and of course she sang quite recently on camera, on Robert Altman’s last film, A Prairie Home Companion. And when you look at the three men, what better bunch than Pierce, Colin and Stellen. They perhaps don’t all have the same musical and dancing abilities, but that’s a good thing!”
Riddled with humour and emotion, the film bids to strike the same tone as its stage-bred progenitor, a deliriously happy, feel-good ride that ensures those that have witnessed its musical delights leave the auditorium in a state of giddy elation.
“Imagine what it’s like for us, and the stage performers,” offers Firth. “I think they should arrange a special Abba detox programme, a special 12-step programme for all of us! I do like Abba, though. Absolutely. There’s nothing not to like. The fact they’ve survived is a testament to them.
Indeed, as one may expect, all the principle cast members proclaim a fondness for the pop group’s iconic music, and while Abba may not be cool — GQ editor Dylan Jones terms them “a couple of over-made-up barmaids and a couple of blokes who looked like Hale and Pace” — few folk would find it easy to profess an honest dislike for these timeless Scandinavian troubadours.
“I think most people like Abba, really,” says Seyfried. “The younger ones on the production all know Abba and so do the older ones, they cross all those boundaries. I think Stellen, who’s Swedish himself, says he didn’t grow up with them; he was older and more into punk, he says! But I think they are one of those few timeless groups.”
“I think that’s true,” echoes Pierce Brosnan. “I didn’t buy Abba, there were certain things you didn’t buy even though you liked them secretly. I still danced to Abba, and why wouldn’t I want to do a film like this? It’s a different experience for me; it’s working with Meryl Streep and a wonderful cast. Plus the stage show was so successful.”
This almost seems an understatement; there are more productions of Mamma Mia! playing around the world than any other musical. Indeed, over 30 million tickets have been sold worldwide, the show grossing over US$2 billion (RM6.2 billion) at the international box office. Obviously, any film will struggle to generate quite the same return, but none would refute the fact that there is a ready-made market for the film.
“The fact that it is the same team that put together the show, and that Benny and Bjorn worked with us on all the songs, should stand us in good stead,” continues Brosnan. “Working with those two was both terrifying and amazing. I sing SOS with Meryl, and I have a solo, then there’s When All is Said and Done, and then I sing with the two other lads, Our Last Summer. Luckily, they rehearsed me well and trained me well and so by the time I got into the studio, it was fairly easy going.”
For Skarsgard, meanwhile, who trots back to work with a wry smile, the musical enterprise is not quite so easy-going. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” he smiles. “Now I’ve been dancing for four days! I’ve probably moved more than I did in the last four years put together. It’s hard work, like boxing, and with the exception of us few old timers, everybody else is20 years old and professional. Still, it is very good fun and working with Lloyd has been great.”
The Swedish star notes that the director, while making her debut behind a camera, is a picture of serenity, her calmness belying her lack of experience. “She’s very aware of getting into the frame what she wants in the frame and she has a fantastic coolness,” he explains. “She doesn’t raise her voice or anything. She’s not stressed, she just walks around and she finds out what she wants and she goes in and she just says the most necessary words, and as a theatre director she is, of course, very good with actors.
“Anyway, this is a big and very talented production. It’s not a first-time director who’s starting out with a little handheld video in a back yard! This is Mamma Mia! and it’s a very big machine.”
As Voulez-Vous strikes up for the umpteenth time, and Skarsgard crosses back to the main stage, he looks back and smiles. “I just hope they go with Colin’s idea for an Abba detox once we’re through,” he croaks above the music. “I’m going to be singing this for months!” — Courtesy of United International Pictures
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Post by Ace on Apr 30, 2008 16:51:21 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on May 5, 2008 11:03:24 GMT -5
Mamma Mia! Movie - Sydney Sunday Telegraph 20 April 2008
Summer Night City
NINE YEARS AFTER ITS WEST END DEBUT, THE ABBA-INSPIRED MUSICAL MAMMA MIA! IS TAKING A CHANCE ON THE BIG SCREEN - WITH HELP FROM SOME HOLLYWOOD SUPER TROUPERS
STORY JOANNE HAWKINS
Pierce Brosnan is looking nervous. He may have fought all manner of Bond villains on this very spot in his former incarnation as 007, but today he faces a far more formidable foe - ABBA. A few metres away, Colin Firth is also looking less than relaxed, silently mouthing the words to the Swedish foursome's classic Voulez-Vous and occasionally trying out some tentative dance steps. lt's all you can do not to stare, such is the surprise at seeing Firth, the actor best known for playing the uptight Mr Darcy in both the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice and the Bridget Jones films, attempting to trip the light fantastic.
Suddenly, silence is demanded and the familiar cry of "Action!” echoes around the set. The distinctive opening bars of Voulez-Vous start up - for what must be the 30th time today - and Firth and
Brosnan join Meryl Streep, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters, plus assorted deeply termed co-stars and extras, in singing, dancing and generally making merry in a Greek village square. It’s quite infectious stuff and, when director Phyllida Lloyd yells " Cut," you cannot wait for them to do it all again. (And in case you’re wondering, Brosnan end Firth pull off their respective solo parts with aplomb, despite their earlier nerves.)
Unfortunately, we're not in Greece at all - rather on the massive 007 Stage at England's Pinewood Studios. Outside it’s cold and grey, but inside the giant shed - which had to be rebuilt after fire ripped through it in July 2006 – it’s a balmy 30 degrees. It’s not too hard to imagine we're sitting under some fragrant pink bougainvillea outside a taverna on a Greek island - a feeling helped by the moonlight twinkling over the shimmering blue sea in the
distance. The spell is only broken when an English crew member clambers up the nearby ‘cliff' and yells, “Oi, John. Can you chuck me a spanner?”
Brosnan, Firth, Streep and co are at Pinewood to make a film version of the smash-hit musical Mamma Mia!, which, since opening in London’s West End in April 1999, has been seen by a staggering 30 million people worldwide. In Australia alone, the show had a record-breaking four-year run across the country, before closing in June 2005. The Aussie audience were part of more than two million people who saw the show across Australasia. “I think we'd exhausted everyone in the country by then," laughs Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer, ”but there's talk of bringing it back, which would be great."
In the meantime, we have the movie version to look forward to which, like the musical, has been a labour of love for Craymer. She's the woman who
first persuaded ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus to allow their precious songs to be made into a musical, although she admits she never imagined it would become the juggernaut it is today “I definitely had no ambition or vision that we'd be here, making a movie," she says.
Not that Andersson and Ulvaeus were easily won over. After their less-than-successful first foray into theatre musicals, with Chess - on which Craymer worked as Tim Rice’s executive producer – the Swedish pair were reluctant to do it again, especially as the ABBA revival was yet to happen. (At that point, it was the late-80s and ABBA, who finally split in '82, were still considered a naff '70s pop group.)
But Craymer was convinced the lyrical nature of ABBA's songs would lend themselves to a musical with an original story as opposed to a musical ABBA story. “It was 'The Winner Takes it All' that suggested to me the potential of .an original musical using Benny and Björn's classic compositions," remembers Craymer. “The lyrics tell a roller-coaster story of love and loss. It's extraordinarily theatrical."
But it wasn't until 1995, after the popularity of the 1992 compilation album ABBA GOLD and films such as Muriel s Wedding and “The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert” in which ABBA's music featured prominently - that Andersson and Ulvaeus admitted Craymer might be on to something.
Enter writer Catherine Johnson, who came up with the story of Sophie, a young bride-to-be, who, in a bid to discover the identity of her father, invites three men from her mother Donna's past back to the Greek island they visited 20 years before. Throw in a smorgasbord of ABBA hits, from Take a Chance on Me and SOS to Dancing Queen and, of course, 'The Winner Takes it All', and Craymer was proved right, not to mention in the “money, money. money'. (Although not before she'd sold her flat, racked up a huge overdraft and endured many sleepless nights.)
Mamma Mia! has now been seen in more than 160 cities since that first show nine years ago (as well as the more permanent productions, a touring company visits smaller cities for shorter stints) and has been performed in nine languages.
Back on the Pinewood set, Brosnan - who plays potential dad Sam Carmichael – chuckles at the irony of being back where he made his four Bond films. “As soon as I arrived, all the ghosts evaporated," he says. “There's an irony in the first film on the new 007 Stage being Mamma Mia!. I had this image of myself walking across the set in my Mamma Mia! outfit and seeing Daniel Craig hanging butchly from a crane or something."
Brosnan admits he hadn't seen Mamma Mia! before he was approached for the part. 'They just said, 'Meryl Streep... Mamma Mia!' and I said, “I’m in.” He wasn’t a big fan of musicals before he saw it in London (unlike Streep, who’d seen the Broadway production five years prior and loved it so much she wrote to the cast to tell them how great they were). “Ironically, the day I went to see Mamma Mia! was the day after my father's funeral. His name was Bill Carmichael, so it was rather poignant when this character came out and said his name was Sam Carmichael and he mentioned some bagpipes – the day before, I'd been sending off my father with some bagpipes. It was almost meant to be. I'm a great believer in fate.
"I went into the theatre that night with a cynical, jaded eye. But, 15 minutes in, I was in the heart of the piece. The show seems to make people feel great."
Firth admits he wasn't a fan of musicals, either. They're not my first choice of entertainment, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I thought it was absolutely wonderful. And it's largely due to the power of the songs; they're not as straightforward as they might initially seem."
He was attracted to the role of Harry Bright, another of Donna's ex-boyfriends, because of the appeal of “going into the unfamiliar territory" of a musical. "I don't watch BBC costume dramas, either," .he smiles, referring to his role in Pride and Prejudice.
All the actors have already laid down their main vocals with Andersson and Ulvaeus in a recording studio; a process most describe as intimidating".
“The night before, I was faintly terrified," admits Brosnan. “l was up at 2am in my hotel room, singing into the mirror. But Benny and Björn couldn't have been more charming. There were these guys, who I'd seen over the years, sitting at the piano and they just said, ‘Let's sing!' I actually found it exhilarating."
Over on one side of the set, actor Christine Baranski is repeatedly practising her part from 'Voulez-Vous'. She's particularly pleased to have been cast in the movie because Johnson originally based her character (Tanya) on Maryann, Baranski's character in the TV show Cybill. "It’s like it's come full circle. I have the chance to work with Meryl Streep and sing Does Your Mother Know?' on a beach in Greece with 30 male dancers. I don't see a downside to this job," gushes Baranski.
In another corner, actor Amanda Seyfried (Sophie) and up-and-coming English thespian Dominic Cooper (who plays her fiancé, Sky) are gossiping and giggling between takes, looking very comfortable in their roles as husband and wife-to-be. Although Cooper says he was very surprised to land the role (“I can't sing,” he insists), Craymer says he was cast because he is “traditionally handsome but off-the-wall, and full of charm and charisma."
As for Seyfried, best known for her role in SBS's polygamy drama, Big Love, she was chosen because “she’s the ‘idyllic dream’ - blonde, pretty and minxy. "When we were casting, we were looking for actors who had great chemistry to capture the energy of the show," says Craymer. “We’ve staged Mamma Mia! very successfully around the world with incredibly stars, so to be making a movie with the likes of Meryl, Pierce, Julie, Christine, Stellan and Colin is a bit of ‘I have a dream' sequence."
This is the third day the cast have been sheeting the ‘Voulez-Vous' number, in which the characters of Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard (who plays the third potential father candidate, Bill) discover why Sophie has brought them to the (fictional) Greek island of Kalokairi. Each actor's solo is filmed from different angles, plus there are numerous takes of the final chorus with the whole cast, before Streep's character, Donna, collapses when she comes face-to-face with her three exes.
Firth admits it's difficult to extract the ABBA songs out of his head when he finishes filming for the day. “I think they'll have to arrange a special 12-step program for all of us," he jokes. “It’s incredible the effect they have. You’ll be carrying ‘Voulez-Vous' for days, whether you like it or not."
All the cast and crew are looking forward to production shifting to the real Greek islands of Skiathos and Skopelos, where exterior scenes will be filmed. Production designer Maria Djurkovic, responsible for the overall look of the film, chose the islands because they feature a “sexy lushness we felt was necessary. There’s a certain theatricality to the locations; we’ve found some spectacular spots. They're terribly beautiful."
According to Craymer, "Hollywood has been after Mamma Mia! for years, but it's only now they've felt the time was right to make a film. “Phyllida (Lloyd, the director), Catherine and I are 50 this year, so we thought we'd better get on with it," she laughs. “I also felt we'd reached the time when the musical could sit happily side by side with a film. Thirty years ago, you never did a film before a musical had finished its life in the theatre, but things have changed. Chicago showed me that an audience was happy to see both.
But protective of their baby to the end, a film would only be made if Craymer, Lloyd and Johnson were at the helm, a situation Tom Hanks' production company, Playtone, was happy to go along with. “The film is a fantastic way to mark our upcoming 10th anniversary. That said, we're still opening the musical in new territories as well," adds Craymer. lt seems the sky's the limit for Mamma Mia!
In the absence of Andersson and Ulvaeus, it’s only fitting we leave it to the cast's token Swede (Skarsgard) to try to sum up the appeal of the musical - even if he was not originally an ABBA fan. “I like their music much better than l did 20 or 30 years ago," he says, in his heavily accented English. '“It has a very friendly quality. It’s silly but it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's good fun - I see Björn and Benny's very nice faces smiling at you throughout the performance."
Mamma Mia! opens in cinemas from July 10.
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Premiere in Lomdon 1st July
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Post by Premiere in Lomdon 1st July on May 8, 2008 0:50:36 GMT -5
I am from GreeceFrom web site can I find tickets for the Mamma mia Premiere in Lomdon 1st July Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streepwho web site,is; I thank, for each answer
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Post by stace on May 8, 2008 14:34:42 GMT -5
hi, as far as i know the only way to go to the london premiere is to actually win tickets through various competitions, its not a public event, you could go down to london on the night and maybe catch a glimpse of the stars..
however the odeon cinema in london, leceister square from the 4th-9th of july are holding special advanced screenings for the public, ive got my tickets from odeon website, you can buy online, hope this helps,
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Post by mamma mia on May 9, 2008 6:44:18 GMT -5
thank!!!
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Post by donnamcg on May 12, 2008 9:24:52 GMT -5
New footage and interviews with Meryl, Pierce etc etc about Mamma Mia on Entertainment Tonight tonight Mon 5/12. Preview of show here: Even a wee bit of "Winner Takes It All" sigh Donna
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Post by Ace on May 12, 2008 12:04:01 GMT -5
This ET piece has me far more excited than the trailers. This will supposedly air on ET tonight ET’s ‘Mamma Mia!’ Exclusive! It's Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan like you've never seen them before! 'The Devil Wears Prada' star MERYL STREEP and former 007 PIERCE BROSNAN dance and sing for the big-screen version of the hit musical Mamma Mia!, in theaters everywhere July 18, and ET has an exclusive preview! "It's all about dreams, hopes and happiness," says Meryl. "They just enter your body, these songs -- they have amazing hooks." The film centers on a bride-to-be (played by AMANDA SEYFRIED of "Big Love" and "Veronica Mars" fame) in spectacular Greece who invites three men -- one of whom just may be her father -- to her wedding. Meryl plays her mother, while Pierce, COLIN FIRTH ('Bridget Jones' Diary') and STELLAN SKARSGARD ('Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest') play the three "dad candidates."
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Post by Ace on May 12, 2008 15:09:13 GMT -5
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Post by brosnangirl on May 21, 2008 11:55:07 GMT -5
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