Mamma Mia proves total delight on the Southsea stage

When Mamma Mia! clicks on stage, it’s always much, much better than the big super-starry no-expense-spared film – and in Southsea tonight it absolutely clicked for a joyous couple of hours of blissful romantic nonsense in the sun.

There’s something so clever about the staging, just two lumps of oddly shaped wall which, twisted and turned in various ways, become – thanks to the lighting – every kind of Greek island location we need. And there is something magical too about the music, the greatest hits of ABBA all slotted seamlessly into a musical, never seeming forced, always seeming to grow out of it.

But it’s the performances that make it – and the combination of Jess Michelmore as Sophie and Sara Poyzer as Donna is superb. Poyzer has the longer history with the show. She draws on that experience but maintains fresh energy to give us a Donna we care about, the feisty, loving single mum who has brought up her daughter alone after her slightly bizarre quick-burst triple promiscuity 20 years before. It’s a lovely performance. But the night’s delight is Michelmore as her daughter. There is newness and enthusiasm, but there is also deeply impressive talent and huge stage presence. Michelmore bases it all on those key lyrics from The Name of the Game: “Tell me please/ 'cause I have to know/ I'm a bashful child/ Beginning to grow.” Well, maybe not the bashful bit. But she’s a young woman, on the verge of marriage, desperate to find out which of the three possibles is actually her dad. You really do sense her “beginning to grow”, and Michelmore brings her to life perfectly (read interview with Jess here)

Neal Craig as Harry Bright; Phil Corbitt as Bill Austin; and Richard Standing as Sam Carmichael are the three paramours from two decades earlier and they are all equally strong – another of the great strengths of tonight’s performance. I’ve seen productions where one, or even two, of the three haven’t felt quite right. But tonight they worked wonderfully well, both together and individually. Put it all together, and it’s a terrific show – and it is just fabulous to see the Kings so packed. She’s a grand old lady worth looking after, especially with shows as good as this.

Tickets on https://www.kingsportsmouth.co.uk/whatson-event/mamma-mia/