I caught the International Tour of Mamma Mia in Glasgow on their 2nd last night of a 5 week stint.

I have seen Mamma Mia once before and, sorry to all the Mamma Mia fans you are not going to like me for saying this, for the first 20 minutes I was incredibly bored. It possibly didn't help that the sound guys at the venue had trained at the AV so it was nigh on impossible to hear any dialogue in a low or deep voice which was incredibly frustrating as I was with a party of 10 and some had not in fact seen the show before.

As a show it does exactly what it says on the tin, a jukebox musical it's probably the only truly successful one of the genre. I know WWRY has done well but I think Mamma Mia safely eclipses it by having an almost passable plotline

The cast were great and at some points all 26 were on stage giving a real feeling of weight to the production. Sitting in the circle I got a bird's eye view of the well executed choreography and special mention to the fabulous torsos of the male ensemble...ahem

Highlights of the show for me were the laughs of Dancing Queen, the incredibly hot Lay All Your Love on Me (vote for new ALAYM choreography!) and also the hilarious guys in their flippers and snorkels, the emotional The Name of the Game, the high energy Voulez-Vous, the brilliantly clever Under Attack (undoubtedly one of if not my favourite song in the show) complete with fabulous nightmare UV costumes and not forgetting the brilliant twisted version of Does Your Mother Know. Everyone has their own favourite Abba songs but I have to give a special mention to Carolanne Weidle who was playing Donna who managed to make my heart shatter into about a million pieces during Slipping Through my Fingers, it was soul destroying and I was a blubbering mess much to the total bemusement of my other half who was sitting beside me with a wtf? expression

On the whole I have to say that while they were excellent and absolutely gave the performance their all, most of the cast were sadly fairly forgettable. Sophie was played by Haley Flaherty who has a lovely voice but having seen some of the talent available in the ensembles on the stages of London it paled into insignificance. Sky played by Jon Hawkins I found really hard to warm to but I think I have been spoiled rotten by the likeability that Oli brings to the stage in Wicked. Carolanne Weidle was faultless as Donna and her friends Rosie and Tanya, Felicity Duncan and Anita Booth, were a fabulously genuine trio. It wasn't difficult to believe that they could have been friends their whole lives.

Good show, fantastic night out, so many good looking half-naked men you won't know where to look but I think I'll pocket the £35 and see something else the next time.