Interview with MAMMA MIA!’s visionary producer Judy Craymer

It’s the mother of all musicals, a record-breaking super trouper of a show seen by over 70 million people worldwide, in 50 countries and 16 different languages. MAMMA MIA!, the 1999 feelgood musical with a score of irresistible ABBA songs, is back, on a new UK tour which will visit Newcastle Theatre Royal Wed 11 – Sat 28 Feb 2026.

Together with writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd, visionary producer Judy Craymer achieved a landmark theatrical triumph with blockbuster, cross-generational appeal. She was working in the production office of musical theatre royalty Tim Rice in the early 1980s when she first met Benny and Björn, who at the time were collaborating with Rice on Chess. The access Craymer had to the ABBA pair was crucial. “I had to pester them for a long time!” she laughs.

It was Catherine Johnson who suggested centring the story on a mother and daughter. Together with Lloyd, she and Craymer put together a female-led show full of joyous romance and fierce mother-daughter affection, with a playful nod to Greek tragedy. The strength of that narrative, Craymer believes, sets MAMMA MIA! apart. “I don’t consider MAMMA MIA! a jukebox musical,” she says.  “It’s an original stage musical. It’s had an enormous influence on musicals and theatre-going culture.”

In New York, it helped revitalise Broadway after 9/11, proving a balm for theatre-goers. Its return, says Craymer, feels very special. “It’s inspiring to see that the show still has huge cultural resonance.” MAMMA MIA! was also one of the first big shows to return in the UK after the Covid crisis, and again, proved a tonic. “It offers escapism,” Craymer explains. “That’s  even more important to audiences in times of uncertainty. It’s not just entertainment  – it’s almost therapeutic.”

Craymer’s groundwork paid off and Hollywood quickly took notice, prompting eager calls from several studios including Universal Pictures. For the first film, released in 2008, she held out for dream casting – Meryl Streep, who leapt at the chance. It was a coup that Craymer repeated with the 2018 follow-up, MAMMA MIA! Here We Go Again – the most successful musical movie sequel of all time – in which Cher delivers a magnificent diva turn as Donna’s mother. And two years ago, MAMMA MIA! hit the primetime small screen, in the reality talent competition ‘MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream’, presented by Zoe Ball. “It was an incredible opportunity,” recalls Craymer. “The series was part of the musical’s 25th West End anniversary celebrations, and it was terrific for all of us to relive the MAMMA MIA! experience on a TV set in Greece.”

Almost three decades on from MAMMA MIA!’s original West End opening, Craymer’s planning a third movie. “These things take time – but fingers crossed!” One thing’s for sure, whatever comes next for this sunniest of shows, there’s sure to be an eager audience for it. To misquote those famous, singalong lyrics: how can we resist it?

MAMMA MIA! plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal Wed 11 – Sat 28 Feb 2026. Tickets are available here.