'08
A few weeks ago, while in Las Vegas on a business trip, I got roped into seeing the stage musical “Mamma Mia,” featuring the music of 70’s pop band ABBA, by some Indian businessmen with whom I was traveling. I was not expecting much. However, I admit that by the end of the production, I discovered that I had enjoyed myself. A few weeks later I learned that “Mamma Mia” is being made into a movie musical, starring none other than Meryl Streep. I never even knew she could sing! Early reports confirm that Streep, who just turned 58, gives a powerhouse performance in the film- complete with singing, dancing, and even full splits.
Filmed last summer in Pinewood Studios and on location on the picturesque island of Skopelos in Greece, the movie version is a glorious and deeply silly confection.
Reports from early test screenings are universally positive - the audiences who have seen it at a secret showing in San Diego came out raving about the transfer of the musical to the big screen.
The surprise?
That Meryl Streep, at 58, is athletic, has a big voice - clear, true and strong - and delivers the goods on Abba’s classics without a trace of embarrassment. It is, obviously, her first musical, and the deep thinkers in Hollywood are amazed by the way she is apparently happy to demolish her reputation as a serious-minded Oscar-winning grande dame.
And yet Streep, who is known for her hard-to-live-with perfectionism and love of tricky bits of acting technique and odd accents, emerges from this film as a woman who is accomplished at physical comedy and actually funny when the occasion demands.
‘Meryl is very good - it’s a revelation,’ says one who has seen the film, in which she plays Donna, the mother of a bride-to-be who is confronted by three potential fathers on the eve of her nuptials.
It transpires that Streep saw the stage show in New York with her daughter as a birthday treat and wrote a fan letter to the producers afterwards.
I don’t know if “surprise” is really the right word to describe her work in this movie. After all, Streep is one of the finest actors of her generation. I think she could pretty much do anything she sets her mind to on film. In “Angels in America,” the HBO miniseries, Streep played everything from Ethel Rosenberg to a Jewish rabbi. She’s also playing Julia Child in the upcoming biopic. Hopefully people will give “Mamma Mia” a fair shot, even if it stars women over 35 and doesn’t feature CGI monsters. Hey, if “Sex and the City” can bring in audiences, maybe Meryl can too.
Written by MSat
Posted in Acting, Awesomeness, Meryl Streep, Music
11 Responses to “Early buzz is good for Meryl Streep’s first musical”
-
I know if I tried that jump shown in the picture I wouldn’t walk for a week.
-
Meryl can do anything. If you had any doubts about her comedy chops,see “Death Becomes Her” it’s one of my favorites. Esp living here in LA.
-
i cannot stand meryl streep. i feel like she is a very self-conscious actress who cannot overcome her fame and as a result i can never forget it’s MERYL STREEP on the screen: ooooh - what accent will she use? what color will her hair be? i did think she was great in “silkwood” and “sophie’s choice” but then she started to grate on me. for my money there is no better actress out there than laura linney - she is so versatile and loses herself totally in each role. kind of like meryl before meryl started to believe her own press.
-
This will not be Streep’s first musical. She was in the Garrison Keillor movie a couple of years ago and sang there — she has a wonderful voice.
-
I LOVED MAMA MIA! I am a huge ABBA fan period. Who doesn’t love a musical where you already know the words to the songs?! The only problem I had, was that there was this woman on stage who kept trying to sing louder than me…so that was pretty awkward for her…
The only other Vegas show that I would willingly pay for is LOVE.
-
She sings in IRONWEED and POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE too although neither one of those are musicals. She has a great belt.
I don’t like the show at all, but when I saw the trailer I enjoyed it and will probably go see the film.
-
I heart ABBA like peanut butter, I’m so there.
Meryl rocks. Have you heard her interviewed? She’s bawdy and ribald and sounds like she’d be a heckuva a lot of fun to hang out with. And I couldn’t do those kind of splits when I was 12, let alone at my age now.
-
kate … it’s sad you can’t enjoy her. I think it might be all in your head.
I actually really want to see this movie and i do think its odd that people are surprised that Meryl Streep is amazing in a comedy musical. She was amazing in Prarie home companion and she’s a hillarious person in general.
-
I saw the preview for this and I was actually INTERESTED. I’ll watch it.
-
She wasn’t trained as an opera singer, geronimo, but she does have a musical theatre background.
geronimo:
Mo:
Ron:
kate:
Mary:
Jody:
neelyo:
chamalla:
AC:
sallysitwell:
WTF?!?!:
Leave a Reply
Celebitchy aims to be a friendly, welcoming site where people can discuss entertainment stories and current events in a lighthearted, safe environment without fear of harassment, excessive negativity, or bullying. Different opinions, backgrounds, ages, and nationalities are welcome here - hatred and bigotry are not.By commenting you agree to the following: That you will strive keep the discussion as civil and friendly as possible and to respect others as if you are having a conversation in person. That you will not make comments that are exceptionally rude, attacking, or baiting to other commenters. That you will not go after people with personal attacks for not agreeing with you. You will try to address their points calmly and not resort to name-calling. That you will not respond to name-calling by lowering yourself to that person's level and calling them names back. Instead of firing back a heated response, you will report comments that you feel are harassing or mean. That you will not post pornographic, obscene, defamatory, abusive, racist or bigoted comments. That you will not post spam or commercial comments at all. This includes promoting your blog, although links relating to the information discussed can be posted. That you will not post large blocks of text from other sources. You may post brief excerpts with links, but please not more than one paragraph. That you will use only one name on the site and not register under more than one alias. This is a bannable offense, and is easily found out. That you are solely responsible for your own comments. If you violate the law or are guilty of defamation you may be held legally responsible. That you will indemnify Celebitchy.com from any responsibility for damages resulting from comments made on this site.
Comments may be deleted for any reason. Celebitchy moderators reserve the right to remove comments that violate the general rules along with any comments deemed distracting, inappropriate, off topic or rude. Celebitchy moderators reserve the right to remove logins, moderate and ban commenters for any reason.
Comments are sporadically moderated due to abuse complaints and spammer's keywords. Celebitchy.com and its moderators will not be held liable for comments in any way. Use the "Report this comment as spam or abuse" link to ask the moderators to delete a comment if it's offensive. If you comment disappears, it has been eaten by the spam filter. Please e-mail cbcomments at gmail.com to get it retrieved.
Get an icon next to your name by signing up for a free Gravatar
She trained as an opera singer. I think she’s easily one of the most talented versatile actresses around. Mamma Mia’s been a hugely successful stage production so don’t see why it won’t be equally successful as a film.