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Mamma Mia! is kind of like that movie you put on when you are ready to fall asleep on the sofa. It’s not because it’s bad, rather quite the opposite: because you love it. It’s comfortable, safe, and predictable—part of the reason it’s okay not to invest a great deal of attention into the storyline. You can wake up at any minute and still be entertained even if you have no idea what happened in the scene before. However, it's also easy to nod off with the peace of mind you are not missing anything all that important.

If this seems like a backhanded compliment, it’s because it is. Mamma Mia! is on its way to being one of the most successful musicals of our era, and there are plenty of reasons why. Strength of content however, is not one of them. But really, it doesn't matter. ABBA’s fluff-fueled soundtrack weaves this ease of entertainment and harmlessness of thought into a night popping with fun, and fun is the name of the game here. Soothsayers, perhaps like myself, will knock the lagging script, the underdeveloped characters and cotton candy theme…but nobody can argue that it will have you smiling by the end of the night.

Maybe my lack of overall enthusiasm is because a) I’m a male b) I don’t watch romantic comedies while falling asleep on the couch, and c) before the show I only knew one song from ABBA—"Dancing Queen". (Confession: I was caught by the usher singing "Mamma Mia" later during the intermission: a testament to the immense power of the catchiness that resides in Catherine Johnson's book and ABBA's catalogue).

But I will be the first to admit: I am the minority. If the two middle aged ladies going absolutely ape shit in the row ahead the entire length of the almost three-hour production were not enough to convince me of such, the numbers don’t lie. Over 17,000 people around the world see the show each night as there are more productions of Mamma Mia! playing around the globe than any other musical, bringing in an absurd $8 million a week in ticket sales. So apparently I stand alone with my negative stick of cotton candy, silently humming "Take a Chance On Me," trying not to crack a smile. Even if you hate it, you somehow end up liking this show. 

It has also reached the Hollywood phase, and while we all know how musical stage productions-turned-movies usually pan out, it is a demonstration of the show's mass appeal. Meryl Streep will play the lead role of Donna Sheridan along side Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård in the movie slated to release this summer.

Perhaps it will fare better than its other Broadway-turn-movie brethren, as the plot would be hard to botch. Essentially Donna Sheridan (Susie McMonagle) plays a single mom running a bed and breakfast on a Greek isle; her daughter Sophie (Rose Sezniak) is getting married and wants nothing more than to have her real dad walk her down the isle. Of course neither she, nor her mother has any idea who that is thanks to Donna’s younger, more open, free-loving days. Sophie stumbles upon her mom’s diary from the year she was born (1979), and discovers through Donna’s erotic scriptures there are three potential candidates for her pappa. Long story short, she invites all three to her wedding to try and figure out which one is hers, hilarity, nostalgia, sequined costumes and big dance numbers ensue.

The verdict: Worth getting up off the couch for. Even with the longer runtime it flies by, and unless you are a complete stick in the mud, or 70-year old theater snob who thinks there has to Webber on the book or Misérables in the title for it to merit leaving the retirement community to go see, you will have a good time with Mamma.

Mamma Mia! is playing at The Denver Center for Performing Arts through June 1.

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