It’s been made into a feature film with an all-star cast, is about to close out its 14-year run on Broadway, and now the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! is going to achieve the ultimate show business dream: its own restaurant. You know, the old Broadway-to-restaurant trajectory. The stage production is set to close in September, but Mamma Mia! will be reborn a block from the ABBA museum in Stockholm as a restaurant, tentatively named Nicos’ Taverna.
Former ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus explains that the Greek taverna will adopt the party atmosphere of the show. It won’t be as simple as a restaurant that just plays the Mamma Mia! soundtrack on a loop all night, either. Musicians and actors will actually interact with the waitstaff and dinner guests and play out a loose version of the story in real time throughout the course of the evening, so your saganaki will come with a side of who’s-the-daddy intrigue. It sounds overstimulating at the very least, but there’s no way it could be a bigger disaster than Pierce Brosnan trying to sing.