Momma Mia - Natalie's First Musical

Yesterday afternoon we all went to the Shanghai Grande Theatre to see the international production of Momma Mia, the great musical based on ABBA's music. We had decided to take the chance that Natalie would love it. And love it she did. It was a bit loud, but she enjoyed it tremendously. She had some questions about the story. It was rather difficult to explain why Sophia thought she had three fathers, but luckily 4 year-olds accept explanations rather readily. She begged to wear her good dress (purchased last year for her grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary) and tried it on with her sunglasses. How cool she looks, huh? She felt very grownup and was perfect through the whole show, of course asking a few questions where necessary. Tom and I enjoyed the show too. We had seen it with the US touring troupe in Dayton last year. It was interesting to hear the international troupe using British accents and British words instead of US words. Overall it was very good and I highly recommend you catch it if you have a chance. The theatre was beautiful as well. It seemed very full. It is located right on People's Square. We of course were over-dressed as we usually find we are. I am sure many of the attendees take public transportation to get there. There was a really cute older Chinese couple in front of us and they smiled and clapped through most of the musical numbers. I was sitting there thinking about if they had access to this music when they were younger and if they did, how did they. I know that ABBA music is really popular in the KTV (which is karaoke with video and is very popular here in Asia. There are while bars dedicated to KTV!). I was also interested to see what sort of rules would surround the "No entrance after show start" rule that is enforced stringently in the States, even at the small local theatres like Dayton. I think it is a fair generalization to state that the Chinese are not always the most "timely" when it comes to social activities. They are pretty easy going and it seems that showing up "fashionably late" is very fashionable. So no surprise that there many late entries. Almost through the whole first act. Of course the same problem occurred at the start of Act II. A little distracting, but part of the experience.

After the show was over, it was too early to go to dinner, so we headed home. Natalie has a new problem in that she gets car sick if she reads in the car and looking at the play guide in the car was enough to give her a tummy ache that prevented us from eating out once we got to Pudong. So we headed up to the clubhouse for the Sunday buffet at Ajo Blanco. They have a new menu this is a bit more kid friendly. They also have a new Chef who came out and asked Natalie if she wanted to see the kitchen. So she got to back and see the whole kitchen, the freezer, etc. She was pretty excited when she got back. I included some pics of her and her dad goofing at dinner. Another good day in Shanghai...