Abba’s two leading men made a surprise appearance as hit musical Mamma Mia! celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, one half of the Swedish pop sensation, delighted audience members on Saturday night as the musical marked two decades in the West End.
The pair, who wrote the music and lyrics to the popular show, sparked huge applause and cheers from a packed Novello Theatre in London when they took to the stage after the performance.
Ulvaeus told the crowd it was “both strange and wonderful to be on this stage tonight” and thanked them for being “a fantastic audience”.
They were joined by producer Judy Craymer, director Phyllida Lloyd and writer Catherine Johnson, who Ulvaeus described as “three angels”.
Celebratory confetti rained down on the theatregoers during a medley of Abba classics including Dancing Queen and Waterloo.
Speaking backstage, Andersson said it had been “too long” since he had seen the show and revealed he felt moved on the anniversary.
Praising the cast as “wonderful”, he added: “There is a chance to be immersed, to get moved and I was tonight and I’m happy that I can feel that.”
The feel-good tale, centred on a mother, a daughter and three possible fathers on an idyllic Greek island, unfolds to Abba’s timeless pop masterpieces and has now been seen live on stage by 65 million people across the world.
Happy 20th anniversary Mamma Mia The Show!⭐️ Over 61 million people around the world have seen this magical musical so far✨ #ABBA pic.twitter.com/q9y1HeeqrH
— ABBA (@ABBA) April 6, 2019
The musical was adapted for the silver screen in 2008 and starred Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, and the film cast returned for the sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in 2018.
The London stage show, which has been seen by more than nine million people and played more than 8,000 performances, originally opened at the capital’s Prince Edward Theatre on 6 April 1999, before transferring to the Prince of Wales Theatre in 2004, and to its current home in 2012.
Globally the musical has been seen in 50 productions in 16 different languages, and grossed more than four billion dollars at the box office.