Mamma Mia! The Party Brings ABBA Magic to Australia

Australians will soon be able to enjoy the full ABBA experience when Mamma Mia! The Party arrives in Sydney next year.

Created by ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus, Mamma Mia! The Party is an immersive dining and theatre experience that brings the band's music to life in a restaurant designed to resemble a traditional taverna on the Greek island of Skopelos, where much of the film was shot. Guests can enjoy Mediterranean food alongside live performances of ABBA's biggest hits, delivered by a band and a cast of 20 musicians and performers.

At the end of the evening, guests can fulfil their Dancing Queen fantasies as the venue transforms into a disco inspired by the 1970s.

Mamma Mia! The Party will make its Australian debut in March 2027 at the Sydney Event Centre at The Star. The production is executive produced by Ulvaeus, Pophouse Entertainment and Australian promoter TEG Dainty, led by president and CEO Paul Dainty, who was involved in ABBA's only Australian tour in 1977.

“Bringing Mamma Mia! The Party to Australia feels particularly special for me,” Dainty said. “I had the extraordinary privilege of promoting ABBA’s first and only Australian tour back in 1977, and I still remember the phenomenal excitement that followed them across the country.”

Following the relationships he built during that tour, ABBA members Benny Andersson and Ulvaeus later entrusted Dainty with touring Mamma Mia! 25 years later. The veteran promoter also has the option to bring the hugely popular ABBA: Voyage production to Australia.

“Australia’s love affair with ABBA has never really ended,” Dainty added. “Their music has become part of our cultural fabric.”

Australia has remained loyal to ABBA through changing musical trends, with the group's popularity enduring across generations. Melbourne-born tribute act Bjorn Again has been performing the band's songs since the late 1980s, while the Australian independent film Muriel's Wedding introduced ABBA's music to a new generation in the 1990s.

In 2021, ABBA released Voyage, their first studio album in 40 years, and it immediately reached No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was the group's second album to top the chart and their first studio release to do so, following the success of the ABBA Gold compilation, which spent four consecutive weeks at No. 1 in December 1992.

Before the ARIA Charts were introduced in 1983, ABBA also topped Australia's album rankings with ABBA, which spent 11 weeks at No. 1 from December 1975 to February 1976; The Best of ABBA, which held the top spot for 16 weeks from March to July 1976; and Arrival, which spent eight weeks at No. 1 between November 1976 and January 1977.

The Mamma Mia! soundtrack, featuring covers of ABBA's songs, also reached No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in 2018.

“To be now working with Björn and Pophouse to bring this extraordinary celebration of ABBA’s music to Sydney feels like a wonderful full-circle moment,” Dainty said. “Mamma Mia! The Party is pure joy. It brings people together to eat, sing, dance and experience these songs in an entirely new way, and I can’t wait for Australian audiences to experience it.”

Sydney will become the third city to host Mamma Mia! The Party, following Stockholm, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and London, where the experience is now in its seventh year. Together, the two existing locations have hosted more than 1,500 performances and welcomed 700,000 diners.

Tickets for the Sydney production go on sale Thursday, November 12. Fans can join the waiting list at mammamiatheparty.com.au.