If you haven't booked your summer holiday yet, head to the Liverpool Empire Theatre and be inspired by the blue seas, azure skies and sun kissed buildings of the Greek islands.
This is no travel show but the touring production of Mamma Mia, set on a Greek island, and a celebration of all things Abba.
There were some sound issues on press night but these were thankfully resolved early on and we could relax, soak up the sun and the sounds and imagine we were just a bit warmer than a chilly, windy February night in Liverpool.
The plot is incidental, and let's be fair, a bit cheesy - girl seeks dad she never knew to give her away at her wedding, with consequences - but it certainly strikes a chord with me. Brought up by a single mum and with daughters in their late teens, it is almost as deep and meaningful as an Ibsen play for me!
But it is mostly about the songs and the laughs. Shobna Gulati as the glamorous Tanya and Sue Devaney, an hilarious Rosie, help Donna (Sara Poyzer) remember happier days, and flarier flares as the Dynamos. Poyzer packs a punch with The Winner Takes It All and tugs at the heartstrings with Slipping Through My Fingers.
Justin Thomas as Sky must have set the young hearts a-racing when he strips off to his swimming trunks. Back in the Abba days we would have called him 'muscly' but I believe that the correct 21st century term is 'ripped'.
And BBC I'd Do Anything finalist Niamh Perry was a charming and naive Sophie who manipulates her three 'dads' beautifully. Mark Jardine's uptight Englishman lets his hair down with a pink feather boa, Michael Beckley holds his upright own when Rosie throws herself at him with a less than subtle request to Take a Chance on Me and Richard Standing, as Sam, gives Pierce Brosnan a run for his money in the melodic stakes.
But it's the big numbers that get the audience up and dancing and the encore is a glittering, platform-shoed, flared celebration of the seventies.
If you love Abba (and who doesn't), Mamma Mia is on until Saturday, March 14. Tickets available from the Liverpool Empire Theatre .
