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PhillyVoice reported that the touring production of Mamma Mia! is scheduled to run at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music from Sept. 29 through Oct. 4, 2026. The engagement marks the show’s 25th anniversary tour.
The musical, written by Catherine Johnson, is set on a Greek island and centers on 20-year-old Sophie Sheridan, a bride preparing for her wedding who secretly invites three men from her mother Donna’s past after reading Donna’s diary and realizing any one of them could be her father.
Sophie wants one of them to walk her down the aisle. Her mother does not know the men are coming.
The Story Behind the Songs
The plot follows the chaos that unfolds once all three potential fathers arrive on the island.
Sophie’s closest friends, Ali and Lisa, help her navigate the situation while Donna leans on her own longtime companions, Tanya and Rosie, who together with Donna once formed the 1970s pop group Donna and the Dynamos.
The show draws its score entirely from the catalog of Swedish pop group ABBA. Songs woven through the production include Lay All Your Love on Me.
What the Philadelphia Run Covers
Performances at the Academy of Music are scheduled across six days, opening the evening of Sept. 29 and closing Oct. 4.
Ticket information was not detailed in available sources, and prospective attendees should check directly with the Academy of Music or the tour’s official channels.
A Production With Broad Appeal
Concurrent productions of the same show are running internationally.
A South African staging, covered by Atlantic Sun and 2oceansvibe.com, opened at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town on Sept. 3 and runs through Oct. 11, followed by a transfer to Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg from Oct. 16 through late November.
That production is directed by Janice Honeyman, who told Atlantic Sun that beneath the sun-drenched setting and familiar ABBA songs, the show carries a genuine emotional core.
Honeyman said she hopes audiences recognize what real life looks like beneath the fantasy, particularly the value of love and kindness, and then leave singing along to the music.
The South African cast is led by Amra-Faye Wright, best known internationally for performing the role of Velma Kelly in Chicago the Musical on Broadway across 23 years.
Leah Mari plays Sophie, with Samantha Peo as Tanya and Lindy Abromowitz Sachs as Rosie rounding out Donna’s circle.
Details specific to the Philadelphia cast were not available in the sources at time of publication.