SUPER trouper!

JUDY CRAYMER, the creative producer of Mamma Mia!, on searching for future stage stars

- VICTORIA WILSON

MAMMA MIA! I HAVE A DREAM
SUNDAY, 6PM, ITV1 ENTERTAINMENT

Judy Craymer is living proof that dreams can come true. 

In the early 1980s, the London-born producer’s role as a production assistant to famed lyricist Sir Tim Rice would lead to her working with ABBA members and songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus on the West End hit musical Chess.

A long-term fan of the Swedish pop supergroup, Judy would eventually pitch to the duo an idea for their music which would prove a global phenomenon: Greece-set stage show Mamma Mia!, which opened in London’s West End in April 1999 and spawned a star-spangled 2008 film adaptation plus a 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Now, as co-executive producer on ITV1’s sun-soaked talent search Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream, Judy’s busy searching for two rising stars to tread the boards as the story’s leading lovebirds Sophie and Sky.

Here, Judy, 66, talks us through the name of the game…

How thrilled are you to be involved in this series?

Now is the perfect time for this because, next year, the stage show is celebrating its 25th anniversary! So it’s a big honour and privilege to have this opportunity to find new talent and bring them to the West End. And we all had a lot of fun filming on the Greek island of Corfu!

Why did you think Mamma Mia! would be a perfect fit for a TV talent search?