Before we went to see the opening of the new movie musical 'Mamma Mia!', it occurred to me how tricky it is to take a musical from the stage and put it on the big screen.

While some musicals have been bonafide hits - 'Oklahoma!,' 'Singing in the Rain,' 'West Side Story' 'The Sound of Music' and the more recent 'Chicago' spring to mind - others, like 'Man of La Mancha,' 'Lost Horizon' and 'Paint Your Wagon' [featuring singing Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin), are considered musical turkeys.

They just didn't translate to the big screen.

'Mamma Mia!' was first a stage musical that hit the West End in 1999. It takes the songs of Swedish pop band ABBA (one of them called 'Mamma Mia!'), and creates a story around them.

Here's the simple plot. Single mom Donna, owns a small hotel on a Greek island with her 20 year old daughter and soon-to-be bride, Sophie. In the days leading to the wedding,

Sophie reads a section of her Mom's old diary, revealing that through a series of trysts, Sophie may be the product of one of three men.

Sophie, who's never known her dad, sends wedding invitations to Sam, Bill and Harry, they arrive on the island, and the drama begins.

It's a very well written book by Catherine Johnson, especially considering that songs like 'Dancing Queen,' 'Chiquitita,' 'Voulez-Vous,' and 'Does Your Mother Know' were fit into the equation.

But the story is well constructed, and the songs fit into the script rather seamlessly.

2Adults1Child saw the live Los Angeles production of 'Mamma Mia!' back in 2000. We were disappointed that the producers didn't seem to trust the source material and/or the script, and instead opted for a a smug, self-aware, tongue-in-cheek approach.

Bad idea. All the musical numbers, in our estimation, were making fun of the songs and so it came off as flat, snarky, and just dumb.

Fortunately for the movie, they decided to play it straight. Thank goodness. Shot on location on what appears to be a real Greek island, the movie has a rich, saturated color palette that is as sun-kissed as the cast members.

Who wouldn't want to live in this magical land surrounded by water, where everyone sings? It's a 'Mamma Mia!' that is full of life, music, joy, love and real emotion.