MAMMA MIA!, the mother of all juke box musicals, on stage now at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, is just as fun and lively as it’s ever been. All the ABBA songs you know and love frame a sweet story about love, marriage, and waiting until the time is right.

In brief, 20 year old Sophie is preparing to marry her beau Sky when she reads her mom’s 1979 diary, and …she learns that her mom – Donna, the front woman for power trio Donna and The Dynamos, was having some fun that summer with Harry, Bill, and Sam. She secretly invites them to the wedding, hoping that one will reveal himself as her dad. In the meantime, mom Donna is running a Taverna on a Greek island, happy to be on her own after having a…spirited youth. There’s lots of squealing and reminiscing as Sophie’s girlfriends and Donna’s Dynamo gal pals reunite for the wedding…and then the three ex beaus show up. Hijinx and plenty of great music ensues.

Sophie finds special reasons to connect with each of her potential dads. Her gift of music came from Harry: their “Thank You for the Music” duet was sweet. Her name came from Bill’s late aunt Sophia, with whom she and Donna lived with early on. Then she learns that it was Sam’s sketches that led to the Taverna  that is her home. While a 20 year mystery, each one left their mark on her life. It’s a nice perspective on an otherwise simple story.

So if the story itself is a little thin, who cares? It’s the music that makes this show so fine.   

There were some issues on opening night with sound balance: in some of Sophie’s solos, the music was too loud it and was  hard to hear her singing, but Alisa Melendez is charming in this role nonetheless. Mamma Donna (Christine Sherrill) sounds great with her Dynamos (Jalynn Steele as Tanya and Carly Sakolove as Rosie), but in her solos were uneven, she was often a beat or two behind the music and sometimes her high belt became a screech. The Dynamos were great: Tanya’s “Does Your Mother Know That You’re Out” was a hoot and Rosie’s rich and resonant voice was spectacular every time.

The choreography for the ensemble was clever and fun to watch, too. The abundant energy and vibe really invited you to join right in.

The best part of the show is the megamix at the end, when the cast comes back on stage with a title song reprise and some other hits to leave you dancing in your seats and up the aisle. It’s always my favorite part of the show.

Catch MAMMA MIA! through April 15. It runs a little over two hours with an intermission. Find details at www.sheas.org.