Smash-hit musical Mamma Mia! is coming to Dubai Opera for the first time.
The global stage sensation is set to run for 11 days, from September 13 to 22, as part of its UK and international tour, which is celebrating 22 years since debuting in London's West End in April 1999.
This is one of the first big productions to come to the venue since the start of the pandemic. Set to the ever-popular music of the Swedish pop group Abba, Mamma Mia! tells the funny tale of a single mother, her daughter and three possible fathers, and unfolds on a Greek island.
Songs featured include Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes it All and I Have a Dream.
"This is Mamma Mia!'s first visit to Dubai Opera. It's the perfect show, and our audiences can expect an exceptional production of the world's most-loved musical. This is musical theatre at its very best," a spokesperson for Emaar, developer of Dubai Opera, said.
"Abba’s music is incredibly popular across the world and [it is] combined with the ultimate feel-good story."
To date, the musical has been seen by more than 65 million people in 50 productions and in 16 different languages, according to the website of the show's creator and producer, Judy Crammer. Mamma Mia! is the ninth-longest-running show on Broadway, where it ran from 2001 to 2015.
In 2008, it was adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried, with a sequel released in 2018.
"We are really thrilled to be bringing Mamma Mia! to Dubai to the extraordinarily beautiful Dubai Opera as we celebrate 22 years since the much-loved musical first opened in London's West End," said Craymer.
"Mamma Mia! is a truly heart-warming story and we can't wait to celebrate the wonderful music of Abba with the audiences of Dubai!"
Ticket information is yet to be announced; dubaiopera.com
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
More Expo 2020 Dubai pavilions:
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
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%E2%80%98White%20Elephant%E2%80%99
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