Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream - TV Casting Search

ITV is bringing the musical theatre talent show genre back to our TV screens in 2023 with contestants competing for a role in Mamma Mia!

Contestants will perform for a panel of experts (Amanda Siegfried is rumoured to be involved), and the viewers will vote on who makes it through to perform the following week.

The eight-episode series is being produced by Thames. 

Looking forward to lots of tears, “I really want this” despair and humiliating exits! 

Here we go again!

I'll get me coat...🧥

I know shows like these got a lot of stick back in the day, but when you look at how much talent they did actually find (a lot of which is still active in the industry today), they actually did a great job. Between the Nancys, Dorothys, Josephs and Jesuses, it's a pretty decent list. The career-longevity-rate of contestants is certainly higher than The X Factor and The Voice.

I hate Mamma Mia but I'd still totally watch this to see some future talent.

Odd choice of show though - a long-runner which recasts every year anyway. I suppose the public will know it, which brings in viewers, but you would expect them to do a talent search for a new revival of something.

Winner Takes It All?

And the angry one will be screaming through tears, mascara running Don't Shut Me Down!

They won't cast Donna this way as she more or less carries the show and needs to be well on the way to 40. It'll probably be Sky and Sophie as a pair as neither one would create much interest alone. Surprised that Judy Cramer would go down this path but it will generate some publicity I guess.

Is Mamma Mia in trouble or something?

A one-of-a-kind theatrical competition will launch a nationwide search to find the future musical theatre stars of global smash hit and feel-good musical MAMMA MIA! Seen by 65 million people around the world, MAMMA MIA! has wowed audiences across the globe and continues to break box office records.


MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream is a brand-new eight-part series from producers Thames, a Fremantle label, and Littlestar, with the stage set for its arrival on ITV1.


MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream will search for two ingénues to play the roles of Sophie and Sky in MAMMA MIA! in London’s West End, as characterised by Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper in the two films. Throughout the series, musical theatre hopefuls will be put through their paces as they navigate their way through challenges, masterclasses, and performances.


Filmed against the beautiful backdrop of the idyllic Greek islands, where the original MAMMA MIA! story is set, it will look and feel like no other talent show on television. Audiences will see the contestants mentored by guest industry stars through unique workshops and judged by a panel of well-known industry experts in both music and theatre. Contestants will have the full MAMMA MIA! experience and will get to see first-hand what it’s like to be part of a West End musical.


The competition will culminate in a live, dazzling grand-finale, broadcast from a theatre in London’s West End, where two winners will take it all and win the roles of Sophie and Sky in the musical.


MAMMA MIA! is the sunny, funny tale of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads on a Greek island idyll, all unfolding to the magic of ABBA’s timeless pop masterpieces.


The success of Mamma Mia! has spawned two record-breaking blockbuster films, MAMMA MIA! The Movie and MAMMA MIA! Here We Go Again, starring a host of stars including Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Lily James and Cher.


Creator and global producer of MAMMA MIA!, Judy Craymer will co-executive produce the show and will be on hand to help the contestants reach their full performing potential, every step of the way.


Judy Craymer says: "MAMMA MIA! has always been a show that has encouraged young actors and given opportunities to those making their stage debuts - just as our current Sophie and Sky in London (Meg Hateley and Miles Henderson) are making their West End debuts - so it feels the perfect fit for a TV show that will seek out new talent for musical theatre.


“In the lead-up to the celebrations for the stage musical’s 25th birthday in 2024, we're really looking forward to working with Thames and ITV on this show and involving our well-loved musical as much as possible in the programme."


Amelia Brown, Managing Director of Thames, says: “The excitement we have for making this show is like no other - it’s a dream come true for so many of us at Thames. Merging the global brand of MAMMA MIA! and all the talent at Littlestar with the power behind the talent show juggernauts such as Britain’s Got Talent will mean it’s a show that can’t be missed.”


Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV adds: “MAMMA MIA! I Have A Dream is everything we could want in an entertainment show - legendary music, an iconic West End theatre show, high energy performances, and a brand new search for talent, set against the backdrop of a gorgeous island.”


MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream is executive produced by Amelia Brown, Charlie Irwin and Ashley Whitehouse for Thames (a Fremantle label) and Judy Craymer for Littlestar. The show is commissioned by Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV, Lily Wilson, Commissioning Editor for ITV and Louise Major, Commissioning Editor for ITV.


To apply for the show, click here





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You'd have to be nuts to cast Donna that way. You need an experienced and reliable performer to lead the show not some newcomer. Although Joseph is the title character, it's the narrator who's the lead in that show.

I've loved every musical I've seen Alan Carr in, he is a musical theatre legend.

This is just tragic. Win the chance to play the 83rd replacements for smallish roles in a musical that’s been around for years. Wahoo.

In the ALW ones I think quite a lot of them had trained hadn't they? A bit series dependent, because the ones in Over The Rainbow were mostly younger, but in the earlier ones some had definitely been to drama schools, and in shows before.

Would be great if we got, on the heels of this show, a 25th anniversary London cast recording.

There is only one English language cast recording of Mamma Mia! (not soundtrack which is different) which is the original from 1999. Much as I like Siobhan McCarthy as an actress, her vocals as Donna leave much to be desired.