Judy Craymer does a first-class impression of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. Its main merit is that it is a combination of both Abba stars. Craymer talks about how she and her two business partners are initially hesitant every time they consider a new project. “Bjorn and Benny say, ‘I don’t know, a third movie, really?’” she says, deepening her voice and adding a Swedish song. “Our partnership has always been part of their caution and my optimism.”
This weekend marks 25 years since the curtain rose Mama Mia!, the West End musical based on Abba. Since then it has toured the world and spawned two hit films.
Behind the success is Craymer’s Littlestar Services, founded together with Andersson and Ulvaeus and based in St James’ Place. The offices are located far away from theater land, on the ‘suits and royals’ edge of the West End.
Her office is filled with memorabilia that would delight Abba fanatics, from branded mini trucks and custom ouzo to the helmet emblazoned with the words “Jude, don’t touch” that she wore on the film set. Behind her spacious desk sits a huge wooden ‘Hotel Bella Donna’, along with a striking collection of her Mary McCartney portraits. The basement is full of costumes.
“I’m against the term ‘jukebox musical,’” she says. “That’s used as an excuse to put songs on a biopic. Mama Mia! got the feeling as if the Abba songs were originally written for the show.
The mega-musicals should not be taken for granted. They have a huge ripple effect on the cities in which they are located
Judy Craymer
Set on a Greek island, it tells the story of a bride-to-be who wants to know which of her mother’s three former boyfriends is her father. The theater show has grossed over £4.5 billion at the box office, from 50 productions in 450 cities and 16 languages, seen by 70 million people.
The two films starred high-flyers such as Meryl Streep, Cher and Pierce Brosnan. From tourism to merchandise, the phenomenon is estimated to be worth more than £1.9 billion in London and £11.5 billion worldwide. The band is now celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first Eurovision win.
But beyond pop harmonies, colorful outfits and camp fun, a serious, stable ATM is the engine for growth, and Craymer, Andersson and Ulvaeus have raked in the money (money, money). In the last ten years alone they have shared over £60 million in royalties and over £5 million in dividends from Littlestar.
How does Craymer feel when the musical is described as a cash cow? “It just makes me irritated,” she sighs. “When you’re planning for theater, you don’t think about anything other than maybe you’ll make it back and have a successful run. You really don’t come in as a technology company and think: ‘In three years we will be millionaires and later also billionaires.’
“The mega-musicals should not be taken for granted. People say, “Oh, they’ve been around for a long time,” or “They’re just in the business of making people money.” Actually, that kind of soft power has a huge ripple effect on the cities they are in.”
Craymer, wearing her signature cluster of oversized rings, has all the glamor of her industry, but in a very down-to-earth way (no air kisses in sight). She belongs to the holy trinity of the West End, together with Cameron Mackintosh (Les Miserables) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (ghost of the opera) of people who have been performing musicals for over 25 years. She says she has made progress “in the shadow” of both.
Craymer grew up in north London and spent her holidays looking after horses, and when she defied her lawyer father’s initial hopes that she would study law and opt for stage management instead, he urged her to continue go, but said the price would be to sell her horse, Tarquin. .
Early jobs at the Old Vic and all that Cats with Mackintosh previously followed To play chess, the musical by Andersson and Ulvaeus made with Tim Rice in the 1980s. Inspired by Rice, she later presented the idea Mama Mia! to the (usually cautious) couple as a joint venture.
It took ten years to get it to the West End, and the early years of that Mama Mia! were not smooth. Weeks after opening night in 1999, London was hit by three bombings, and tragedy struck again when September 11 disrupted preparations for its Broadway debut. She recalls that New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was eager to get Broadway going again: “There was an incredible community of people trying to work together.”
More recently, the pandemic has closed theaters around the world. “We had no idea it would take so long. Theater is about putting on a show every evening: there was no question of closing even during the war.”
Littlestar and a sister company each received £50,000 in 2021 to lay off their production staff, sparking controversy given Abba’s entrenched co-founders. The money has not been returned.
“I don’t see why they should pick up the tab,” Craymer says defiantly. “They are incredibly rich through their songwriting. I consider Abba’s songs a gift to the world. They are very modest and quiet. They are rights holders; they don’t run the company. No one has received dividends during that time. We could have closed and never come back.”
The show came back, of course, and last year Craymer took it into the realms of reality television, using an ITV show to select the next pair of West End leads. An American version of the format has been suggested, but it may be difficult to combine it with a stage production.
“I felt very protective of that music – I still do. That’s really the point of Littlestar. They know I don’t do anything they wouldn’t like and always let things pass them by,” says Craymer.
Clearly unfazed by working with stars, she is making a Cher biopic after the two women hit it off Mama Mia! set. “She is truly an inspiration: she has always remained relevant and has always been brought back to life.” During Craymer’s stint as chairman of Universal Music Group, the 2021 blockbuster saw the release of the world’s largest record company.
But not everything is a hit: her 2012 Spice Girls musical Live forever! walked less than seven months after suffering a critical devastation that left her “heartbroken.”
In the meantime, Abba trip – the retro-futuristic avatar show – has been drawing joyful crowds to East London since 2022. Craymer has no connection to that company, but she isn’t worried about fans leaving Mama Mia!
“It’s interesting – in the years I worked with them, people said, ‘Abba will never do anything again’, so the loop closes and 1712416895 they promote new technology and new music, which will be featured in the new film. If they let her get it.
“Benny is like that [lowers voice again], “Oh, no one knows.” Don’t count on them taking (another) chance on her.
CV
Age 66
Family “None. The work was always much more exciting than the boyfriends actually”
Education Mount School Mill Hill; Guildhall School for Music and Drama.
Pay No salary. Has received millions in dividends and royalty payments.
Last holiday ‘Do nothing. There’s always something happening. Work takes me to nice places”
The best advice she’s received “My dad would laugh at all the challenges I’ve had as a non-lawyer girl: life is about contracts, negotiations, personalities, finances, taxes”
Biggest career mistake “There have been so many that I can’t possibly talk about them.”
Phrase she overuses “Don’t think about it too much”
How she relaxes With her seven horses in Warwickshire