Forget the cold, dark, wintry nights of Manchester, warm Greek sunshine is awaiting you at the city's Opera House.
The joyful hit musical Mamma Mia is playing to packed houses and there has been a mad scramble to secure tickets for every show.
For those that don’t know - and let’s face it, there can’t be many - Mamma Mia is the smash hit musical based on the songs of Abba.
It centres around 20-year-old Sophie and her mum Donna, who live in a Greek taverna.
Sophie, played impeccably by Jess Michelmore, is getting married and wants her father to walk her down the aisle. But, unfortunately, she doesn’t know who her dad is until she stumbles across her mum’s diary, which reveals that her dad could be any one of three different men.
Not put off by this, Sophie invites all three to the wedding, hoping that she may discover which one is her dad.
Donna is understandably a bit put out to discover that the men from her past have all descended on her quiet little part of the island, but she is still determined to put on a great wedding for her beloved only child.
What follows is a good old fashioned, feel good, family musical which lights up the whole theatre with its iconic music, fun characters and touching storyline.
Jess Michelmore is totally believable as the young woman, just trying to find some answers to her parentage. The relationship she has with her mum, Donna, played by Sara Poyzer, is sweetly moving.
For me, Sara Poyzer is the star of the show. She has an incredible voice and was spot-on delivering the songs, written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.
She had the whole auditorium spellbound as she sang The Winner Takes It All - one of my all-time favourite Abba songs. It was pure perfection.
Both Sophie and Donna are surrounded by their best friends who rally round the two women when they need it most.
Donna, in particular, is supported by her old friends Rosie, played by Nicky Swift, and Tanya, played by Sarah Earnshaw.
These two are responsible for a lot of the comedy in the show - especially Sarah Earnshaw, who has to see off the attentions of a young male admirer - her rendition of Does Your Mother Know had the audience in stitches.
The three ‘dads’ played by Richard Standing as Sam, Neal Craig as Harry and Phil Corbitt as Bill, also added a lot of comedic elements as they haphazardly tried to work out if they are Sophie’s father or not. While Sophie’s bewildered fiancé Sky, played by Christopher Foley, tries to support Sophie in her endeavours.
The show is performed against a backdrop of whitewashed, sun-kissed buildings and, for a couple of hours, you can almost imagine you are relaxing on the Greek island with the cast.
When it comes to an end, we are then treated to - what I thought was the highlight of the show - some of Abba’s most famous songs as Donna and her friends belt out some of the classics in bright coloured 70s’ costumes.
Everyone in the audience was up on their feet, dancing along and joining in with the songs - because, after all, who doesn’t know all the words to Dancing Queen?
The whole show is a joy from start to finish and I wanted to go back and watch it again.
In fact, I heard people in the audience saying they had booked for future dates. I don’t blame them. Mamma Mia is a welcome tonic to lift the gloomy mood of the dark winter months.
Mamma Mia is on at the Opera House until 11 February.
