KUALA LUMPUR: Four cast members of the West End musical Mamma Mia! arrived here from London yesterday to officially launch the show which is slated to be staged this Decem­ber.

Helen Hobson, Hannah Robertson, Lucy Miller and Claire Cassidy all expressed their excitement at representing the musical here and being able to give Malaysians a preview of the smash hit musical. They were accompanied by the musical’s London company manager, Phillip Effemy.

“It will be great as we will be doing a 15-20 minute segment of the musical during our sneak previews. You’ll be able to get an idea of what the whole emotional journey of the show is going to be like.

“We will be in costume, so it will be a mini version of the show. I feel quite proud to be doing this,” Hobson said of the performances the group will perform at the official launch as well as during the five-day promotional tour at various venues in the Klang Valley.

Hobson plays the role of the mother, Donna, in the musical which tells of a young bride-to-be who invites three of her mother’s former boyfriends to her wedding in the hope of finding her real father.

The musical is written around the much-loved hit songs of the 1970s pop group Abba.

Miller said: “I’m so excited and privileged to be here and I can’t believe that I have been given a chance to do what I love doing in such a wonderful place.”

Mamma Mia! will be officially launched in Kuala Lumpur today. If you’d like to watch the sneak preview, make your way to Sunway Pyramid (main entrance, noon on Friday), 1 Utama (Highstreet, 12.30pm on Saturday), Pavilion (Connection, 6pm on Saturday), Ikano Power Centre (ground floor, 12.30pm on Sunday) or Bangsar Village (ground floor, 3pm on Sunday).

At these venues, the public will also get the chance to meet Red FM DJs and participate in a variety of fun-filled activities whereby they stand to win free tickets to the musical.

Mamma Mia! will be staged at Istana Budaya here from Dec 17 to Jan 1.

The world’s No. 1 show is brought to Malaysia by The Star and SP Setia, with the support of the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry. Media partners include ntv7, Utusan Malaysia, Sin Chew Daily, Red FM, 988 and Suria FM.

Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel is the official hotel; HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd is the official credit card partner; while TNT Express Worldwide is the official logistics partner.

Tickets for the Charity Night range from RM450 to RM900 and the proceeds will go to the Star Foundation, the charity arm of the Star media group.

For details, call 03-7967 1232 / 1238. Tickets for the other shows are priced from RM150 to RM500 and are available through Axcess Hotline: 03-7711 5000, online at www.axcess.com.my and all authorised Axcess ticket outlets. There is no free list.