The ABBA-fuelled hit returns to the Playhouse from 9 December 2025 to 4 January 2026, with Dundee-born Joe Grundy as Sky and a company led by Jenn Griffin as Donna.
Cast and local ties
ATG has confirmed full casting for the new UK tour of MAMMA MIA!, which lands at the Edinburgh Playhouse for a four-week festive run from 9 December 2025 to 4 January 2026. The company is led by Jenn Griffin (Donna), with Sarah Earnshaw (Tanya), Rosie Glossop (Rosie), Luke Jasztal (Sam Carmichael), Richard Meek (Harry Bright) and Mark Goldthorp (Bill Austin).
There’s a nice Scottish thread to the casting too: Joe Grundy, born in Dundee, plays Sky, and Rachel Oates joins the ensemble. Lydia Hunt takes on Sophie, with Bibi Jay (Ali), Eve Parsons (Lisa), Joseph Vella (Pepper), Ethan Casey-Clothier (Eddie) and William Hazell (Father Alexander) among the principals, supported by a large ensemble.
The UK tour
The Playhouse dates are part of a major new 2025–26 UK tour which opens at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton (24 October–8 November 2025). The production will visit Bristol, Oxford, Edinburgh and Manchester, before concluding its currently announced dates in Glasgow in August 2026. Further venues are expected to be added.
What’s new, what’s returning
The tour isn’t making the mistake of altering the creative blueprint that turned the show into a global staple: book by Catherine Johnson, direction by Phyllida Lloyd and choreography by Anthony Van Laast. Design is by Mark Thompson, with lighting by Howard Harrison, sound by Andrew Bruce & Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision/arrangements by Martin Koch.
So, always, the show will revolve around a mother, a daughter and three possible dads on a Greek island — with ABBA songs doing the narrative heavy lifting. Judy Craymer, the show’s creator and producer, said: “I’m delighted to announce this 2025 UK tour cast of MAMMA MIA! and excited for them to step into these roles. Our much-loved musical tells the story of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads, inspired by ABBA’s irresistible hits. We can’t wait for audiences across the country to escape to our Greek island idyll and have the time of their lives!”
A winter crowd-pleaser with numbers to match
Now in its 26th year, MAMMA MIA! has passed 10,000 performances in London and been seen by over 11 million people in the West End alone. The international tour has clocked up 3,900+ shows across 42 countries, and the stage musical has reportedly reached 70 million audience members worldwide.
The statistics are well-worn, but they do explain why the title remains a rturning fixture for many UK theatres, Edinburgh included.
“I’m delighted to announce this 2025 UK tour cast of MAMMA MIA! and excited for them to step into these roles.”
Jude Craymer – Creator and Producer
Casting notes for fans
For those who track casting as closely as set-lists: Griffin moves from Alternate Donna (Novello Theatre) to lead; Earnshaw reprises Tanya following UK and international tour stints; and Goldthorp’s credits range from Mary Poppins to Matilda. The wider company mixes returnees to the title with debuts, which should give the tour a fresh tilt while keeping the familiar spine of the show intact.
Why it matters here
Edinburgh’s Playhouse tends to anchor the city’s large-scale musical offer over Christmas; this year’s slot gives local audiences the full jukebox comfort of Andersson and Ulvaeus’s catalogue in a production that’s road-tested but still lively.
Whether you come for the ABBA songbook or the beach-holiday plotting, the attraction is straightforward: big-house scale, a pit band that can do justice to the charts, and a familiar, fan-favourite story. So, expect the show to make good on its promise of the “time of your life”, when it whisks full houses away to Greek island sun in the heart of an Edinburgh Winter. Happy Christmas!
Featured Image: MAMMA MIA! UK & International Tour 2024 – 2025 cast. Photography by Brinkhoff-Mögenburg
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