The cast of 'Mamma Mia!' welcomes audience members who get up to sing and dance along with their performances because 'that means we’re doing a good job' (Publicity photo by Brinkhoff Mögenburg)

MANILA, Philippines – Cast members of the hit musical “Mamma Mia!” promise to deliver a “great” performance every single night of its four-week run in Manila which begins next week.

In a live studio interview on “Umagang Kay Ganda,” Jan. 20, Rosie Heath said that their Filipino audience should expect “a great night” with “a lot of glitter, a lot of glamour, and a lot of songs.”

Heath, Charlotte Wakefield, and two other actresses were in the morning show to promote the musical that will be staged at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) from Jan. 24 until Feb. 19. The Philippines is reportedly the only Asian stop in the musical’s international tour.

“You literally watch the show and you’ll come out and be singing every single song, and you’ll feel so good and so alive,” Heath, who plays Ali, added.

“Mamma Mia!,” written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, was first staged in London’s West End in 1999. It is about a girl who dreams of meeting her biological father before she gets hitched and features songs of popular Swedish group ABBA. The musical was brought to Broadway two years later.

According to Playbill.com in an article dated Nov. 27, 2011, “Mamma Mia!” was then the 10th longest-running Broadway show with more than 4,000 performances.

In 2008, the Phyllida Lloyd-helmed movie adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård was released.

Asked to point out the differences between the play and the movie, Wakefield said, “I think it’s the same but [the play is] live. This is an aspect of the movie that you don’t get.

“The minute that the band strikes up, playing all these huge hits, it just gives you a rush.”

Wakefield described the movie as “very Hollywood,” while the musical, “very honest.”

“The musical came first, so they’ve gotta remember that. The musical’s 12 years old,” she emphasized.

Lead actress Sara Poyzer expressed the same sentiment during the press conference held Thursday.

“I think people should hear it live… There are a lot of talented people in this production. The musical is great, it's just better than the film.

“There's something about the live show that's striking that cannot be in the film,” she was quoted as saying by abs-cbnnews.com.