Biography

Born in London in 1957, Judy Craymer graduated from the Guildhall School of Music in 1977. She worked as a stage manager for the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester, the Old Vic Theatre, London, on the original production of Cats for Cameron Mackintosh and for the Really Useful Theatre Company. Then worked for Tim Rice on the musical Chess in 1982 and met Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. In 1987, Craymer moved into film and television production. Her credits include White Mischief, starring Sarah Miles, Joss Ackland and Greta Scacchi, and Neville's Island, starring Martin Clunes and Timothy Spall.

In 1999, Craymer returned to her interest in ABBA, having finally convinced Björn and Benny to let her do something with their songs, she sold her flat to bankroll the creation of the musical Mamma Mia! with director Phyllida Lloyd and writer Catherine Johnson. MAMMA MIA! opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End on April 6th 1999 and has been a huge global success seen by over 60m people in over 440 cities in more than 40 countries in all 6 continents and has set the record for premiering in more cities faster than any other musical in history.

This success naturally attracted the interest of Hollywood. MAMMA MIA! THE MOVIE, starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried, opened in 2008 and was the fifth highest grossing film of the year. In 2013, MAMMA MIA! The Movie was announced as Amazon UK's best-selling DVD of all time.

Ten years after MAMMA MIA! The Movie grossed more than $600 million around the world, Judy Craymer is producing an all-new original musical based on the songs of ABBA. With the original film's cast and more MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN! will open on 20 July 2018. Ol Parker, writer of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, writes and directs while Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus are aboard again to provide music and lyrics and serve as executive producers.
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