The hit musical Mamma Mia! is 16 years old but the money is still coming in for its creators.
Accounts for the company behind the theatrical smash — which is playing in Dubai until January 10 — show that Abba’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus took home £100,000 (Dh562,963) each last year while theatre producer Judy Craymer received a £200,000 dividend.
Turnover for Littlestar Services, which owns Mamma Mia!, was down slightly from £7.4 million to £6.6 million for the year to March 31, 2014, while profits also dipped to £461,500.
As well as the dividend payment, Andersson and Ulvaeus were also paid just over £500,000 each for royalties for the use of their music and lyrics and the Abba name.
Mamma Mia! is still going strong around the world and has notched up 13 years on Broadway and 16 in London. It was also turned into a Hollywood film.
Craymer, 57, first met Andersson and Ulvaeus, the creative partnership behind Abba, when she worked for theatre producer Tim Rice. After coming up with the concept of a musical based on Abba’s songs, she gave up her job, ran up a £20,000 overdraft and had to sell her flat while she worked on a script and persuaded Andersson and Ulvaeus to let her use their songs. The show has grossed more than £2 billion in sales.