Singing Mamma Mia in Zante, Greece. My second experience with SING, EAT, RETREAT.
‘My my, how can I resist you?’
I stumbled across Sing, Eat, Retreat purely by chance in early 2025, one of those moments where the universe clearly has firm plans for you. A Facebook advert popped up for a Sound of Music retreat in Salzburg, and as a lifelong lover of the musical (and knowing my best friend is just as obsessed), I sent her a quick screenshot with a simple message: “Shall we?”
Less than 24 hours later, we’d said yes to the adventure, reserved our places and booked our flights to Salzburg.
We arrived not quite knowing what to expect, only that we were ready to embrace it fully and have the best time possible. What followed was nothing short of extraordinary. The retreat didn’t just meet expectations, it completely exceeded them.
Picture waking up to breathtaking views of the Austrian Alps, spending your days immersed in music, laughter, and creativity, all within an experience that had been flawlessly and thoughtfully curated down to the smallest detail. We were guided and inspired by three incredible West End professionals; a vocal coach, a musical director, and a choreography and staging director. Each bringing passion, expertise, and a touch of magic to every moment.
And then there were the experiences… exploring Salzburg while recreating iconic scenes from the beloved film on location, stepping into the story in the most joyful and immersive way imaginable. One unforgettable morning was spent in a professional recording studio, where we came together to create a beautifully polished track of those timeless songs, The Hills Are Alive, Do-Re-Me, and more.
And yes… we absolutely lived the full experience, costumes and all. Who knew dressing up as Nuns could be so much fun!
Sing, Eat, Retreat is the brainchild of Zane Ramaran, who diligently hosted our retreat in Salzburg as well. Zane had previously hosted numerous other musical theatre retreats in Tarifa, Spain where the majority of these events are held, and I felt very lucky to have been a part of the very first Sound of Music Retreat in Salzburg, so when Zane mentioned he would be running a ‘Sing, Mamma Mia’ retreat in Greece in a years time, my instant reaction was “where do I sign…?” I clearly wasn’t alone in my thinking as I was reunited with another 8 Sound of Music retreaters in Zante, whilst I know there were several more on a Sing Broadway retreat in Tarifa, which was running the same week.
Zane sourced the most perfect venue for the Sing Mamma Mia Retreat – the Garden Village Hotel in Kalamaki, Zante, of which he had booked out for the exclusive use of the 33 of us attending. Carol and her team at the hotel were real Super Troupers and could not have done more to make us feel welcome, they bent over backwards to ensure we all had an unforgettable time (and secretly, I think they enjoyed the experience just as much as we did!!)
I honestly didn’t think anything could equal our experience in Salzburg, but I have just walked (or should I say ‘floated’) away from the Sing, Mamma Mia retreat on an absolute high.
Sing, Eat, Retreat is not aimed solely for women, but the two retreats I have attended have been all ladies, ranging on average from around mid 40’s into their 70’s, although on this retreat we were also joined by two ladies both in their late 20’s – but no matter what your age or gender, if you love to sing, then you will LOVE the experience of Sing, Eat, Retreat. Although I knew several of the ladies from my Sound of Music retreat, most people arrived as strangers, but new friendships were quickly formed.
This time we were led by two phenomenal West End vocal coaches Kris Manuel and Hollie Cessar, acclaimed Musical Director, Steve Moss, and our sensational Choreographer and Movement Director Lucinda Lawrence. It’s understandable to initially feel a little intimidated to be in the presence of such talent, knowing they have come from working alongside top west end musical theatre performers to us mere amateurs! They worked with us in larger and smaller ensemble groups, and in addition to these each of us could select to have two 1:1’s during the week with 2 of the 4 professionals. People attending have varying vocal abilities from almost no previous experience, to some who have sung semi-professionally. Yet there are no egos, just a genuine desire to support and encourage one another, and with the expertise of our professional coaches every one of us without exception found new vocal technique and discovered our voice boxes could produce sounds we have never made before!
Whilst we were worked exceptionally hard, there was always time each day for relaxing by the pool, or walking down to the beach, or exploring some of the nearby bars and bistros (not that we really needed to do the latter as we were fed exceptionally well each day – in fact so well that I did comment that it should be re-named ‘Sing, Eat, Eat, Eat Retreat’
The finale of our retreat was to perform a Mamma Mia /Abba, Flash Mob in a local Greek Taverna on the last night, so our week began with intensive note bashing from our M.D. Steve as learnt our Abba Medley in 3 and 4 part harmonies. Once we had mastered the basic notes we were off to the local beach for our first scenic filming, this followed over the next two days with coach trips out to a recording studio to lay down our track, then an island tour with several more stops for location filming, and finally a leisurely trip with our final day of filming. What fun we had along the way – the villa and each location filled with music….and if you thing we hadn’t enough singing by the time we had our evening meal, after dinner we would raise the rafters with joyous karaoke back at the villa.
As the final evening approached, the excitement and apprehension built. We had our final rehearsal of singing and movement with Steve and Lucinda, with every one of us hoping we would do all of our coaches, and Zane proud.
We were then ferried off the the restaurant, making our entrances in smaller groups so not to raise too much interest, and took out seats across 3 different tables. Then, at 8pm the backing track started, and the first group rose to their feet and sang, followed by another, then another – much to the surprise and delight of fellow diners. For the next few minutes we sang and danced our socks off, adrenaline pumping through us, and giving our all, before the rapturous applause from our unsuspecting audience. It was hard to believe we had pulled all this together in just a few days. I think we could all declare that the evening and the whole week had been an outstanding success.
After an exhilarating end to the evening – did we all go home to bed?? Of course not, we’re Sing, Eat, Retreat singers…it was back to the villa for more karaoke!!
The Mamma Mia retreat will be repeated in Zante in a years time from 24th April – 1st May 2027, but between now and then there will be another Sound of Music retreat in Salzburg in September, and numerous other Musical Theatre and Choral retreats scheduled for Tarifa, Spain.
Having now attended two Sing, Eat Retreats (and I shall be going back for more!) I can highly recommend them.
For full details – visit http://www.singeatretreat.com
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