The cast of Mama Mia gets into the groove at 21st Century Theater. The musical is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth. [Provided to China Daily]

Rigoletto, based on a story by Victor Hugo, was a controversial piece when it was written at it is sure to make waves (of applause) at the Egg. [Provided to China Daily]

Backstage with Elyse Ribbons: Bringing you a roundup of all the best theater shows this weekend – because variety is the spice of life.

This weekend provides Beijing audiences with ample opportunity to feast on a wide variety of international theatrical fare. Whether it's once-upon-a-time, controversial Italian opera Rigoletto, the international debut of New York play The Monster Below, or the Beijing debut of the Mandarin version of Mama Mia, there's certainly something to suit everyone's appetite. Hopefully none will cause indigestion.

Like a proper meal, we'll start with a delightful appetizer: Rigoletto. A joint production between the National Center for Performing Arts and Italy's Teatro Regio di Parma, this production offers a great blend of international and local talent, although its best to go in with expectations geared more at the local level. It's an interesting opera for the NCPA to choose to produce, as this was one of the more controversial pieces of the era (150 years ago, that is), while the Victor Hugo play it was based on was banned at the time. After much bothersome censorship by the Austrian government, which ruled northern Italy at the time, Verdi was finally able to finish this wonderful production, considered to be one of his finest operas. To date, Rigoletto is one of the top 10 most-performed operas worldwide. It's definitely worth a trip to the Egg to check out this operatic send-up of ancient European nobility. It runs Thursday through Sunday.

Now for the main course: The Monster Below. Written by playwright David Jacobi, this dark comedy sold out in its first run in New York and makes its Beijing debut at Penghao Theater this weekend. Having recently referred to his show as an 80-yuan cheeseburger that isn't trying to be something else, Jacobi's play is meant to be filling and tasty, but perhaps will also cause nightmares (it's about a monster). We've all had our share of awful landlords in Beijing, and this award-winning show focuses on the tale of Bobby, a "20-something landlord who dabbles in misanthropy and dark thoughts" who manages to wake up a monster in the basement of his building. While basement monsters would explain the state of some of the Beijing apartments I've seen, The Monster Below will definitely entertain and certainly provide some thought-provoking ideas on the side. It also runs Thursday through Sunday.

Finally, we come to dessert: Mama Mia, the pop-culture mega hit musical from London with the sucrose-sweetened ABBA soundtrack, will satisfy anyone's sweet tooth. While the male actors can't always hit the right note and the female singers aren't always wearing the best expressions, the show is still a lot of fun. Translated from English, the Mandarin lyrics for ABBA songs make the show a lot harder to sing along to, especially since the lyrics are incomprehensible even to native Chinese. However, the flipper dances, ridiculously fun costumes and wonderful storyline make for a solid show that has still managed to get standing ovations from Beijing audiences (I was particularly impressed that they also clapped in support when one of the father figures came out of the closet). A great way to finish your theatrical feast this weekend, Mama Mia will be on at the 21st Century Theater at Liangmaqiao (call on 6466-4805) until Aug 31, so make sure you get your ABBA on.

Got a show coming up? Send news and reviews to metrobeijing@chinadaily.com.cn or chinadailymetro@gmail.com. Follow us on Sina Weibo @chinadailymetro.

Read more from Elyse Ribbons on her blog, iheartbeijing