But the story doesn’t stay in Greece. The young Donna’s journey begins in Paris, where she studies at the Sorbonne. Those scenes were filmed on location at the Place de la Sorbonne and along the Seine, with the production securing permits to close off streets for the musical “When I Kissed the Teacher.” For a split second, you can spot the iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore in the background.
Then there’s London, where the young Dynamos perform in a smoky 1979 club. That club was actually the 100 Club on Oxford Street, a real live music venue that’s been hosting punk and jazz since the 1940s. The filming there was so authentic that the crew had to re-dress the entire place with vintage posters and ashtrays.
For the grand finale—the storm sequence at sea—the production moved to Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast. The dramatic cliffs and deep waters near Dubrovnik stood in for the Greek islands during the rough weather scenes. Croatia offered lower filming costs and better tax incentives, but also gave the film that slightly darker, more dramatic visual texture.
