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Adding a fourth ABBA-based show to this already overstuffed city seems a brave move, but can the Swedish pop sensations still pull a crowd in this live tribute? Summary
Rating
Excellent
Let me start at the beginning. I am melded to a lovely Norwegian bloke. ABBA, along with thermal long johns comes with the package. We have seen Mamma Mia at the Novello Theatre, both films (more than once), trekked to Olympic Park for ABBA Voyage, and have tickets for Mamma Mia the Party. He (rather than I) could be called a super fan.
Hence our trip to Entertainers’ touring production of Thank You for the Music! In my experience tribute acts are always a winner: if they are skilled and convincing it’s impressive, and if they’re dreadful it’s hilarious. It’s a very British form of schadenfreude. An overweight Madonna? Freddie Mercury older than he ever got? A white Tina Turner? We have all suffered through these shocking acts in our local boozer, covering our eyes with our hands but unable to not peek through our fingers at the musical mutilation occurring by the fruit machine.
This show has whiffs of that, but only the faintest. ABBA, famously known for outlandish and impressive costumes are a hard act to dress with a touring budget. Even so, this is a rather lazy attempt. The 1975 cat dresses are recreated well, but for ‘Money Money Money’ cheap crumpled trench coats and glittery hats are thrown on over them. The second act gives us sleeved ponchos, but the only other change is the girls removing them (off stage) and returning in vaguely space-age purple spandex numbers. The boys’ looks are easier to achieve and better throughout, apart from Benny’s terrible wig. A slight tendency to unprofessionalism creeps in as the evening builds in energy and a techie pops out from the wings to photograph the audience. Did they have mobile phones in the 1970s I wonder, pedantically?
Nevertheless, you get what it says on the tin, and as tributes go this is a persuasive one. Steve Nelson (also musical director) switches between piano plonking, keyboard guitar, accordion, and flinging his platform boot across the stage, almost braining poor Frida. He drives the comedy and has clearly studied Benny’s stage presence. Kellie Vallance is our dark-haired (and as my boyfriend reminds me every time we see anything ABBA-related, partly Norwegian) beauty, Frida. She’s by far the strongest vocalist, belting, twirling, and flirting/bickering with her ex-husband Benny. Emma Parker is the blonde powerhouse, Agnetha. She astounds in her solos such as ‘Thank You for the Music’ and ‘The Winner Takes It All’, nailing the range and mannerisms of the star. The closest to her character, this makes up for some slight hesitance with the demanding choreography. Dave Miles is Bjorn, a gifted guitar player bumbling along with the classic dad jokes and improvisation that all the cast fling themselves into. Are they the best Swedish accents? No, but they are certainly not the worst.
21 songs, every classic – ‘Waterloo’, ‘Honey Honey’, ‘I Do I Do’, ‘Chiquitita’, ‘Super Trouper’, and finally (and jubilantly) ‘Dancing Queen’. Torches are lit up on phones for ‘Fernando’, and tears are shed by pensioners. Aunt Susan almost pops her hip out in a rather ill-advised line dancing lesson, and we bellow ourselves hoarse on the ‘ahas’ of ‘Voulez-Vous’. It’s good old-fashioned fun that this overly highbrow capital could do with more of, sold to you with much more skill than a tribute act normally commands. Will I go along to 80s Live? Or Radio Gaga? You know, I might – but next time I will drink more heavily. One more G&T to blur that vision a smidge, then Frida, Agnetha, Benny, and Bjorn are there before us, living, breathing, and singing their flares off.
Directed by: James Taylor and Michael Taylor
Produced by: Entertainers
Thank You For The Music tours until 15 December. Further information and bookings can be found here.
