Synopsis
Programme
Impressions/Performances
Of all the tribute shows doing the rounds at the moment (a number of them also the work of Spirit Productions), this has to be by far the cheesiest. Not that that is necessarily altogether a bad thing - after all, when you are paying a tribute to one of the cheesiest bands from the cheesiest period of pop history a distinct whiff of mature cheddar is not only to be expected but obligatory. A genuine drawback of this production, however, is that there is no live music, even the backing vocals are recorded. But on the plus side there is a large troupe of highly energetic dancers (nine girls and five boys) providing plenty of eye candy for either gender.
All of the four lead singers had impressive voices but it was a little dissapointing that they could not have been chosen to look a little more like the originals. In particular, Adam Hills and Aaron Buckingham, both tall and slim with close cut hair, looked more like a pair of ex-boy-banders than the two real men from the most iconic pop band of all time - albeit that Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were, admittedly, rather funky looking, not at all typical male pop stars. In that respect Adam and Aaron do look the part, and therein lies the rub - they are too good looking - not even remotely like Bjorn and Benny with their craggy features and luxuriant seventies coiffure. The girls also, Robyn Gordon and Vicky Hoyles are great performers, but they are both brunettes, perhaps I am being too picky but I would have liked to have seen a blond and a redhead.
Musically, also, little effort was made to actually sound like the originals and some of the arrangements leave a little to be desired. In particular a pervasive and unrelenting pumping disco beat cuts through the entire evening, which isn't always appropriate to the individual numbers. Most disappointing in this respect was "Fernando," considered by many to be Abba's best song and certainly their best selling single. Sung by the original band it was an, albeit up-tempo, emotional ballad - here it has been dragged kicking and screaming firmly into the mainstream, made to be just another pounding disco number.
But it is the seventies, and not exclusively Abba that is the main theme to evening and after a run of Abba numbers we begin to diversify and that is when the cheesiness really begins. The four leads pair off to sing the Bee-Gees "How Deep is Your Love" as a pair of duets, the boys, backed by the boys from the dance troupe, continue the Bee-Gees theme with "Night Fever," after which a "70's medley" includes a visit from the pointer sisters with "I got all my sisters with me" (backed of course by the girls from the dance troupe) and by the time we get to the Village People ("Y.M.C.A." and "In the Navy") we are so deep in gorgonzola territory as to need a map and a phrasebook!
The interval is then something of a releif and a chance to take a breath of fresh, dairy-free, air. The second half that follwos is then pretty much a reverse of the first. A glam rock opening sees T-Rex ("20th Century Boy"), the credible face of seventies pop-rock, immediately give way to the Bay City Rollers ("Bye Bye Baby"), the only band in history cheesy enough to make mature blue stilton, by comparison, seem like window putty. An act of criminality that is immediately repeated on an only slightly lesser scale when we segue from the Sweet back to the Rollers. After that, thankfully, it is back to firmer territory with Abba for the rest of the show (apart from a motown medley near the end) - the evening culminating of course with the iconic "Waterloo" - the Eurovision winning song that catapulted the group to international stardom.
For one who remembers the seventies and the real thing this show was, in many respects, a little disappointing. It would have been so much better if it had kept more to the music of Abba and, in particular, a little bit closer to the original arrangements. But having said that, it was lively, colourful, catchy and certainly had the audience clapping along and, in some cases, up and dancing in the aisles. So if you are looking for a faithful re-creation of Abba the group, then look elsewhere, but if you are looking for lively and catchy Abba and seventies inspired music - and can stand the screaming hen parties - then this could be for you.
Verdict
Flawed in some respects but otherwise a lively and colourful evening of feel-good musical entertainment.
Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net