How to go
What: “The Music of ABBA”
Where: Schuster Center, Second and Main streets, Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Cost: $29-$81
Tickets: Call Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or go online to www.daytonperformingarts.org.
Get ready to groove to the songs of ABBA, dancing queens.
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance’s Summer in the City Musical Festival continues Friday at the Schuster Center with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s presentation of “The Music of ABBA” featuring famed ABBA tribute band Arrival From Sweden.
Formed in 1972 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, Swedish pop group ABBA took the globe by storm selling over 350 million albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, particularly delivering 14 American Top 40 hits, including the chart-topper “Dancing Queen.” The infectious rhythms, catchy choruses and overall feel-good vibes permeating throughout their repertoire, co-written by bandmates Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, continue to resonate for generations of music lovers and particularly theatergoers, thanks to the immense success of the musical “Mamma Mia!,” which is set to close its lengthy Broadway run Sept. 12 after nearly 14 years.
“(Ulvaeus and Andersson) wrote truly great pop songs, nearly perfect in fact,” said DPO conductor Neal Gittleman. “The beats are all great for dancing. The hooks are all earworm quality. The enthusiasm level is at 11. So, even if you happen to be in a cranky mood, you find yourself smiling anyway.”
Arrival From Sweden is the only group that has a registered trademark that includes the name ABBA in their production name. They also have the right internationally to copy ABBA’s original outfits and have been given an unreleased ABBA song directly from ABBA due soon for a worldwide release. The group has also had 38 sold-out tours in North America since 2005.
“Arrival From Sweden captures the ABBA spirit and sound 100 percent,” Gittleman said. “When I was assembling my ABBA/Arrival study playlist, I had to fill in a few songs that weren’t already in my ABBA collection. I noticed that iTunes had some Arrival versions for sale alongside the ABBA originals. So, I made a little musicological investigation, flipping back and forth between the ABBA and Arrival. You probably have to be more of an ABBA connoisseur than I am to tell the difference, that’s how good Arrival is. So, which versions did I purchase? Arrival’s, of course! After all, they’re the ones coming to Dayton!”
The concert will open with Arrival From Sweden and the DPO performing together such ABBA songs as “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” “”S.O.S.,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Fernando” and “Waterloo.” After intermission, the hits continue and include “Take a Chance On Me” and iconic crowd-pleaser “Dancing Queen.”
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