Article about when Svana Gisla was at Parliament.
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ABBA chose to have Voyage show in London to stick by the UK in wake of Brexit
Tom Bryant
ABBA chose to have Voyage show in London to stick by the UK in the wake of Brexit
ABBA based their ground-breaking show Voyage in London despite other companies pulling out of the UK amid uncertainty after Brexit, according to the stage show's producer Svana Gisla
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ABBA located their ground-breaking show in London because they wanted to stick by the UK in the wake of Brexit.
The band - Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus - made an "emotional choice more than a commercial choice" to stage ABBA Voyage in London, according to show producer Svana Gisla.
She reveals: "There were a lot of companies leaving, there was a lot of uncertainty about the UK at the time and it was ABBA themselves that decided, 'No, we want to come in. They might be leaving, but we want to come in', because ABBA has been incredibly much-loved in the UK."
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She said that the band had enjoyed "great successes" in the UK and loved the country equally just as much back.
"They have all lived in London for a period of their lives, they love London very much and it very quickly just became the only option," she said.
Gisla also said it was their "ambition" to eventually take the show - which features "ABBA-tars" of the band’s younger selves using motion-capture technology - around the world.
She said: "Our ambition is very much to do another ABBA Voyage, let’s say in North America, or Australasia or we could do another one in Europe. We can now duplicate the arena and the show, but it is a heavy commercial venture at the moment."
Vegas would be an "obvious place" for the show, and also potentially Germany which is a "very big market for ABBA", she said.
The east London show, in a specially-built ABBA Arena, has earned rave reviews with tickets on sale for all of next year, up to the end of November.
Gisla made the comments as part of her evidence to a DCMS select committee in Parliament.
