Björn Ulvaeus on bringing Mamma Mia! the Party to London

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ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus on bringing Mamma Mia! the Party to London
The immersive dining experience opens at the O2 next year
03 October 2018



© Dewynters
An immersive dining experience inspired by the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! is to open at the O2 in 2019 and we caught up with creator Björn Ulvaeus, to find out more.


Mamma Mia! the Party originally launched in Stockholm and offers participants the chance to feel as though they are in a Greek taverna while Nikos and his family perform around them.

A specially-adapted venue within the O2 will host the event, with architects Haworth Tompkins transforming the venue, complete with a fountain, olive trees and bougainvillea.

Bake Off and QI presenter, writer and comedian Sandi Toksvig will adapt the book for the show which has music and lyrics by Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (some songs with Stig Anderson), and a story by Calle Norlén, Roine Söderlundh and Ulvaeus. It will be directed by Roine Söderlundh, with set design by Bengt Fröderberg, costumes design by Annsofi Nyberg, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe and sound design by Gareth Owen.

The piece, which begins previews on 29 August 2019, is booking until 18 November 2019 with tickets on sale now.

https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/bjorn-ulvaeus-mamma-mia-the-party-o2_47730.html

Are ABBA about to release a new album?

Showbiz › Celebrity News
Are ABBA about to release a new album?
Iconic band tease new material — but don't expect them to perform again

EMMA POWELL
Tuesday 2 October 2018 11:37




ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus has hinted that the band could release a new album — 37 years after the release of their last, The Visitors.

The news comes as the Swedish group prepare to release their first songs in decades.

Speaking to A List he said: “A new album, possibly. Or four songs or something like that — that’s possible. But for us to perform on stage that’s just not going to happen. That’s a definite.”

Ulvaeus, 73, recently reunited with bandmates Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad to write and record new songs, one of which, I Still Have Faith In You, will debut on the BBC in December.

abbamammamiaparty2101a.jpg
Reunited: Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Rex)
He said returning to the recording studio was a “wonderful” experience. “When we were all four in the studio that was amazing because we hadn’t been in a studio situation since the beginning of the Eighties,” he said. “We were standing there in these familiar surroundings and we looked at each other and it took 15 seconds and we were back.”

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The foursome, who won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, sold 400 million singles and albums worldwide before their split in 1983.


Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again - Trailer 3
Ulvaeus said London was “so incredibly important” to their success and is now launching Mamma Mia! The Party in the capital. The immersive theatrical and dining experience will see the O2 transformed into a Greek taverna as actors perform a spin-off story from the hit musical and film, which has been adapted by comedian Sandi Toksvig, who said she has made a “friend for life” in Ulvaeus.

Asked if the band will make an appearance when the experience launches next summer, he said: “All four of us love London, so who knows.”

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/is-abba-about-to-release-a-new-album-a3951151.html