ABBA-Cadabra at the Las Vegas Hilton: Was ABBA Really Like This?

In a 1999 Entertainment Weekly article, writer Rob Brunner explained ABBA perfectly: "They sang. they danced. they dressed like members of a cult, talked like a slightly more fluent version of the Swedish Chef, and were so into themselves they actually married each other. As the biggest international pop phenomenon of the '70s, ABBA were a triumph of vapid charisma, the era's ultimate smiley-faced pop group. 'You look at ABBA clips and you know that's the '70s,' says John Tyrrell, founder of the London-based ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again. 'It's the music, the dancing, the long white boots.' Not to mention the songs: Who could resist saccharine masterpieces like S.O.S. and Fernando?

"Well, Americans, apparently. At one point, ABBA were the biggest-selling recording act in the world; by the end of the '70s they had outgrossed Volvo as Sweden's top export. Yet aside from 1974's top 10 Waterloo, Anni-Frid, Benny, Bjorn, and Agnetha struggled on the U.S. charts. That all changed on April 9, 1977, when America succumbed to the ABBA invasion as Dancing Queen hit No. 1 in the States."

The same year the comments above were written, Mamma Mia! opened in London. Today, it the musical is still going strong around the world and the 2008 film was a smash hit. Las Vegas hasn't had ABBA around since January, when the show closed a six-year run at Mandalay Bay.

The question is, does Las Vegas miss ABBA enough to bring them back?

Judging from the audience — about two-thirds full — gathered at the Hilton Theater Saturday night to see ABBA-Cadabra, the musical review of their music, lots of poeple do. I'll say at the outset that I am not particularly one of those people. I saw the musical five times here, mostly because I was writing about it. It was nonetheless done with a very, very talented cast, told a fun story and the music was broken up by dialogue and plot.

Not so ABBA-Cadabra.

This is a 90-minute full-on assault with ABBA's catalogue produced by former Atlantic Records president Jerry Greenberg who signed the group to his US label. The energetic and talented cast — Fred Swenson as Björn; Sandy Selby as Agneta; Christine Shelton as Anni-Frid; Gary Raffinelli as Benny — backed by two vocalists and a four-piece band is fine. The costumes were authentic and fully expressed the gratitude 1970s fashion owed to 1980s fashion. If not for the 80s, the 70s would have been the worst decade in fashion ever.

So, costumes are authentic. Cast is talented. The problem is the presentation.

For example, the cracks about their divorces and ex-spouses, while not off color, were questionable given the fact that they particularly played to the small children in the audience. And, from the git-go the cast confused many audience members when they waved wildly to people in the audience. At first, the audience sitting near me thought these were friends of the cast members but, no. They were just waving to be friendly. The cast also tossed glowsticks into the audience with such abandon that one might think the audience members each carried a sign saying "will applaud for glowsticks." The songs at best are barely distinguishable from one another. ABBA's oeuvre seems to be marked by repetitive lyrics and strong backbeats. With acoustics not the best in the front of the theater it was often difficult to tell one song from another or, at times, to distinguish the words.

Don't get me wrong. Diehard ABBA fans — and they made up most of the audience  — seemed wildly happy with the evening. But casual fans, like the woman sitting next to me who "liked some of their songs" and was waiting to hear Dancing Queen, were not as easily amused. At one point, after the third or fourth time a cast member asked the audience if they were having a good time, she muttered, "If we say 'no' will they stop?"

So, if you love ABBA and this production comes to your town, do see it. You'll have a great time. If you're a casual fan who likes some ABBA music, I'd suggest you buy a CD.

As I could find no official website for this production of ABBA-Cadabra — and there are several companies around the world — check online if you wish to see the show.