One of Centrestage’s most popular shows, featuring the Abba songbook of the 1970s, is back at East London’s Guild Theatre this weekend before being re-staged at the PE Opera House on February 15 and 16.
East London’s own Kerry Hiles is fronting the Guild Theatre show of Abba: Here We Go Again along with Tara-Jane Stern, with Heidi Jansen and Kerry-Lee Jeffrey joining them on backing vocals.
There was a show at the Guild Theatre on Friday January 25 and the second show is on Saturday January 26.
James Smith on keyboard joins Debbie Everard in the cast of 10 which includes Wayne Kallis on acoustic guitar, Andrew Warneke on bass, Sandy Robbie on lead guitar and Kevin Mattheus on drums.
Hiles joined the cast towards the end of last year to allow Caron Strydom time to recover from an operation. Her high impact performance style and voice made Hiles as a long-time Abba fan a natural fit for the show.
Strydom will return for the PE Opera House run.
The evergreen Abba songbook reprises beloved hits such as Waterloo, Super Trooper, Chiquitita, Fernando, SOS, Voulez Vouz, Gimme Gimme, Knowing Me Knowing You, Money Money and Dancing Queen.
Brand new additions made popular again by the movies include As Good As New, If it Wasn’t for the Nights, Our Last Summer and Hole in Your Soul.
Does Your Mother Know, Take A Chance on Me and Rock Me make for popular lighter moments, contrasted by the big Abba ballads such as The Winner Takes It All, Thank You for the Music, I Have A Dream and Andante Andante.
“The secret to this show’s success lies in its intergenerational appeal,” Centrestage’s Gary Hemmings said. “Buoyed by the success of the two Mamma Mia movies, the simple, catchy, feel-good, singalong style of their music still appeals to both young and old making this a fabulously fun family show.”
Shows start at 7.30pm each evening.
Tickets at R160 (R120 for children under 18) are on sale at Computicket.