What can we expect to see and hear in 2009?
BAO, ABBA, Mamma Mia!, Kristina & CHESS – what can we expect?
Benny Anderssons Orkester
EXCLUSIVE: icethesite has learned that Benny, Helen, Tommy et al will be back on the road in Sweden next year for a short summer tour!!! Check here for the BAO 2009 tour dates and venues. There is also the possibility of a surprise show outside of Sweden and a new album.
CHESS
At the very least there’ll be a CD and DVD of the Royal Albert Hall CHESS In Concert production, starring Idina Menzel and Josh Groban. This is scheduled for release sometime in the spring. Maybe there will also be a similar concert in New York or a UK touring production? One thing for certain is that CHESS’ profile rose far higher in 2008 than for many a year due to the London shows and the associated star names. Let’s hope that the momentum leads to a theatrical revival somewhere sometime soon.
Kristina från Duvemåla
With all the legal shenanigans out of the way, 2009 could be the year we really start to see some movement towards a Kristina från Duvemåla concert production in English. This will help test the waters for a full-scale production of Kristina in the US. Autumn next year seems the most likely time for this. Expect a prestigious venue in a major US city if it all goes ahead.
Mamma Mia!
Hard as it is to believe, one massive territory has yet to witness Mamma Mia! in its cinemas. Over 125 million Japanese have the chance of the cinematic experience when the movie opens there on January 30.
Should I mention the nominations for next year’s Oscars are announced on Thursday, January 22?!
The original London stage show will be 10 years old on April 6, 2009. Expect celebrations at the Prince of Wales theatre on the night.
ABBA
As sure as night follows day, we should expect a Voulez-Vous 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition CD with bonus DVD, including such classics (in part if not all) as ABBA In Switzerland and the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show and more!
Please feel free to add to the list….
I really missed not having the special CD/DVD release this year so looking forward to Voulez Vous, We really did wait a long time back in 78/79 for ABBA’s new LP!. Only down side of these anniversary reissues is that you can still remember the excitement and anticipation of getting the originals and then realise its was 30 years ago. Possible extra ABBA item could be a full DVD release of the 1979 tour rather than the edited version or at least a live CD/DVD tie in.
An English version of Kristina would be the highlight for me in 2009, love the songs but will be good to know what on earth they are singing about!.
As well as ‘ABBA in Switzerland’, would love the deluxe edition to feature the ‘Chiquitita’ performance at the UN and maybe excerpts from the great Spanish TV specials that year? Can’t wait to see it anyway.
I am amazed that the DVD of the Chess London concerts is not ready for Christmas.We were lucky to see the show on the second night the 13th May when the sound was at least 100% better than it was on the 12th.Can anybody tell me of the reason for the delay? Or was it just planned like this?
I hope the BAO cd will be the rumoured cd with tracks in english.
Voulez-Vous 30th cd/dvd set should be great.I hope they make it known ‘As good as new’ was a Mexican number 1 as it missed the number 1’s cd.
I still can’t help wondering if ‘Kristina’ is going to be a movie instead of a stage show as Bjorn said during Mamma Mia interviews that he and Benny had already had an idea for a new movie to develop.That way they could have Helen as Kristina and feature Meryl and not have the USA wrangling over who plays the lead on stage.The sets could be lavish and on location.Wishful thinking on my part lol.
As for Chess.A decent format would be nice…a definitive version on stage or film.
If you get a chance to see a concertversion of Kristina I just say go go go ….! Timeless! I think Benny and Björn feel they do not haveto prove anything anymore. I am glad they "pick their choiches" when it comes to Kristina. Finally it will find it´s place and become a classic. I just say enjoy! John
My wish list:
25th Anniversary edition of Chess. Digital remaster. Including the single edits and remixes. (arbiter!) and a bouns dvd with all of the videos. and the original making of the album tv special. SOunds like a five disc set.
30th anni edition of Gracias por la musica. yeah I know it was basically done with the the reissue of ORO. But there is a hole in my collection.
What about CHESS as a movie?
An English version of Kristina soundtrack.
Voulez-vous deluxe edition will indeed be a welcome addition to the ABBA catalog, but I feel it is a shame that ABBA’s third album was never presented with the deluxe treatment. It did, afterall, contain several international number one singles, as well as proving hugely popular in Australia and culminating with their first Australian television special in 1976 – an event which would make an excellent dvd extra. But hey, I’m just being picky!
January 2009
Due to Christmas sales and a special offer jewel-case edition featuring a free iPhone, ABBA Gold remains at number 1 on the UK charts well into the new year.
Meryl Streep makes a scene at a WalMart in New Jersey trying to exchange her copy of ABBA Gold for a cast recording of Mamma Mia! refusing to return her iPhone. ?Do you KNOW how many copies of that damn ABBA Gold thing are on eBay?? Streep is heard yelling. ?At least the cast recording has some integrity?.
February
Rumours abound that Agnetha Faltskog will return to the recording studio in the northern spring. Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet reports that Timbaland approached Agnetha with an offer to produce an album for her after receiving a copy of ABBA Gold for Christmas. In a statement to the press, Ms Faltskog?s personal assistant Staffan Linde would not confirm or deny plans for Agnetha during 2009, but admitted that she had spoken with Timbaland. ?Yes, Mr Timbaland and Agnetha have had conversations but he was just telling her how to use her iPhone. Apparently she got one at Christmas time together with a dodgy CD with a naff jewel case.?
March
Benny Andersson admits in an interview that he was once a member of a 70?s pop group that wore some dodgy costumes.
Agnetha Faltskog?s plans to record a new album are shelved indefinitely after fears she is being stalked.
April
The ABBA museum due to open in Stockholm on 6th April, 35 years after the group?s historic Eurovision Song Contest win in Brighton and 10 years after the premiere of the musical Mamma Mia! Finally opens at the CWA Bingo Hall in Lobethal, South Australia. None of the former members of the group attends the opening but an uninvited Meryl Streep arrives making a scene, insisting that she should have a special wing in the museum. ?I have a remarkable Swedish accent, ja, I drive a Volvo, ja, and I ruined my career by cavorting around in a pair of Pippi-bloody-Longstocking overalls singing bloody ABBA tunes!?
After months of speculation it is confirmed that the Andersson-Ulvaeus musical Kristina fran Duvemala is to be made into a feature film produced by Baz Luhrmann (Australia, Romeo & Juliet)with Ang Lee as director (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). The epic story will be produced as a drama rather than a musical, although the film?s score will be adapted from the musical by Benny Andersson.
May
Agnetha reveals from her bunker in Ekero that her stalker has been identified as Victoria Beckham. The former Posh Spice was fit to be tied after finding an exchange of text messages on husband David Beckham?s iPhone, which he received free with a copy of the ABBA Gold CD Victoria bought for him at Christmas. Mr Beckham admitted he and Agnetha had become friends after meeting at a Volvo dealership. He noticed she looked a little stressed and encouraged her to ?have a Bex and a lie down?. Agnetha is rightly worried about Victoria, who has made threats to record a new album if Agnetha doesn?t ?back off?.
June
The phenomenal success of musical and movie versions of Mamma Mia! has encouraged songmeister Bjorn Ulvaeus to look into his back catalogue for some further inspiration. Ulvaeus insists his new musical, Take A Chance On Me! is ?the musical I never knew I had written? The storyline revolves around a young boy who discovers his mother had been in relationships with three men she had met over the internet and he is keen to discover if one of them is his father. ?We had to make a few minor changes to some song lyrics to ensure things flowed smoothly, but you would never notice? says Ulvaeus. Along with the title number, Take A Chance On Me! features 22 of his songs woven throughout the storyline, including On And On And On-line, Internetzo No1, SMS, Lay All Your Love On-line and Like An Angel Passing Through My Chat Room.
Benny Andersson announces that he will commence a tour of Lichtenstein with his Orkester in July. The tour will take in both of the nation?s premier folk parks over an exhausting two nights. ?There will be some surp
There is to be a production of chess at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow in april or may 2009, by an amateur group
Rod, whilst highly cynical, you are one clever and witty ABBA fan!
Rod
Brilliant – wet myself! Set it to music and it could be the musical you never know you’d written.
Rod…..absolutely fantastic..
Rod, awesome, Großartig, superbe, kul, trevlig, you name it…
can someone post the lyrics of "SMS" ? 😛
On May 12th 2027.A 20th anniversay DVD is brought out of the May 12th-13th 2007 Chess concert. I hope I am still alive!
Love it! Had a good laugh.
I agree you should turn it into a musical. Maybe you could get Noddy and Big ears to play posh and becks!
Rod – thanks for the chuckle!
Regarding ‘Voulez-Vous Deluxe’ – I so hope this happens and it does seem that the prospects are good. I too wish we had seen an ‘ABBA Deluxe’ as that album has always been ones of my big favourites and there are so many TV clips etc. out there. Now, if that one was released, I would not be surprised if it was the biggest seller of all, so I think Universal might have made a mis-calculation (unless they are still planning!).
By the way, I have also worked out that a ‘Voulez-Vous Deluxe’ release should co-incide with the Roosendaal fan club event in 2009 – now that WOULD be special (for me, at least!!!)
regards
Gary
Any news of Voulez-Vous Deluxe?
Lee