“Dancing Queen: Songs of ABBA" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse -- July 1.
Wednesday, July 1, 1 & 7:15 p.m.
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
On July 1, audiences at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse are invited to sing, dance, and relive the golden age of pop with Dancing Queen: The Songs of ABBA, a celebration of joy, sparkle, and nostalgia featuring such unforgettable tines as "Waterloo," "The Winner Takes It All," "Fernando," and the timeless "Mamma Mia."
ABBA are among the best-selling music artists in history, with record sales estimated to be between 150 million to 385 million sold worldwide. The ensemble was also the first group from a non-English-speaking country to achieve consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Republic of Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are the best-selling Swedish band of all time and the best-selling band originating in continental Europe, and ABBA had eight consecutive number-one albums in the U.K. ABBA was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, becoming the first and only recording artists to receive this honor from outside an Anglophonic country. Meanwhile, in 2015, their song "Dancing Queen" was inducted into the Recording Academy's Grammy Hall of Fame.
Formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, ABBA's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. One of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, ABBA became one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982, and again in 2021. In 1974, ABBA were Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo," which in 2005 was chosen as the best song in the competition's history as part of the competition's 50th-anniversary celebration.
Ten years after the group broke up in 1982, the ABBA Gold compilation was released and became a worldwide best-seller. And in 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into Mamma Mia!, the Tony-nominated stage musical that toured worldwide and is still among the top-10 longest-running productions on both Broadway (where it closed in 2015) and London's West End (where it is still running). A movie musical of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year, with its sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again enjoying a 2018 release.
Dancing Queen: Songs of ABBA will be presented in matinée and evening concerts on July 1, with the 1p.m. show (11:45 a.m. doors) preceded by a plated lunch, and the 7:15 p.m. show (5:45 p.m. doors) preceded by a plated dinner. Tickets are $67 for the afternoon performance and $72 for the singers' evening engagement, and more information and reservations are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting Circa21.com.
