On May 26th the time has come. In a specially built show hall in the Olympic Park in the London district of Stratham, four digital superstars jump out of the computer. The much-discussed abbatare with which ABBA have prescribed eternal youth on stage.
A technical mega-spectacle in which over 70-year-old Swedes will transform into jolly youngsters around 30. The organizers are now countering the rumors about the pre-sale of the digital show marathon, which is not yet going so well, with more and more details from the ABBA machine room.
In a longer interview, the daily newspaper network “RND” spoke to the Icelandic show producer Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson, the youngest son of Abba founder Benny Andersson. Impressive numbers, such as a billion hours of computer time on the special computers of the cinema grandmasters Industrial Light & Magic, cannot hide the fact that there is a “danger of cold artificiality”. So it’s also about body language, facial expressions and, if possible, well-fitting digital stage clothes from the Italian label Dolce & Gabbana.
When asked how to reconcile the aging feel of the real members with the desired forever young gesture, producer Gisla refers to a tech wizard named Wayne McGregor in the interview. This would have transferred the “DNA of the movement” from a real to a virtual body.
“The link between the two was the ‘vessel’ of a younger human translating the original movements for the younger digital copy. like Gisla. “It was a very long, very complex process. Wayne is – I don’t use that word often – a genius.”
Strictly shielded advance shows in front of a test audience would have gone well so far: “We had two small groups that we showed the show to and they were enthusiastic”. During the complex implementation, you got more and more confidence in your own crazy ideas. Nevertheless, one also expects disappointed faces. “So life is. But we are confident that the vast majority will have a wonderful evening.”
When asked if the original Abba shows from 1979 had received a creative update, Ludvig Andersson clarified: “This is not a time capsule and it is not packaged in a nostalgic way. But completely now, Abba 2022, pointing to the future. Like Abba herself who never looked back in her short playing career”.
Finally, Gisla begins with a little ode to the humanity of the original band: “Abba is in my DNA,” she says, laughing. She has worked with some of the biggest pop stars in her career. “Abba are at the forefront of these people. Abba are wonderful people – they are trusting, engaging, respectful, inspiring and still highly creative. I am a lucky guy.”