Some of the choir during rehearsals

Calling all Abba fans - want to sing and tap along to all the favourite Abba hits? Then mark the following 2 dates in your diary:
Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd February 2013 and the place is the Auditorium in La Nucia.

"The Great ABBA Experience" is a musical extravaganza which has been put together by Rob Barendsma, director of the Teatro del Sol in La Nucia. His last project was the highly acclaimed adaptation of  "The Sound of Music", which was also performed at the Auditorium last January.

Director Rob Barendsma

I spoke to Rob and asked him what are we to expect this time - as he has an awful lot to live up to, following the success of his last production. He is extremely excited and his enthusiasm is contagious, so going by that alone it certainly will be a night to remember. I popped by during one of the rehearsals and I must say that the choir were outstanding - Iam an Abba fan, at one point years ago you couldn't admit to that but now its cool!

 The choir has around 100 singesr of mixed nationalities, so as you can imagine the sound will be fantastic. In addition there will be 6 backing singers and some soloists, including Joanne who played Maria in The Sound of Music and also Evita in the Calpe production. There will also be 2 young ladies - Marilyn who is 13 and Amaya Saez O'Leary, aged 16 who will be performing 2 duets - Take a Chance and Give Me, Give Me.

Choir taking a well deserved break during rehearsals

In total 22 Abba hits will be performed and for the opening song "Eagle" there will be a drum band accompanying the singers. The song was recorded by the group in 1977 and was the longest track they ever recorded at 5.51 minutes, although never released as a single in the UK or the USA. Its a very haunting and dramatic piece....

For every song there will be a "show" to complement the track, ranging from classic ballet routines, Hip Hop dancers, Jazz and  Folk dancers - all of which are from local dance companies.

The show will start at 8pm on both nights and last for ap ,2.5 hrs with a break in the middle. Tickets are available from the box office at the Auditorium in La Nucia and priced at 10 euros each.