On Stage: FABBA brings the music of ABBA to Kewswick

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times

What is one of the most popular palindromes in the world and is also a name of one of the best-selling bands in the history of popular music?

ABBA, of course.

ABBA is a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni -Frid Lyngstad. The group’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, they became one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1983, and in 2021.

Not surprisingly, there are a lot of ABBA tribute bands such as Dancing Queen, Abbafab, Almost Abba and Abba Again. There are more than 50 Abba tribute bands in the U.K. alone.

One of the best Abba tribute bands actually got its start in the U.K. – The FABBA Show.

On February 10, “The FABBA Show – A Tribute to ABBA” will visit the area for a show at the Keswick Theatre (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, www.keswicktheatre.com)

The FABBA Show features Julianne Ruck as Agnetha Fältskog, Robert Gonzalez as Benny Andersson, Andy Marshall as Björn Ulvaeus, and his wife Marie-Claire Marshall as Anni -Frid Lyngstad.

“We’ve been together for six years,” said Marie-Claire Marshall, during a phone interview last week from her home in Orange County.

“I actually started the band about 15 years ago when I was living in England. It was called FABBA Show. There is still a FABBA Show in England and one in Sweden. I started them both. Then, my family moved to the states. I didn’t think ABBA was a go.

“In California, I was working as a singer. My husband and I took the kids to Knott’s Berry Farms. Julie Ruck was in a music show there. My husband said that he thought Julie would make a great Agnetha Fältskog – and she has.”

In 1974, ABBA were Sweden’s first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo,” which in 2005 was chosen as the best song in the competition’s history as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the contest.

During the band’s main active years, it consisted of two married couples: Fältskog and Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad and Andersson. With the increase of their popularity, their personal lives suffered, which eventually resulted in the collapse of both marriages.

Ten years after the group broke up, a compilation, “ABBA Gold,” was released and became a worldwide best-seller. In 1999, ABBA’s music was adapted into “Mamma Mia!,” a successful musical that toured worldwide. A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year. A sequel, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” was released in 2018.

“The ‘Mama Mia!’ movies kickstarted it all again,” said Marshall. “It opened a whole new audience for ABBA. Anybody from 5-to-105 could be an ABBA fan.

“I was an ABBA fan when I was young. I grew up in London. I was a teen there in the 1990s, so I was into acts such like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna.”

Now, Marshall, her husband and their bandmates are all about ABBA.

The FABBA Show is America’s most renowned, authentic, and truly sensational tribute to ABBA. The legend lives on, with hit after hit of dance floor classics like “Dancing Queen,” “Super Trouper,” “Voulez Vous,” “Waterloo,” “Mamma Mia,” “Take a Chance On Me” and more than 40 other hit singles that have audiences on their feet every show.

The band has an amazing among of energy and showmanship – and the costumes are spectacular.

“We gop through 10 costume changes in the show,” said Marshall. “It’s our thing – how many times can we get offstage and change without the audience knowing. We even wear huge wings that light up for ‘Lay All Your Love on Me.’”

Like most music acts, The FABBA Show spent time off the road because of the pandemic.

“We can’t wait to be playing for audiences again,” said Marshall. “It’s been a long time since any of us has experienced hand clapping. We’re really looking forward to performing live onstage again.

The show on February 10 will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $38.50-$58.50. All attendees will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the venue or a negative test result within 72 hours of entry.

Video link for The FABBA Show – https://youtu.be/EozF-HgVOpA

Other upcoming shows at the Keswick Theatre are Who’s Bad on February 11 and Andy Grammar on February 14.

ABBA fans can also hear the band’s music performed live in a stage production of “Mama Mia!” at a venue just over the state line in northern Delaware.

The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is midway through its first production run of 2022 with the hit musical “Mama Mia!”

“Mamma Mia!” is based on the songs of ABBA. Following the premiere of the musical in London in 1999, “ABBA Gold” topped the charts in the United Kingdom again. This musical was the brainchild of producer Judy Craymer.

In 1997, Craymer commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the book for the musical. The play is about a woman who does not know which of three men is the father of her daughter, now a young woman on the eve of her wedding on a Greek island.

The production at the Candlelight, which is directed and choreographed by Dann Dunn, features as Tina Delano as Sophie (the daughter) and Kaylan Wetzel as Donna (the mother) along with Candlelight veterans such as Anthony Connell as Pepper and Lindsay Mauck as Rosie.

“Mamma Mia!” is running at the Candlelight Theatre now through February 27. It will be followed by “Big Fish” from March 19-April 24.

If you want to get your Valentine’s Day Weekend off to a rousing start, there is a concert that is just what you’re looking for.

On February 11, The Living Room (35 East Ardmore Avenue, Ardmore, https://thelivingroomat35east.com) will host “Laura Cheadle Sings The Sexy Valentine Blues.”

“There will be a lot of sexy R&B songs,” said Cheadle, during a phone interview Tuesday evening from her home in South Philadelphia.

“There will be some love songs – and some heartbreakers. There will be sexy songs about meeting someone for the first time.

“They are all stories from my life. I recently broke up with someone I was with for years and that was an influence on some songs. There are also songs about my career like ‘You’re Gonna Know My Name.’”

The show features Laura Cheadle and her band. Cheadle has a band that features blues, soul, funk – and a lot of Cheadles.

Her four-piece group features her brother Jim Cheadle on guitar and her father James Cheadle on keyboards along with South Jersey’s Dave Ferebee on drums.

James “Papa Cheadle” has played and recorded with Don Cornell, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Four Aces, Grover Washington Jr., The Soul Survivors, Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erskine.

“I signed a deal with Sony Music,” said Cheadle. “I’ll have a new album coming out this year on Sony Orchard. The first single – ‘Reverberate’ – is out already. The second single – ‘Lust In Between’ – will be released on March 29. Hopefully, the album will be out by late summer.

“I’ve been in the studio a lot. I hadn’t written in four years. When the COVID shutdown arrived, I started writing and couldn’t stop. I just relaxed and enjoyed it.

“Recording is a family affair. I’m recording the upcoming album at my dad’s studio with my brothers and him. My dad is the producer. Sony is letting me do my own thing.

“I have eight songs recorded and I’m still writing more. The music is very R&B-based. I just wrote another song the other day. Songs are flying out.”

Cheadle has played with her family ever since she was a young girl.

“My father has influenced me so much,” said Cheadle. “He’s a seasoned jazz musician who used to be a music professor at Rowan University. So, I’ve always been involved with music

“He has his own recording studio in South Jersey called the Swedesboro Music Studio and he records a lot of different people. He and I are both devoted to music. His influence on me is blues and jazz – but I make it modern.”

Cheadle’s music career began when she was four years old. Her father created the “Appreciation Choir” for the Persian Gulf War troops in the early nineties and created a music video that was aired on VH1 and MTV. Along with her two older twin brothers and various other children, Cheadle toured around the United States singing for audiences.

When she was 11, she enlisted her father to teach her how to play drums. From her “tween” to “mid-teen” years, Cheadle was in a band with her brothers called Sibling – a pop group that played at local restaurants, churches, music venues, private parties and parades.

“I’ve been in the Philadelphia/New Jersey music scene for quite some time,” said Cheadle. “I’ve been doing acoustic stuff since I was 16 and then put my band together later. Sibling was a blend and I morphed into my music. Songwriting comes very naturally for me. Sometimes, I wake up with a melody in my head. It’s just there.

“I’ve always been a super fan of old soul. My biggest influences are Aretha Franklin, Tower of Power, James Brown and Stevie Wonder. I love real drums and all the organic instruments. Some of my songs are rock. Some of them are blues. It’s hard to classify me – maybe pop/rock with soul influence. I just do what I feel.”

The Cheadle Family has built a strong reputation nationally.

“We were on an NBC television show called ‘The Next Great Family Band’ in 2013,” said Cheadle. “That got us a lot of interest in being booked for tours. They actually came to our place in Swedesboro. The exposure was great.”

Video link for Laura Cheadle – https://youtu.be/Ro-JwppZkJM.

The show on February 11 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

For a more mellow musical celebration of Valentine’s Day, head to the Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) on February 12.

The comfortable theater in downtown West Chester will be presenting “An Evening of Love Songs with The Paul Jost Quartet…celebrating Tony Bennett.”

Jost is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger but it is his work as a vocalist that makes him a standout. He has performed worldwide with recent tours in Asia and Europe. Jost’s resume includes an ongoing residency at the internationally acclaimed jazz club 55 Bar, a two-month stint in 2017 at SMOKE performing with Orrin Evans, guest appearances with vibraphonist Joe Locke at Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club at the Lincoln Center in April 2018 and performances at such popular clubs as Mezzrow, Jazz at Kitano’s and more.

Each member of the Paul Jost Quartet is an incomparable artist and as a group they bring the highest caliber performance to the creation of music and to the stage. Paul Jost (vocal/harmonica/arranger), Jim Ridl (pianist), Dean Johnson (bass) and Tim Horner (drums) deliver fresh, passionate and compelling renditions of compositions drawn from The Great American Songbook, Classic Popular Music and Jazz Favorites.

Video link for Paul Jost Quartet — https://youtu.be/0-IvmMaGFoQ.

The show on February 12 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Ticket price includes desserts and one glass of Prosecco.

Tinsley Ellis is among the blues world’s best loved, hardest working and most well-traveled statesmen.

He will be definitely working hard this weekend when he visits the area for a pair of shows – February 11 at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, www.st94.com) and February 12 at the Arden Concert Gild (2126 The Highway, Wilmington, Delaware, ardenconcerts.com).

When the pandemic shutdown hit in March 2020, Ellis was forced to cancel the tour promoting his just-released album, “Ice Cream In Hell,” just six weeks into the 60-date run. This would be the first time in 40 years he’d be off the road, and as he drove the 2400 miles home from Reno to Atlanta, he was already formulating his future plans.

Ellis resolved to dedicate his pandemic-forced downtime to creating new songs and growing as a songwriter. To get back to his musical roots, he began composing on amps and guitars that he hadn’t used for decades. He explored obscure studio and live recordings from some of his greatest musical heroes, such as the Allman Brothers, Freddie King, Michael Bloomfield, and B.B. King and was inspired by his favorite artists all over again. Eighteen months later, Ellis had written an astonishing 200 new songs.

“I sat out the pandemic for 21 months,” said Ellis, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from his home in Atlanta, Georgia. “Nothing has changed that much – except that I have a new album.

Ellis’ new album, “Devil May Care,” was just released on Alligator Records.

“I’m glad we waited for the release,” said Ellis. “Now, I’m touring again and just trying to stay well. I bring my own microphone and there’s no more kissing and hugging at the merch table.

“I was off the road for two years. I did a lot of songwriting – and staring into the abyss. Making this album, I definitely woodshedded as lot more than I had in the last 20 years. It definitely gave me a rope to hang myself.

“I did a lot of writing and re-writing. Bruce Iglauer (owner of Alligator Records) was like my mentor. I’d send him the instrumentals for a song. When he asked me for lyrics, I knew he liked the song. He’s like a taskmaster.

“For me, the music comes much easier than the words. I almost always write the music first. Writing lyrics is the hardest thing. No amount of time is too much time for songwriting.”

Since his first Alligator album more than 30 years ago, Ellis has become a bona fide worldwide guitar hero. Ellis has performed in all 50 United States as well as in Canada, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia and South America — picking up legions of fans with his guitar virtuosity, passionate vocals and memorable original songs.
“I started in 1979 on the road,” said Ellis. “It’s great to be playing shows. When we play new songs live, they start as the studio version and then we add to them and modify them.”

Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis was raised in southern Florida. He found the blues through the back door of British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, The Rolling Stones and Southern rockers like The Allman Brothers. As he discovered the roots of these bands, he attended shows by B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and every other blues artist who came through town.
Already an accomplished teenaged musician, Ellis returned to Atlanta and started playing with local bands. In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta’s top-drawing blues band. After cutting three Heartfixers albums for the Landslide label, Ellis was ready to head out on his own.

The veteran bluesman talked about the making of “Devil May Care.”

According to Ellis, “There was a lot of time to experiment. In my downstairs studio I set up every guitar and amp that I owned, plus a Leslie cabinet, an old wooden Wurlitzer electric piano, an old Maestro Echoplex tape delay and 30 or 40 glass, steel and brass slides. Experimenting with different gear set ups inspired the songwriting. Plus, I was able to listen to more music than I had since the 1970s. My imagination was fired up!”

As early as April 2020, he began regularly releasing his new material online, keeping his thousands of fans engaged and soaking up their comments and responses. He knew, thanks to the reactions of his fans to his new songs, that he needed to make a record and get back on the road as soon as possible. Ellis whittled his massive song list down to ten, enlisted his friend and co-producer, keyboard master Kevin McKendree, and headed for Franklin, Tennessee’s famous Rock House recording studio.

“I had more than 200 songs and sent 10 to Alligator,” said Ellis. “I whittled it down and got rid of songs that didn’t work.

“Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield were the inspirations for this tour. One of the songs – ‘Don’t Bury Our Love’ – owes a lot directly to Al Kooper’s song, ‘More Than You’ll Ever Know,’ from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album.”

Video link for Tinsley Ellis — https://youtu.be/_CeFTXKF5KQ.

The show at Arden Concert Gild on February 12 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $28.

The show at the Sellersville Theater on February 11 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

The Sellersville Theater will also host Martin Barre on February 12.

There will be a meeting of generations on February 13 in a special concert at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Verizon Hall (300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia,www.kimmelculturalcampus.org).

The stellar music students of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra will perform under the baton of its long-time Conductor — Maestro Louis Scaglione. The students will be joined by world-renowned violinist Michael Ludwig as the special guest soloist.

“I have a long history with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra dating back to the 1970s when I performed in the orchestra,” said Ludwig, during a phone interview last week from his home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

“Louis Scaglione and I have worked together for 25 years. This will be the first time I’m performing with them post-pandemic. The last time was four years ago. This concert is the orchestra’s first of the season.”

Scaglione is celebrating his 25th Anniversary with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra this season.

“This is his 25th anniversary and he’s done just brilliant work in a growing organization — creating opportunities for young musicians to perform at a higher level,” said Ludwig.

Ludwig, who graduated from Haverford High School, is a Philadelphia musician with deep Philadelphia roots.

“I graduated from and the University of the Arts and studied at the Curtis Institute,” said Ludwig, who has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, KBS Symphony in Seoul, Korea, Beijing Symphony, and The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.”

Ludwig is the Concertmaster of the Philly POPS and the Music Director of the Roxborough Orchestra. He has served on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University as well as Montclair State University. Michael and his wife Rachael maintain active violin and viola studios in Cherry Hill.

“My father Irving Ludwig performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra,” said Ludwig. “He started me with violin lessons when I was six. Music was always an integral part of our lives. I also studied piano, but the main focus was always violin.

“I love the beauty of the sounds a violin can create and the singing nature of the instrument. It’s all about the lovely music created by violin.”

In Sunday’s concert, the ensemble will perform Bruch’s Violin “Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, op. 26” with Ludwig. The other two pieces will be Antonín Dvořák’s “Carnival Overture, op. 26” and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, op. 36.”

Max Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26” is admired especially for its lyrical melodies, which span nearly the entire range of the instrument. The work premiered in Bremen, Germany, on January 7, 1868, with the virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim as soloist.

“It’s a beautiful violin concerto,” said Ludwig, who has recorded internationally with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Virginia Symphony. “The first movement serves as an introduction to the second movement. The structure is a little different.

“Since when I last performed it, I was able to see the manuscript online. I always like to see it in the composer’s handwriting. It gives an insight into the creation of the work.

“This entire concert is very special for me. Louis dedicated it to my mother Martha who passed away last July. She and Louis were very close. There are no words to describe how special this is to my family.”

Ludwig has a busy schedule this weekend.

On February 12, he will conduct the Roxborough Orchestra in a concert at Venice Island Performing Arts Center (7 Lock Street, Philadelphia, roxboroughorchestra.org). The concert, which features free admission, will start at 7:30 p.m.

Video link for Philadelphia Youth Orchestra — https://youtu.be/rkK-cd9eJrE.

The concert at Verizon Hall on February 13 will start at 7 p.m. Tickets range in price from $20-$30 and are available at www.kimmelculturalcampus.org.

Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is presenting Better Than Bacon on February 10, Chris Fabiano on February 11 and Bettye Lavette on February 15.

Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will host Lisa Chavous on February 11 and Craig Bickhardt on February 12.

Every Thursday at Jamey’s, there is a “Thursday Night Jazz Jam” featuring the Dave Reiter Trio and every Sunday features “Sunday Blues Brunch & Jam” featuring the Philly Blues Kings with Maci Miller

Brooklyn Bowl (1009 Canal Street, Philadelphia, www.brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia) will present The Floozies on February 12.

The Xcite Center at Parx Casino (2999 Street Road, Bensalem, 888-588-7279, https://parxcasino.com) will have a show featuring Better Than Ezra and Tonic on February 11.

Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal Street, Philadelphia, 215-309-0150, www.thefillmorephilly.com) will have Joe Russo’s Almost Dead on February 11, Chai on February 12, Fish Narc on February 13, Yungblud on February 14 and Joan on February 15.

PhilaMOCA (531 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, 267-519-9651, www.philamoca.org) will present Squirrel Flower and Christelle Bofale on February 12.

Rrazz Room (6426 Lower York Road, New Hope, 888-596-1027, www.TheRrazzRoom.com) will host Eddie Bruce on February 12.

Annenberg Center (3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, https://annenbergcenter.org/events) will present Maceo Parker and Regina Carter on February 11.

The Queen (500 North Market Street, Wilmington, 202-730-3331, www.thequeenwilmington.com) will host Blank Pages on February 11 and Appetite for Destruction and Mo Lowda on February 12.

The Met (858 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, http://themetphilly.com) will host Boyz 2 Men on February 12 and Louis Tomlinson on February 15.

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 North Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-739-9684,

www.johnnybrendas.com) will present The Out-Sect on February 11, The Stereo League on February 12 and Lily Hiatt on February 15.

Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com) hosts The Movement on February 11 and Remi Wolf on February 16.