Here goes ‘UnCovered’ again with the music of ABBA

Can you name five ABBA songs off the top of your head?

I bet you can.

The Swedish pop group, founded 50 years ago, wrote some of the most catchy and beloved pop hits of all time, which is all the more remarkable considering they were only active for a decade.

“Everybody has an ABBA story or an ABBA phase, or knows where ABBA lives in them in some way,” said Reza Jacobs, musical supervisor, arranger and orchestrator of a concert featuring many of those hits.

Musical Stage Company’s “UnCovered: The Music of ABBA” plays Koerner Hall from Tuesday to Thursday. It’s the latest instalment of the company’s annual concert series of pop and rock songs in new and often surprising arrangements.

The initial idea for this “UnCovered” was to feature songs by Fleetwood Mac and ABBA: “two quartets that had a lot of drama … and wrote a lot about it,” said Jacobs. “But when we sat down and looked at the material, ABBA had to be a whole concert because there’s just too many great songs.”

The drama that Jacobs referred to stems from ABBA having been formed in 1972 by two married couples: Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog (the band’s name comes from the first letters of their first names). By and large, Benny and Björn wrote the songs, and Anni-Frid and Agnetha sang lead on them, often together.

The group leapt to fame with “Waterloo,” their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winner, which defied contest precedent by selling like gangbusters around the world, including making it to No. 6 on the Billboard Top 100 charts in the U.S.

Other megahits followed in quick succession: “Dancing Queen,” “Fernando,” “Money, Money, Money,” “Take a Chance on Me,” amongst many others. But the group went their separate ways in 1982 after both marriages unravelled.

For the next couple of decades, ABBA’s music slipped from mainstream attention, but a devoted gay fan base and the tribute band Björn Again fed subcultural interest. ABBA’s worldwide popularity soared again with the release of the greatest hits album “ABBA Gold” in Europe in 1992 (1993 in the U.S.).

Ulvaeus and Andersson pursued their mutual interest in musical theatre with their 1984 concept album “Chess,” which became a 1986 stage musical; and the popularity of the band’s catalogue got another massive boost when the jukebox musical “Mamma Mia!” premiered in London in 1999, spawning a movie version in 2008 and a movie sequel in 2018.

Defying previous claims that they’d never record together again, ABBA released the album “Voyage” in 2021 and, earlier this year, opened “ABBA Voyage,” an eye-popping show in London, England, featuring strikingly convincing digital avatars of the band members in their physical and vocal prime.

So what is it that makes ABBA’s music so enduringly popular? For Jacobs, it’s the juxtaposition of darkness and light: “Their music and the lyrics, I find to be so deep and so honest, and from a place of authentic pain in many cases,” he said. “The music surrounds it with something very pleasing and palatable and memorable … poppy in the best way, like a template for what a successful pop song is.”

Jacobs also credited the group for working hard on their craft: “They set out to write songs that would appeal to everyone and take over the world. They were diligent about finding what that special sauce is.”

He chose the songs for “UnCovered” with Musical Stage Company’s artistic director, Ray Hogg, artistic associate Kevin Wong, and the show’s director, Fiona Sauder. “The selection process was actually quite easy,” said Jacobs, because there were so many huge hits to choose from.

The biggest revelation for Jacobs has been working on “Mamma Mia!” with vocalist Hailey Gillis: “We’ve found a way of doing the song that has changed my relationship to it completely and deepened it,” he said. “It’s actually a really heartbreaking song of longing, like, here I go again. This is happening again. Oh, mamma mia.”

This 16th “UnCovered” concert marks a turning point: Musical Stage Company founder and CEO Mitchell Marcus, who co-created the series with Jacobs, departed the company earlier this year to work on the redevelopment of the Downsview Airport site, and this will be Jacobs’ last “UnCovered” as well.

“This is a prime piece of real estate, this concert,” said Jacobs. “I’ve been feeling for a couple of years like I’m getting close to the end of a chapter and that it was time to let somebody else inject some freshness into it.” He’s retraining as a psychotherapist, a profession that will allow him to spend more time at home with his partner and three daughters.

“The way that Reza makes music is awe-inspiring to me,” said Hogg. “His work is in the marrow of the Musical Stage company’s bones.” As of 2023, Wong will take over leadership of the “UnCovered” concerts.

As he put his last “UnCovered” concert together, Jacobs faced the risk that the format always brings: offering up new takes on very familiar songs.

“We’re going to hear some of the harmonies that we know and some new harmonies, and some places where there aren’t harmonies where you’d expect them,” he said. “There’s always a chance that it won’t be received well, but there’s a great opportunity, looking at these songs, to experience them in new ways.”

How do you like your ABBA?

The Star asked Canadian musical luminaries what their favourite ABBA song or experience is. Here are their takes.

Ron Sexsmith, singer-songwriter

“My favourite ABBA song has always been ‘Knowing Me Knowing You.’ Lyrically it’s pretty straightforward, detailing the end of a relationship but, musically, it keeps unfolding into different sections, each one more melodic than the last. By the time it gets to the ‘Breaking up is never easy I know’ part it always gives me goosebumps. Sheer unpretentious genius.”

Jully Black, singer-songwriter

“ABBA wrote so many amazingly melodic, beautifully rhythmic and timeless songs that it’s nearly impossible for me to choose a favourite, but ‘Dancing Queen’ is at the top of the list! ‘Fernando’ and ‘Take a Chance on Me’ are favourites, too! I hope to take in the ‘ABBA Voyage’ show one day.”

Irene Sankoff, co-writer, “Come from Away”

“The movie ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ has gotten me through more long-haul flights than I care to admit. It’s the scenery and the over-the-top storytelling and the perfect weather, paired with an overpriced glass of white wine.”

David Hein, co-writer, “Come from Away”

“The first musical I ever listened to was Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’s ‘Chess’ album. I bought the records for my dad’s birthday because he likes the game and we ended up both loving the album.”

Karoline Podolak, winner of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Competition

“‘Mamma Mia!’ I know it’s their most popular song, but I think it’s their best! Every time it comes on (usually during some kind of celebration) I am absolutely making my way to the dance floor, singing along with the biggest smile on my face. It’s a musical masterpiece, from the piano to the harmonies, the dreaminess and the catchiness. It just never gets old and I feel like I’m having the time of my life!”