Ravinia 2019, Issue 5, Week 9

8:30 PM TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 PAVILION ABBA THE CONCERT A Tribute to ABBA ABBA The Concert is the acclaimed cover band that has earned world re- nown for not only sounding like but also looking like the original four- some. ABBAThe Concert was founded in 1995 by Vicky Zetterberg and has since become the world’s most popular ABBA tribute show, having toured in almost 25 countries and appeared on several TV and radio shows. The group has mounted more than 20 tours of the United States since the full- scale “Golden Tour” in 2007 that also trekked across Europe, regularly sell- ing out venues of all sizes, and it has been a regular feature of winter-season concerts in Sweden, performing with the nation’s biggest comedians and musical stars. ABBAThe Concert has the distinction of being the only band in the world permitted to use identical copies of ABBA’s original stage cos- tumes as well as a previously unreleased song from ABBA’s library, “Just a Notion,” alongside the iconic hits “Mamma Mia,” “S.O.S.,” “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes All,” “Waterloo,” “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme,” and “Dancing Queen.” Many members of the original quartet’s backing band have joined the group on tour, including Lasse Wellander, Janne Schaffer, Finn Sjöberg, Ola Brunkert, Roger Palm, Åke Sundqvist, Mike Watson, Rutger Gunnarsson, Janne Kling, Johan Stengard and Ulf Anders- son. In fact, ABBA The Concert replicates the original quartet’s sound so well that in a test on Swedish national radio, ABBA fans believed that the group’s rendition of “Dancing Queen” was the original recording. ABBA The Concert was first presented at Ravinia in 2004 and tonight returns for its ninth season at the festival. 7:30 PM WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 MARTIN THEATRE SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK Celebrating Sweet Honey in the Rock’s 45th anniversary Sweet Honey in the Rock was formed in 1973 by longtime member Ber- nice Johnson Reagon (who retired in 2004) as part of the Black Repertory Theater Company in Washington, DC. The name was inspired by the vo- cal harmony of Reagon and co-founders Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, and Mie, which reminded Reagon of a psalm telling of a land so rich that when its rocks were cracked open, honey flowed from them. The members of Sweet Honey in the Rock have since become musical missionaries of equality, empowerment, and education, as well as peace, love, solidarity, and nondenominational spirituality. The group released its first recording in 1976 and has since made two dozen albums, including several for chil- dren. In 2013, Sweet Honey in the Rock created a double album from its Jazz at Lincoln Center tribute to fellow vocalist/activists Abbey Lincoln, Odetta, Miriam Makeba, and Nina Simone, and most recently released #LoveInEv- olution , comprising 14 songs calling for societal and environmental peace. The ensemble has performed on nearly every continent, for royal com- mand concerts and at festivals and major venues, recently making its 32nd appearance at Carnegie Hall and embarking on four US Embassy tours, including stops in Ethiopia, Peru, Jamaica, Swaziland, and Belize. Sweet Honey in the Rock’s distinctions also include composing the music for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company’s 50th-anniversary program, Go in Grace ; in 2012 creating the lyrics for William Banfield’s Symphony No. 10 ( Affirmations for a New World ), a co-commission of the National Sympho- ny Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Chicago’s Harris Theater; and per- forming at the National Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela at the Na- tional Cathedral in Washington, DC. In its now 45 years, the ensemble has counted 24 women as members, featuring between four and six vocalists in addition to a dedicated ASL interpreter. Sweet Honey in the Rock first sang at Ravinia in 2006 with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and tonight makes its second appearance RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 29 – AUGUST 4, 2019 96