Abbacadabra is the name of a French children's musical based on songs from the pop group ABBA, originally produced for French television in 1983 by Alain and Daniel Boublil, but which was later also transferred to various stage versions.
French television version The French TV production consisted of 14 ABBA songs with new French lyrics by Alain & Daniel Boublil, and the story was based on classic fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Snow White and others. The cast was made up of children and well known French singers like Fabienne Thibeault, Daniel Balavoine, Plastic Bertrand, Maurice Barrier, Daniel Boublil (as 'Daniel Beaufixe'), Francoise Pourcel (as Marie Framboise), Catherine Ferry, Stéphane Le Navelan, Stéphane Boublil (son of Alain), Clémentine Autain and Emmanuelle Pailly.
Frida from ABBA was invited to play the part of "Belle au bois dormant" (Sleeping Beauty), and recorded the song (a cover of ABBA's 1976 instrumental track "Arrival") "Belle" as a duet with Daniel Balavoine.
Abbacadabra was originally broadcast on the French TV channel TF1 over Christmas, 1983.
Songs Qu'est-ce que je vais faire plus tard / When I kissed the teacher Delivrés / The Visitors Abbacadabra / Take a chance on me Mon nez mon nez / Money Money Tête d'alumette / Super trooper Carabosse super show / Dancing Queen Imagine moi / I wonder (the departure) Pareils et mêmes / I let the music speak L'enfant do / Fernando Lachez mes cassettes / I'm a Marionette Belle / Arrival Envoyez le générique / Thank you for the music Gare au loup / Waterloo La planète amour / Lay All Your Love On Me
The London Spectacle Cameron Mackintosh decided to produce an English version of the TV show with lyrics by David Wood and Don Black. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who wrote the songs in ABBA, contributed with one new song, "The Seeker", and Frida recorded "Time"; an English version of "Belle"/"Arrival" as a duet with B.A. Robertson.
The musical premiéred December 8th, 1983 at the Lyric Hammersmith theatre in London, to mixed reviews and full houses for 8 weeks, closing on January 21, 1984. Among the actors were Elaine Paige, Michael Praed, Finola Hughes, B.A. Robertson and Jenna Russell. Elaine Paige recorded a single - a cover of ABBA's My Love, My Life: "Like An Image Passing By".
English Songs Another World (Take A Chance On Me) Battle of The Brooms (Money, Money, Money) I Am The Seeker (new song) I Can Pull Some Strings (The Piper) Going Going Gone (On & On & On) Making Magic (Super Trouper) When Dreamers Close Their Eyes (Like An Angel Passing Through My Room) Belonging (I Let The Music Speak) Back Home Now (Fernando) Carabosse Supershow (Dancing Queen) Think Of Something Fast (I`m A Marionette) Time (Arrival) Like An Image Passing By (My Love, My Life) Thank You For The Magic (Thank You For The Music) Finale
Other Versions A Dutch version of this musical was recorded at the end of 1984 with José Hoebee and Marga Scheide and aired on TV in 1985.
A Portuguese version was also made for television.
Musical television specials
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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Abbacadabra** All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
