Abba’s Bjorn reflects on Eurovision win as Mamma Mia marks West End milestone

Abba star Bjorn Ulvaeus reflected on the band’s Eurovision win 50 years ago as the stage show Mamma Mia celebrated 25 years in the West End.

The Swedish band triumphed with their song Waterloo in Brighton on April 6 1974 and the musical show featuring their best loved songs premiered in London on the same day in 1999.

Taking to the stage after a celebratory performance of the show at the Novello Theatre, where much of the original cast was in the audience, Ulvaeus said: “About this time in the evening, exactly 50 years ago I was standing on another stage here in the UK.

“It was the second time I entered that stage that night because me and my three bandmates had been called back to perform our song a second time because the juries of the Eurovision final had delivered their verdicts – nil points from the UK.

“But despite that, we won and by and the thinnest margin in the history of Eurovision. I think that record (would) still stand.

“So on a night like this, it’s strange to think that if we hadn’t won – what happens to those who come number four, number three at Eurovision – they’re never heard of after that.

“If we hadn’t won, I most probably wouldn’t be standing here today.

“And this wonderful adventure, which we call Mamma Mia, would not have happened and I wouldn’t have met with all these wonderful people that I’ve worked with through the years and that would have been so sad. So I’ve got a lot to thank Waterloo for.”

He was met by laughter and applause as he added: “But here in this room, I can admit that when I relax at home and put on some music, it’s not Waterloo.”

He continued: “Somehow Abba has managed to touch so many millions of lives around the world, generation after generation.

“And people ask me ‘how does it feel for you to know that?’ and that’s a very that question and very hard to answer.

“It’s a very, very elusive feeling. And it’s more to do with gratitude and with humility than a pride. Because it humbles you to know that so many people have listened to something you’ve created, and that they’ve been made happy by it or sad, and that it has meant so much for them in their lives.

“And it’s very, very difficult to fully emotionally grasp that, at least for me.”

He also expressed “gratitude for the sheer existence of music because of what kind of a world we have without it.”

Referring to the band’s sellout show Abba Voyage, he concluded: “I might not be here for the next big anniversary, but my avatar will.”

The musical, which features the songs written by performed by Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and performed with Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, is only the third in the history of the West End to celebrate 25 years.

Since its premiere, more than 50 productions have been staged in more than 450 cities in 16 languages, including versions on Broadway and in Paris.

The performance opened with a video about the history of the show, including birthday messages from Hollywood stars Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper, who appeared in the 2008 movie adaptation.

Speaking backstage after the curtain call, producer Judy Craymer, the creator of the show, told PA it had been “an emotional day and an emotional few weeks.

“I’m incredibly proud and felt I was hyperventilating slightly. It really has gone by in a flash, in the blink of an eye.

“We’ve earned a place in history that we didn’t even think existed and it was humble beginnings not to just fall flat on our face and we have built something incredible.”

The show, written by  Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, stood out because it was being helmed by three women .

Craymer said: “Now it would be seen as diverse but we didn’t realise the ceilings we were smashing, because we were really, and I think this show has influenced a lot of young women and feminists.”