Video: Vanessa Sears Performs 'Money, Money, Money' & 'AngelEyes' From UNCOVERED: THE MUSIC OF ABBA!

As the dates of the 16th edition of The Musical Stage Company's unmissable signature UNCOVERED concert event come into view - UNCOVERED THE MUSIC OF ABBA - the company has released a first look video today of performer Vanessa Sears and Musical Director Reza Jacobs performing a medley of MONEY, MONEY, MONEY and ANGELEYES.

As previously announced, this edition will be beloved Music Director Jacobs' last. The annual sell-out series, a highly anticipated fixture of their annual programming, re-examines the songbooks of legendary singers/songwriters through a storytelling lens, developed and performed by Canada's most celebrated musical theatre artists.

The 2022 edition of the concert runs November 8-10 at Toronto's prestigious Koerner Hall, andaudiences will experience Reza Jacobs' wildly imaginative arrangements and orchestrations performed by a powerhouse lineup including Landon Doak, Hailey Gillis, Kelly Holiff, Gavin Hope, Vanessa Sears, Germaine Konji, and the 2021-2022 Syd & Shirley Banks Prize Winners Rosie Callaghan and Matthew Joseph. Sasha Boychouk, Jamie Drake, Justin Gray, Rachel Pomedli, and Reza Jacobs comprise the orchestra. This year, UNCOVERED spotlights hit songs from one of the best-selling and most iconic musical groups of all time - ABBA.

"We are unbelievably excited to dive into the infectious music of ABBA, especially as this year the band celebrates its 50th anniversary," comments Musical Stage Company Artistic Director Ray Hogg. "The band is among the most iconic and universally loved groups in the history of pop music - no matter what kind of music someone may like, I think a majority of people you might speak to have a favourite ABBA hit - the unabashed joyfulness of their music is absolutely unifying." Hogg adds, "Our excitement for this year's concerts is however bittersweet as Reza Jacobs takes his final turn helming this series which he helped create. Reza has been instrumental in the success of UNCOVERED and has laid a strong foundation for its continued growth and future."

"Every year, I look forward to UNCOVERED and the incredible opportunity it creates to collaborate with top Canadian talent to find new meaning within some of the best known and loved music in the world. This year is no different, though it is mixed with a tinge of sadness as I think about it being my last," says Reza Jacobs, UnCovered Musical Director. "Exploring the musical legacy of ABBA and the characters, narratives and melodies embedded in their songs is indeed a high note to go out on."

Formed in 1972, the Swedish Europop band's heartfelt lyrics and infectious anthems have inspired and united fans from across musical genres, generations, and the globe, for fifty years, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1983, and in 2021. Consisting of members 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. 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. The band's music and story were turned into a hit musical, Mamma Mia!, in 1999, and it remains in the top ten longest running productions on Broadway (where it closed in 2015) and London's West End where it continues to run. The musical was then adapted into the 2008 hit film version which also produced a 2018 sequel. Prior to Mamma Mia!, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson collaborated with Tim Rice on the musical Chess in 1988.

Tickets for UNCOVERED: THE MUSIC OF ABBA live at Koerner Hall are on sale now, beginning at $35.00. For more information visit www.musicalstagecompany.com.

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