MASONIC AGLOW
Candlelight series rolls out new ABBA, Stevie Wonder shows
The popular Candlelight string quartet series is taking a chance on some new shows this weekend, including a pair at Detroit’s Masonic Temple.
Fever, which presents shows in more than 80 cities worldwide, rolls out tributes to ABBA and Stevie Wonder, adapting their hits into chamber arrangements that will put a new kind of spin on some very familiar material.
“It’s a way to bring people to see something like a string quartet,” explains Fever’s New York-based Candlelight Curator Ricky Schweitzer. “If it’s a show of Mozart, they might not necessarily go. But tributes to popular artists…We’ve just sold more and more and more (tickets) to those shows, so it’s following…what sells, what people really want.”
Schweitzer, a trained pianist and composer himself, decided on an ABBA show last year, when “Voyage,” the Swedish quartet’s first new album in 40 years, was announced. As with the other artist tributes he’s curated, he searched worldwide for arrangements, though he did commission one specifically for “I Still Have Faith in You,” the Grammy Award-nominated song (ABBA’s first ever) from the new album.
“Part of the difficulty of putting these shows together is…the songs are not written for string quartet,” Schweitzer explains. “ABBA is part of the disco movement; You’ve got to make sure there’s a driving force, a beat. Are people going to get up and dance? Probably not, but maybe. I’ve seen stranger things.”
The Stevie Wonder tribute, meanwhile, is a new collaboration between Candlelight and its parent company Fever, and Pure Soul, incorporating material spanning the Motown legend’s nearly 60-year career.
Candlelight has also just launched Taylor Swift, Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse shows and has more on the way, including one focused on Modern Divas of Pop and a gospel concert. “This can change on a dime when we have an idea,” Schweitzer notes. “We can come up with an idea and be like, ‘Let’s rush this to market.’ It’s great being nimble.”
Candlelight: A Tribute to ABBA takes place at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, in the Masonic Temple Chapel, 500 Temple
St. Detroit. Candlelight: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder, takes place at the same times Saturday, Jan. 8. 313-832-7100 or feverup.com.