Easy Theatres

Here in the UK you’d walk past talented musician Martin Spooner without a second look – unless perhaps he was wearing his sequin-spangled jump suit.

In Brazil, however, Martin – who plays Bjorn in the hit concert show Thank You for the Music – is a TV celebrity and is regularly mobbed in the street.

Martin scratches his long blond, Seventies-style wig as he ponders how he has become famous in a country 6,000 miles away and where the people don’t speak English.

“Our first tour of Brazil was a year ago,” he says, “it was with a company that was closely connected to the TV stations there.

“We’ve been asked back six times since then and our live shows feature regularly on television.”

“The scale of the country takes some getting used to, instead of driving from show to show you have to fly.”

It was television appearance on Brazil’s national TV channel that led to Martin’s elevation to celebrity status there.

“In a country that’s home to 192 million Brazilians who are all big ABBA fans that turned out to be a hell of a lot of exposure.”

Martin returns to Brazil next week <w/c 16/8/10> for three appearances in Sao Paulo.

“That’s in three different venues,” explains Martin. “The city’s population is 30 million people, that’s half the population of Britain.”

His new-found, Latin American celebrity status has come as a bit of a shock to Martin, who has starred with the cast of Thank You for the Music for the past 17 years.

On several occasions on the road, Thank You for the Music has outsold the likes of Status Quo, Lulu and Jim Davidson at top UK venues, as it has played to more than a quarter of a million fans each year.

Martin was born to a musical family. His first musical instrument, a set of drums, set him on a career in show business aged just five!

While still at school he joined a professional rock band whose busy schedule took them all over the UK and Europe.

After four years it was time to move on musically, and Martin set about forming his own band.

His new group, Midnite, took on a different musical direction and soon found a new audience within the soul and dance music genre. A record and publishing deal followed and the group had a top 20 hit in the Blues & Soul dance charts with the single Paradise Drive.

After a very successful time in the studio, it became evident that Martin was really missing the excitement of the stage.

Seventeen years ago he joined the cast of Thank You for the Music – a live concert show featuring the music of Abba and the Bee Gees.

He averages more than 100 dates at the top venues around the world each year.

Martin’s band Abba Magic is renowned as the UK’s number one live Abba tribute and this year will have been performing for longer than Bjorn, Agnetha, Benny and Frida did during their prolific career.