Urbana's Gloria Theatre is set to fill its restored downtown stage with ABBA classics next Friday, August 14, when the New York City-based tribute act Dancing Dream takes over at 7:30 p.m. The show, held at the historic venue at 216 S. Main St., is billed as America's premier ABBA tribute and will run through the group's biggest hits, including Waterloo, Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Fernando and Take a Chance on Me.
The performance marks the second half of the Gloria Theatre's Stars on Stage series for 2026, according to the Springfield News-Sun. Dancing Dream was co-founded by European vocalists Halina Ulatowski and Agnes Jawien, who have performed together for 17 years, and the group takes its name from the ABBA song Dancing Queen. Ulatowski said love for ABBA and the joy of its music drive the act, a sentiment the paper included in its report on the upcoming show.
Gloria Theatre Executive Director Staci Weller said the group's performances have earned it a reputation as America's top ABBA tribute show, per the same report. The lineup includes seasoned musicians who have toured with Blondie and Chubby Checker, along with players who performed in Broadway's Mamma Mia. Tickets are on sale now at gloriatheatre.org, with prices reported at $39.07, $49.42 and $56.67.
A Stage Built for Touring Tribute Acts
The Stars on Stage series has become the Gloria Theatre's signature vehicle for bringing national touring artists and tribute acts to downtown Urbana. The series reached its 36th live performance milestone in May with a show from Grammy-winning bluegrass act Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, according to the Urbana Daily Citizen. Beyond the Dancing Dream date, the theater plans to host The Prophecy Show, described as America's favorite Trans-Siberian Orchestra tribute band, along with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, a Celine Dion tribute, and magician David Caserta presenting Haunted Illusions. Gloria Theatre Event Specialist Shannon Rhodes rounds out the venue's staff overseeing the packed calendar.
Dancing Dream's stage show is modeled specifically after ABBA's 1979-1980 world concert tour, featuring era-authentic 1970s costumes, synchronized dance choreography and live backing instrumentation, according to a description from the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire, which has previously booked the touring act. The group formed in 2009 and gained early national attention after appearing on The Colbert Report in 2012, per its own official website.
A Theater With a Century of Reinvention
The Gloria Theatre's roots stretch back to 1904, when it opened as the Clifford Theatre under vaudeville performer Billy Single Clifford. After a fire destroyed the building, industrialist Warren Grimes rebuilt it in 1941 and renamed it the Gloria Theatre after his youngest daughter, according to the Urbana Daily Citizen. During World War II, the venue served as an entertainment hub, showing war newsreels to local residents.
The theater's more recent history involves a rescue from potential permanent closure. After the commercial Urbana Twin Cinemas shut down in 2013, the Urbana United Methodist Church purchased the building in 2014 and established the non-profit GrandWorks Foundation to restore and operate it as a community venue, the paper's earlier reporting notes. The foundation received a $39,300 grant in 2023 from the Ohio Department of Development's Ohio Arts Economic Relief Grant Program, part of a statewide initiative that distributed $43 million to 243 arts organizations across Ohio.
Modernizing While Staying True to Its Roots
Ahead of its late-summer concert and film lineup, the Gloria Theatre installed new high-efficiency HVAC units to improve indoor climate control, the venue announced on its Facebook page. The upgrade is part of an ongoing, multi-phase renovation campaign at the theater, which currently seats over 350 patrons. Future capital plans call for a balcony seating addition to expand capacity, along with a lobby cafe and expanded theatrical lighting, according to Champaign County community information.
The Dancing Dream date arrives as ABBA's broader cultural footprint shows little sign of fading. The band's hits compilation ABBA Gold has spent a record 1,248 weeks on the UK top 100 album chart as of April 2026, and the group has sold more than 150 million records worldwide since breaking through with its 1974 Eurovision Song Contest win. The jukebox musical Mamma Mia! has played to more than 70 million people across 50 international productions in 16 languages since 1999, a run that has helped keep demand for ABBA tribute acts steady from Broadway houses to small-town stages like the one in downtown Urbana.
