“I grew up with ABBA music through my mum,” Sankey told the Lakes Mail.

“Mum was playing ABBA music all the time in the car, so I was hearing and singing along to ABBA songs from a very early age.

“In fact, I think my grandma even had vinyl ABBA records that she’d play. So I was always hearing those songs and I love them.”

Sankey was studying musical theatre last year at Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University when opportunity came knocking.

“I got the brief from my agent that they were auditioning for the show, and even though I absolutely love ABBA I remember I was so nervous at the audition,” she said.

“I sang Money, Money, Money and Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight) and they loved it, and then we were straight into rehearsals in the studio at Brisbane.”

What happened next made an impression on the young performer.

“It was the smoothest rehearsal I’ve ever been a part of, and that’s because the musicians in the show are just so exceptional,” she said.

She also quickly learned that there was more to singing an ABBA song than she’d gleaned as a child in her mum’s car.

“When ABBA performed, the sound they created was flawless and so easy,” she said.

“And it’s true, the songs are so easy to sing along to when you’re out with a bunch of friends, but to actually make it sound like ABBA is quite complex.”

The intricate harmonies and vocal techniques made famous by the ABBA girls Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog take some learning and honing.

But Sankey said the show’s producers, Happy Days Records, were so committed to giving audiences a true ABBA experience that plenty of work had gone into recreating the authentic ABBA sound that fans so fondly remember.

“We’re not there to change the sound, or make it better. We’re there to pay respectful tribute to the wonderful music of ABBA,” she said.

Gold: The Ultimate ABBA Show is currently on a national tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band’s mega-hit Dancing Queen.

Sankey said the two-hour concerts were being well received.

“The shows have been wonderful, and it’s so rewarding to be in a show where you can see the audience experiencing such nostalgia,” she said.

Some fans have fully immersed themselves in that nostalgia.

“There was one lady who was wearing the wonderful cat outfit that the ABBA girls made famous, and at another show there was a lady who got up on stage with us to party and eventually we had to escort her back off stage,” Sankey said.

The show will be performed at Laycock Street Theatre, at North Gosford, on Friday night, April 22.

Sankey advised locals to leave their inhibitions at the door and surrender to the joy of ABBA songs such as Mamma Mia, Honey Honey, Take a Chance On Me, Super Trouper, Fernando, and Ring Ring.

“It’s a lot of fun, so let yourself sing along, we play all of the big hits, and we have great musicians,” she said.

“And we do Dancing Queen as the big finale – oh, I’m probably revealing too much there – but it’s one of my favourites and it really does end the night on such a high.”