Benny and Björn discuss Kristina's journey to Helsinki on STV

Nyhetsmorgon featured rehearsals and preparations for the run of Kristina från Duvemåla in Helsinki this morning. You can view the programme on TV4 Play here – be aware, the programme takes a while to load up:

Translated from the Kristina website is the following explanation of the show’s contents and below is a link to watch the programme: Sweden’s TV4 sent Jesper Borjesson over to Finland to do a twenty-minute long feature about Kristina. But also to inform you that there is a Swedish national stage in Helsinki, which plays only in Swedish. But it is clear that there was a musical that attracted Sweden’s famous TV show host with a cameraman to Finland.

In the feature Assistant Director Maria Sid showed TV4 around the newly renovated theatre. She said: “It’s so easy to work with them, they are so creative. The process IS very creative. If we want to change anything it will be for the better. Kristina is constantly evolving. It is a beautiful whole, we are creating.

My problem is I always want to start crying in the stalls. When I work, I often get very involved and concerned… it’s so beautiful the clocks stop”, laughs Maria Sid.

Further on in the programme, Bjorn and Benny talk of what a privilege it is to re-establish an acquaintance with Kristina at the Swedish Theatre. ”It’s a great theatre! It has the kind of acoustics that you can perform and not require any amplification system if you wish. It’s pretty nice. We thought at that a space with 600 seats is too small. But it was Johan Storgård who did not give up [in attempts to bring Kristina to Finland]“, says Benny.

“Yes, and it was also one of the reasons why we became interested. They are extremely good at exporting to the east here. And we imagine that there is an audience to the east who might be more willing to embrace a story that is a bit heavier”, fills in Björn.  Swedish Theatre’s production company has the rights to Kristina in a number of countries in the East.

Benny Andersson describes Broadway as “one big jukebox.” He doubts that it is possible to go to New York with such a heavy show as Kristina, in a sense, is. He argues that the drive to the east is probably the right move to make.

Emigration is constantly happening/evolving. Finnish and Swedish men and women can reflect on Kristina and Karl Oskar’s life and empathise with those who move here.

For it was just the same for them. That way, I think this story never loses topicality, says Bjorn.

They note that it was over twenty years ago they began working on the story of over 2000 pages.

“It’s such a great story. It was the only reason we did this – it was such a fanstacally strong story,” says Benny. – Probably the strongest story in Swedish history perhaps, fills Bjorn in.

Jesper Borjesson also interviews Maria Ylipää, Robert Noack and Oskar shows excerpts from the rehearsal on stage. And Björn and Benny must sign the ABBA dolls as one of theatre’s restaurateurs suddenly holds out. Lucky she was strolling away with the dolls in the back pocket.

The duo revealed that they are always a little nervous about the premiere and end the interview by stating:  - “One thing that is nice is - that with this ensemble there is no-one to worry about. Not anybody anywhere. It’s like a hot knife through butter. The whole gang is fanstastic”, says Benny.

Related link:

• Nyhetsmorgon
• Kristina.fi

In the article, Benny also comments that neither he nor Björn could ever have imagined the success that ABBA has attained.

The interviewer also asks if there are any more unreleased tracks that will see the light of day. The response: “No, thank god.”

Thanks to Kaarin G for the news of the article.

Related link:

• HS.fi – Uutta Abbaa ei ole luvassa, vakuuttaa Benny Andersson

Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm

In yesterday’s Dagens Nyheter newspaper there is a story outlining the fact that the Royal Swedish Opera will start staging musicals, after a fashion.

They haven’t done that before, partly because there are so many other theatres in Stockholm that take care of that repertoire. This is in marked contrast to the Gothenburg opera house, which stages musicals from time to time.

The head of the Royal Swedish Opera, Birgitta Svendén, says the following about what kind of musical might be staged at the opera and who the writers might be:

“I’m prepared to go on bended knee for Benny Andersson to write a musical exclusively for us. I tell him every time I meet him.”

The Visitors - ABBA's last studio album

Wonderful news! ABBA’s last studio album The Visitors is to receive the ‘Deluxe Edition’ CD treatment. As with previous releases in the Deluxe Edition series, this version of ABBA’s final album offers a DVD of archive material along with CD bonus tracks.

Notably, it includes (what sounds like it could be a musical journey through the evolution of Like An Angel Passing Through My Room) a demo medley called From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel, the first previously unreleased ABBA recordings since 1994!

From the official ABBA site:

The Deluxe Edition of The Visitors, ABBA’s eighth and final studio album, will be released on April 23, 2012. Originally released in 1981, the album features single hits such as One Of Us, Head Over Heels and When All Is Said And Done, along with Slipping Through My Fingers, which is highlighted in one of the more poignant moments in the Mamma Mia!musical.

Like the previous Deluxe Editions of ABBA’s albums, The Visitors will feature several bonus selections along with a DVD of rare and previously unreleased material from the archives.

For ABBA fans, the most sensational inclusion in the package will be the previously unreleased track, ‘From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel (demos)’. This is the first time since the Thank You For The Music box set in 1994 that ABBA have opened the doors to the tape vaults to release previously unheard music from the group’s heyday.

The Visitors – Deluxe Edition (Tracklist):

CD: 1. The Visitors 2. Head Over Heels 3. When All Is Said And Done 4. Soldiers 5. I Let The Music Speak 6. One Of Us 7. Two For The Price Of One 8. Slipping Through My Fingers 9. Like An Angel Passing Through My Room

Bonus Tracks: 10. Should I Laugh Or Cry 11. I Am The City 12. You Owe Me One 13. Cassandra 14. Under Attack 15. The Day Before You Came

Extra Bonus Track: 16. From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel (demos)

DVD: 1. Two For The Price Of One (Dick Cavett Meets ABBA) 2. Slipping Through My Fingers (Dick Cavett Meets ABBA) 3. When All Is Said And Done (Original Promo Clip) 4. ABBA In London, November 1982 (The Late Late Breakfast Show, BBC) 5. ABBA In Stockholm, November 1982 (Nöjesmaskinen, SVT) 6. The Visitors TV commercial I (UK) 7. The Visitors TV commercial II (Australia) 8. The Singles – The First Ten Years TV commercial I (UK) 9. The Singles – The First Ten Years TV commercial II (Australia) 10. International Sleeve Gallery

Demo medley 'From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel' is coming to 'The Visitors'

Related link:

• ABBA Official Site – The Visitors Deluxe Edition

Björn appeared on BBC's The Story of Musicals in January 2012

Björn talks about CHESS and Mamma Mia! in the BBC series ‘The Story of Musicals’ currently airing.

The series traces the evolution of musicals from their early beginnings right up to the present day. Episode 2 features many of the 1980s blockbusters like Les Misèrables, Cats and Phantom of the Opera and also features a segment on CHESS which includes interviews with Björn, Sir Tim Rice and Elaine Paige.

The CHESS story both in the West End and on Broadway is covered briefly and not much new is discussed – apart from one of the reasons cited for its lack of longevity being the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Björn jokes that he was “pissed off” when that happened!

Tim once again talks about the cerebral nature of the plot and the fact that it is in many respects a ‘grown up’ story that takes some following especially when “three or four voices” are all singing different lines. He suggests that it could have benefited from having subtitles.

Elaine Paige also suggests that the subject matter itself was probably enough to put some people off.

In Episode 3, the so called “jukebox musicals” were examined and Mamma Mia! is discussed in some detail – especially the decision to go ahead and open the show on Broadway directly in the wake of the 9/11 events in New York.

Benny Anderssons Orkester TV Special (Part 2 of 2)

 Related links:

• Benny Anderssons Orkester on SVT Play (Part 2)
• Benny Anderssons Orkester on SVT Play (Part 1)

Stills taken from the SVT Benny Anderssons Orkester TV special (Part 1 of 2)

Related link:

• SVT Play – Benny Anderssons Orkester
• Screenshots on Facebook

Benny commenting on Anita Lindblom's hit recording of Sånt är livet

The first segment that features Benny references the song Sånt är livet which was a Swedish version of the 1961 American recording You Can Have Her by Roy Hamilton. The song was written by Bill Cook and the Swedish lyrics by Stig Anderson under the name Stig Grossner. The song was in the Norwegian charts for 22 weeks in 1962 and a number one for seven weeks.

The Swedish recording by Anita Lindbolm was made with the Sven-Olof Walldoff Orchestra. Sven-Olof went on to conduct the orchestra during ABBA’s historic Eurovision Song Contest win in Brighton in 1974. Sadly, he died on 7 June last year.

Benny’s other contribution to the programme about 1962 was in a short piece about chess player Bobby Fischer in which he plays a segment of Pity The Child from the musical CHESS on the piano. The part of ‘The American’ in CHESS was of course touted by Sir Tim Rice as being loosely based on Fischer.

Benny plays 'Pity The Child' from CHESS

Related links:

• SVT Player – ‘Året var 1962′ (available until 31 January) – Benny appears at approximately 10m 50s and 44m 45s.