‘Kristina’ in Gothenburg – Benny and Björn attend first rehearsals

It is 18 years since Kristina från Duvemåla was originally staged at Göteborgs Operan, but in just over 9 weeks time, on 25 October 2014, the theatre will premiere a new production of the musical and yesterday, ‘Kristina‘s’ creators Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Lars Rudolfsson, were in Gothenburg to oversee the show’s first rehearsals.

Björn, Lars and Benny in Gothenburg.   Photo: Camilla Simonsson
Björn, Lars and Benny in Gothenburg. Photo: Camilla Simonsson

Featuring the same quartet of principles as the successful 2012 production at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki, (Maria Ylipää as Kristina, Robert Noack as Karl Oskar, Birthe Wingren as Ulrika and Oskar Nilsson as Robert), the Gothenburg cast will be accompanied by the Göteborg Opera Chorus and Orchestra. The musical arrangements are by Anders Eljas.

Benny and Björn are both delighted to see Kristina return to the Swedish stage:

“It is great to be back at Göteborgs Operan. They have great facilities and there is a good feeling here,” said Benny.

Björn agreed: “It’s fun to work with Kristina again and I think it is fantastic that the musical has lived so long,” he said.

The 1990’s version of Kristina remains the most successful production of its kind in Göteborgs Operan’s 20 year history, seen by over a million people. However, the new staging is considerably different from its predecessor.

Benny explained: “The major difference is that both the ensemble and the orchestra are half the size. We originally did this to make room for the show at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki, but it is up and running and works well in the format, so we decided to continue with it. But we will do the best we can, just as we did back then, for this to be as good as it possibly can be,” he said.

Kristina will be performed a total of 99 times in Gothenburg between October and May 2015 (it does not play every night). After a summer break, the production is scheduled to transfer to Stockholm’s Cirkus theatre next September.

Watch a short video (in Swedish) of Benny, Björn and the cast of Kristina at yesterday’s rehearsal.

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4 Comments

  • Hi,
    What is the ” Swedish National Theatre in Helsinki”? There is the National Theatre in Helsinki and there is the Swedish Teatre in Helsinki, but having Swedish National is new to me, it was over 200 years when Finland belonged do Sweden, so we are talking history?

  • Great news, but it was not the Swedish National Theatre in Helsinki. It’s just the Swedish Theatre.

  • Thanks Arto and Kari – the article has now been corrected.

  • Are there plans for an English version?

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