Kristina från Duvemåla
Encyclopedia
Kristina från Duvemåla is a Swedish
musical written by former ABBA
members Björn Ulvaeus
(lyrics) and Benny Andersson
(music), based on a series of four novels
by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg
detailing a family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century: The Emigrants
, Unto a Good Land
, The Settlers
, and The Last Letter Home
.
in Malmö
, Sweden, on October 7, 1995 and received a rapturous welcome. The audience gave it a 10-minute standing ovation, while the critics unanimously praised it. Martin Nyström of Dagens Nyheter
wrote that Andersson and Ulvaeus "created a great Swedish musical that thematically touches on the great questions of our time" and compared Andersson's musicality with that of Schubert; while Svenska Dagbladet
s Carl-Gunnar Åhlén concluded that Björn Ulvaeus "succeeded in presenting the drama without getting bogged down, despite its almost Wagnerian length". A few years later, however, Dagens Nyheter
reviewer Marcus Boldemann wrote that "Kristina från Duvemåla is not an A-class musical work".
Subsequently, the musical was staged at Gothenburg Opera
and then premiered at the Stockholm
's Cirkus
that was specially renovated for it. This production won four 1998 Guldmasken
Theatre Awards (Swedish equivalent of Tony Award
). Counting all three runs, which were almost continuous, interrupted only by summer vacations and hiatuses due to the production's physical moving, Kristina från Duvemåla ran for nearly four years (more than 650 performances in total), making it the second longest running musical in Swedish history. In 2001, a touring concert staging was presented featuring most of the original performers recreating their previous roles. All three original Swedish productions were directed by Lars Rudolfsson with set design by Tony Award
-winner Robin Wagner
and musical direction by Anders Eljas.
The Original Cast triple CD set was released in 1996 and peaked at No.2 on the Swedish album chart, remaining on it for a total of 74 weeks and winning 1996 Swedish Grammis
Award as the Best Album. For a number of years, a song from the musical "Guldet blev till sand" (The gold turned into sand) performed by Peter Jöback
held the distinction of having spent the longest amount of time on the national Swedish radio chart Svensktoppen
.
By mid-2000s, the show has been translated into English by Björn Ulvaeus
and the famed Les Misérables
English lyricist Herbert Kretzmer
. English translations of individual songs have been presented at various concert performances throughout the last two or three years, mainly by Helen Sjöholm
or Swedish musical theatre stalwart Tommy Körberg
, always in association with Benny Andersson or Björn Ulvaeus.
as an opening event of the Plymouth Music Series
1996-1997 season in Orchestra Hall
; and next day in Chisago Lakes High School
in Lindstrom, Minnesota
– the area where much of the events in Moberg's books took place and where the statue of the books' two main characters stand on the Main Street of the town.
The American premiere received a glowing review from Minneapolis Star and Tribune : "I have seen the future of the music theater, and its name is Kristina...Engaging, emotionally charged – and at times haunting – piece of work capable of enchanting US viewers even when performed in a cut-down, concert version and in a tongue foreign to the audience"; while Helen Sjöholm
who performed the role of Kristina was described as "extraordinary".
Time magazine later wrote that "the show has Swedes, Americans, Indians; a sacrificial whore and the death of a child; and – in case you think it sounds too solemn for your tastes – a bilingual fart joke... and it's one of the most ambitious swatches of musical theater (39 songs!) since Gershwin's 1935 "Porgy and Bess," with one of the most serious, lyrically seductive scores since Rodgers and Hammerstein were creating their midcentury, midcult epics".
In March 2006, a workshop was held in New York and featured Sara Chase as Kristina, Kevin Odekirk as Robert and Alice Ripley as Ulrika
,
the latter performing the song "You Have To Be There" from the musical in her and Emily Skinner
2006 show at The Town Hall
in New York and later releasing this live recording on Raw At Town Hall 2-CD set.
At the time, there had been talk of a fall 2007 opening at The Broadway Theatre
, but those plans never materialized partly due to a protracted legal battle over the use of the original book written for the musical.
The English-language premiere of the musical, in a concert version under the name "Kristina: A Concert Event", took place at Carnegie Hall
on September 23 and 24, 2009 with Helen Sjöholm
as Kristina, Russell Watson
as Karl Oskar, Louise Pitre
as Ulrika and Kevin Odekirk as Robert.
The performances received mixed reviews, from Time commenting that "some of the most rapturous melodies ever heard in Carnegie Hall poured out of that grand old barn last night" to Variety concluding that "Moberg's series adds up to some 1,800 pages, and many in the restless Carnegie Hall audience may have felt they were sitting through all of them...U.S. audiences are likely to find Kristina's epic tale less than gripping". Talkin' Broadway critic Matthew Murray admitted: "It’s a musical you don’t just want to listen to: During the better portions of its score - of which there are many - you feel you have to...Andersson’s work is so big, so thoroughly conceived, and so varied in style, tempo, and color that it often feels more like a symphony than a musical. Of course, making it one would mean jettisoning the specific story treatment and lyrics, losses most shows couldn’t weather. But its music is so good that Kristina could be even more powerful as a result".
The Carnegie Hall concert recordings were released on a 2-CD set by Decca Records
on 12 April 2010.
premiered the song "You Have to Be There" in its English language version, at Thank You for the Music, a special event celebrating the music of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus on September 13, 2009. The song is featured on her debut album, Anthems
, produced by Brian May
.
The UK premiere of the musical, also in a concert version, took place at the Royal Albert Hall
on 14 April 2010.
Similarly to the US, it received a mixed critical response. "The inspiration for both score and lyrics feels more like a retread of the worst excesses of Les Misérables
(a fact amplified here by sharing the English lyricist of that show, Herbert Kretzmer
) and Frank Wildhorn
, with the occasional Lloyd Webber
rock riff thrown in for good measure", wrote The Stage
, while The Times
concluded that "the piece displayed moments of musical power. But it will need major restructuring if it is to work on the theatrical stage... if it showed gleams of promise, this concert also emphasised that Kristina still has a long road to travel before any of us is truly moved to say thank you for the music".
Contrary to these opinions, chief classical music and opera critic for the Independent Edward Seckerson
wrote a highly sympathetic review of the performance, calling Benny Andersson "a composer/melodist of startling distinction". He suggested that "this one-off concert performance...presented only its bare bones, a series of musical snapshots from a much larger whole...So dramatically sketchy, musically sumptuous. But Andersson's gorgeous folk-sourced melodies (like a Swedish Grieg) spirited us forward from one accordian-flecked knees-up and effusive ballad to the next...If ever a piece sung a nation's pride, this is it."
Replacement performers included Frida Bergh (Kristina), Joakim Jennefors (Karl Oskar), Niklas Andersson (Robert), Lisa Gustafsson (Kristina) and Christer Nerfont (Robert).
A young girl, Kristina, sits on her swing and dreams about her beau Karl Oskar. He is on his way to see her, and she pictures how he makes his way through the familiar surroundings ("Duvemåla Pasture"). When Karl Oskar arrives he tells her that he has inherited his father's farm, and can now make Kristina his wife. The two are wed and begin a life together, but times are hard as they keep getting bad harvest years. Kristina worries that they won't be able to support their growing family, and suggests to her husband that they don't have intercourse, in order to prevent another pregnancy. Karl Oskar talks her out of it, saying that it would be a betrayal of his lust and love for her ("My Lust for You").
Karl Oskar's brother, Robert, is on his way to begin working as a farm hand on a nearby farm. He stops by a stream and wishes he was as free as the water ("Out Towards a Sea").
Kristina is pregnant again, and both she and Karl Oskar worry that they won't be able to feed their little ones during winter. There is a drought, and the harvest is bad. In a fit of rage Karl Oskar tells God that since he took their hay last year, he might as well take the rest. Shortly thereafter lightning strikes the barn and what little hay they had goes up in flames. Kristina, who is very religious, tells her husband that he got what he wished for ("Bad Harvest"). Robert returns home, having been beaten by his master. He refuses to go back, instead he wants his share of the inheritance. He plans to leave Sweden and travel to North America. Karl Oskar confesses that he has been considering the same thing. Kristina is horrified. Karl Oskar and Robert try to convince her that she will love life in America, but she is too afraid. She prays to God that he will not force her to go out on the sea and risk the lives of her children ("No").
Meanwhile Kristina's uncle Danjel is having a gathering in his house. Danjel believes that God has chosen him to lead the people away from the wrong teachings of the church, and he has gathered a group of outcasts to celebrate communion ("Little Group"). However the gathering is disrupted by the provost
and the local authorities, who scatter the group and threaten Danjel. One of the guests is Ulrika of Västergöhl, a former prostitute who is now on the straight and narrow. She is furious over the hypocrisy of the provost; one of his men used to be her customer. She vows that her daughter Elin will never have to suffer because her mother was a whore ("Never").
Kristina, and Karl Oskar's parents, try to convince him that it is foolish to move. They would never be able to return and would never get to see family and friends again. They wouldn't speak the language and would end up completely isolated. But when Kristina makes christening porridge for the new baby, their starving oldest daughter (Anna) eats it all and dies as a result. Realising that the poverty in Sweden is just as dangerous as anything on the sea, Kristina agrees to move ("Come To Me Everyone"). They visit the provost and write down their reasons for emigrating in the church book. The provost tries to convince them to stay by telling them of all the horrors waiting in America, and by saying that God will wipe America off the face of the earth within fifty years. The emigrants don't care however, and begin their journey ("We Open Every Gate"). Karl Oskar, Kristina, their children and Robert have gained some companions on their journey. Danjel and his family are moving to escape the religious persecution. Ulrika and her daughter is moving with them, and so is Arvid, a friend of Robert's.
The ship turns out to be smaller than they had thought it would be. There is no room for Karl Oskar in the family area and he must bunk with the bachelors. For the first time in their marriage, Kristina and Karl Oskar are separated ("Farmers At Sea"). One day Kristina discovers lice on her body. She is horrified, since she believes lice to be a sign of poor hygiene, and she has never had them before in her life. She blames Ulrika, who does not have a louse on her. The two have a heated argument while an old woman, Fina-Kajsa, tries to calm them by telling the story of how lice came to be ("Lice"). One night in the middle of a storm Karl Oskar is woken up by his oldest son, Johan, who tells him that Ma is bleeding. Kristina, pregnant with her fifth child, has fallen ill to scurvy. The captain does what he can to help her, and Karl Oskar sits by her side, waking through the longest night of his life ("Stay"). When morning comes Kristina is alive, but Danjel's wife is not ("Burial at Sea").
On Midsummer's Eve land is finally spotted. The emigrants set foot on American soil for the first time. The sight of all the New Yorkers out for a Sunday walk overwhelms them, as does the foreign language ("A Sunday in Battery Park"). Kristina sits and rests in Battery Park and longs for when she can finally have a place to call home again ("Home"). The group travel by train and then by steamboat, amazed at how wide America is ("From New York to Stillwater"). They arrive in Stillwater one rainy night and are taken in by the Baptist priest Henry Jackson. The women are amazed by how he handles household chores, and begin to understand that women are more equal to men in this new country. The immigrants struggle with the language barrier as they try to communicate with Reverend Jackson ("To Think That Men Like Him Can Exist").
Finally the immigrants become settlers, as they begin to build their homes. Kristina opens the chest with their belongings and gets a feeling of home ("Camphor and Lavender"). Robert is not content with living at his brother's new farm though. He tells his friend Arvid of his plans to go on the California trail and look for gold. Karl Oskar is highly skeptical, but his brother is firmly set on leaving ("the Dream of Gold"). Kristina gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and as she holds him in her arms she tells him about the land where she was born, and of her astrakan apple tree which is still carrying fruit ("My Astrakan").
Act II
A few years have passed by. The settlers have begun to build a new life and a new civilisation by Chisago Lake. They gather and celebrate their choice to move to this New World ("the Superiors"). But Kristina doesn't cheer with them. She lies awake at night, tormented by her longing for Sweden, and begs God to let her return. Karl Oskar wakes up, and tells her that if God tries to move her back he will reach out his hand and keep her by his side. He shows her the boot that belonged to Anna and reminds her of why they left. He also tells her that he plans to write her father and ask for some seeds from her astrakan tree back home. Hopefully a new tree planted at their new settlement (named New Duvemåla after the farm she grew up on) will help her feel more at home ("Bright Evenings in Springtime").
When Christmas comes Karl Oskar has bought Kristina a new stove, called the Queen of the Prairie. Their friends gather at New Duvemåla to celebrate Christmas, and they all marvel at the new stove ("the Queen of the Prairie"). The fun gathering is disrupted when Karl Oskar gets into a fight with Nöjd, a fur hunter. Nöjd tells Karl Oskar that he doesn't own the land he farms, and informs him of the crimes committed against the Indians. Karl Oskar defends himself by stating his plight back home in Sweden, and by telling Nöjd just how hard he has worked to turn the wild grass on his property into a home and a farm ("Wild Grass").
One day Robert returns. Arvid is not with him, but he has a lot of money. Karl Oskar takes the money to the bank in Stillwater, and while he is away Robert and Kristina talk. Robert tells her how he has come to accept his fate and bow to it ("I Have Resigned At Last"). Kristina finds a watch which belonged to Arvid and demands to know where Arvid is. Robert tells her the story of how they went searching for gold, but ended up lost in the desert. Arvid drank poisoned water and died, the watch slipping from his hand ("the Gold Turned Into Sand"). A furious Karl Oskar returns, informing Kristina that what Robert brought home was Wild Cat money. Wild Cat money is fake money, and Karl Oskar believes that his brother knew all along. He doesn't see that Robert has been tricked, and sick of his brother's lies and exaggerations he hits him in the face ("Wild Cat Money"). Robert leaves and walks out to the woods where he finds a lonely stream. He brought home the yellow fever along with the money, and by the stream he succumbs to it and dies ("Out Towards a Sea (Reprise)").
Back in Sweden Ulrika was a whore and no respectable man would look at her twice. Now she is a coveted maiden, and has several suitors ("Won't You Marry Me?"). She accepts a marriage proposal from Reverend Jackson and tells Kristina she is converting to Baptism. The two women marvel at how they have gone from enemies to the best of friends, and Kristina wishes her friend many years of blissful marriage ("A Miracle of the Lord"). She comes to watch her friend being baptised ("Down to the Sacred Wave").
Kristina suffers a miscarriage which is a hard blow on her already fragile health. Ulrika takes her to the doctor, and then brings Karl Oskar the bad news. After all the children Kristina has birthed, and after her miscarriage, her body is broken and can't handle much more. The next childbirth will mean her death ("Miscarriage"). A devastated Kristina is alone under the stars. She thinks of all the bad things that have happened to her, having to leave her home, losing her child and now losing her husband as well. It is as if God didn't exist. She desperately begs to God, not knowing what she will do if he isn't real ("You Must Exist").
As time passes, Kristina begins to feel better ("Harvest Feast"). She longs for her husband and one night makes up her mind. She tries to convince Karl Oskar that it is God's meaning that husband and wife should be together, and that if God wants her to live she will live, but if He wants her to die He will take her regardless. Karl Oskar resists her, until she repeats the words he said to her so many years ago ("Here You Have Me Again").
During the civil war, the state of Minnesota gets a civil war of its own, an Indian uprising. Chaos, murder and violence begins to spread as Kristina finds out that she is once again with child. She tells Karl Oskar and wants him not to worry, but he is very concerned. She turns to God and asks for help to comfort him, since she is so weak and tired herself ("Red Iron/Help Me Comfort"). The settlers begin to flee their homes as the uprising spreads ("Where Do We Belong?"). Karl Oskar sends the children away, but cannot leave himself. Kristina has miscarried again, and lies dying in her bed. He sits vigil by her side and picks the first apple off her astrakan tree. On the third day she once again recognises him, and takes the apple in her hand. She tells him not to worry, and that she will be waiting for him at Duvemåla Pasture, like she once used to do. Weakly she takes a bite, but dies before she can swallow it. Karl Oskar holds her in his arms and weeps ("In Good Keeping").
Act One
Act Two
Benny Andersson
, Björn Ulvaeus
, Ki-Chi-Saga and Universal Music presented "Kristina: A Concert Event"
Music by Benny Andersson
Lyrics by Björn Ulvaeus
and Herbert Kretzmer
Act One
Act Two
Note: In the Playbill
for the concert the song "Summer Rose" was listed as a reprise at the end of Act Two but was not performed at either of the two concerts.
The cast featured:
American Theatre Orchestra
Music director and conductor: Paul Gemignani
Director: Lars Rudolfsson
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
musical written by former ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
members Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
(lyrics) and Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
(music), based on a series of four novels
The Emigrants (novels)
The Emigrants is the collective name of a four novel suite by the Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg:*The Emigrants *Unto a Good Land *The Settlers *The Last Letter Home...
by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg
Vilhelm Moberg
Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg was a Swedish author and historian, most commonly associated with his four novels known as The Emigrants Series.-Early life:...
detailing a family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century: The Emigrants
The Emigrants (Swedish novel)
The Emigrants is a novel by Vilhelm Moberg from 1949. It is the first part of the The Emigrants suite.- Plot :The story takes place in the 1840s up to 1850. The first part of the novel describes the hardships faced by rural families in Sweden. Karl Oskar Nilsson and his wife, Kristina, own a farm...
, Unto a Good Land
Unto a Good Land
Unto a Good Land is a novel by Vilhelm Moberg from 1952. It is the second part of the The Emigrants suite.-Plot:This novel describes the journey of the Emigrants from New York City, New York to Taylors Falls, Minnesota. They settle at the lake Ki-Chi-Saga in what is today Chisago County, and...
, The Settlers
The Settlers (novel)
The Settlers is a novel by Vilhelm Moberg from 1956. It is the third and the longest part of the The Emigrants suite.- Plot :The book tells about the group's new life in America where most of them now have started to feel at home...
, and The Last Letter Home
The Last Letter Home
The Last Letter Home is a novel by Vilhelm Moberg from 1959. It is the fourth and final part of the The Emigrants suite, the shortest book of the four, with a faster pace.-Plot:...
.
History
The show premiered at the Malmö Opera and Music TheatreMalmö Opera and Music Theatre
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house....
in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, Sweden, on October 7, 1995 and received a rapturous welcome. The audience gave it a 10-minute standing ovation, while the critics unanimously praised it. Martin Nyström of Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
wrote that Andersson and Ulvaeus "created a great Swedish musical that thematically touches on the great questions of our time" and compared Andersson's musicality with that of Schubert; while Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. The first issue appeared on 18 December 1884. Svenska Dagbladet is published in Stockholm and provides coverage of national and international news as well as local coverage of the Greater Stockholm region...
s Carl-Gunnar Åhlén concluded that Björn Ulvaeus "succeeded in presenting the drama without getting bogged down, despite its almost Wagnerian length". A few years later, however, Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
reviewer Marcus Boldemann wrote that "Kristina från Duvemåla is not an A-class musical work".
Subsequently, the musical was staged at Gothenburg Opera
Gothenburg Opera
The Gothenburg Opera, , is an opera house in Gothenburg, Sweden. In marketing, the name is often spelled as "GöteborgsOperan", which however is not grammatically correct.- History :...
and then premiered at the Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
's Cirkus
Cirkus (Stockholm)
Cirkus is an arena in Djurgården, Stockholm, that holds 1,650 people. It was built in 1892 and originally used as a circus , but is today mostly used for concerts and musical shows.-External links:*...
that was specially renovated for it. This production won four 1998 Guldmasken
Guldmasken
Guldmasken , or Guldmasken Awards, is the Swedish equivalent of the Tony Awards, established in 1987.The theatre award is annually handed out for private theatre productions in Swedish theatres.-Categories:...
Theatre Awards (Swedish equivalent of Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
). Counting all three runs, which were almost continuous, interrupted only by summer vacations and hiatuses due to the production's physical moving, Kristina från Duvemåla ran for nearly four years (more than 650 performances in total), making it the second longest running musical in Swedish history. In 2001, a touring concert staging was presented featuring most of the original performers recreating their previous roles. All three original Swedish productions were directed by Lars Rudolfsson with set design by Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winner Robin Wagner
Robin Wagner (designer)
Robin Wagner is an American scenic designer.Born Robin Samuel Anton Wagner in San Francisco, he attended art school and started his career in theatres in that city with designs for Don Pasquale, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Tea and Sympathy, and Waiting for Godot, among others...
and musical direction by Anders Eljas.
The Original Cast triple CD set was released in 1996 and peaked at No.2 on the Swedish album chart, remaining on it for a total of 74 weeks and winning 1996 Swedish Grammis
Grammis
The Grammis Awards are the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm.The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled....
Award as the Best Album. For a number of years, a song from the musical "Guldet blev till sand" (The gold turned into sand) performed by Peter Jöback
Peter Jöback
Peter Arne Jöback is a Swedish singer and musical artist, and is regarded as being one of Sweden's best male vocalists .- 1997–2000 :...
held the distinction of having spent the longest amount of time on the national Swedish radio chart Svensktoppen
Svensktoppen
Svensktoppen is a record chart at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. Svensktoppen airs once a week...
.
By mid-2000s, the show has been translated into English by Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and the famed Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
English lyricist Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer OBE is a South African-born English journalist and lyric writer. He is perhaps best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of Les Misérables.-Journalist:...
. English translations of individual songs have been presented at various concert performances throughout the last two or three years, mainly by Helen Sjöholm
Helen Sjöholm
Marie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå...
or Swedish musical theatre stalwart Tommy Körberg
Tommy Körberg
Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. In 1969, he won Swedish Recording Industry Award Grammis in a category Best Debut Performance. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role in the Benny Andersson–Björn Ulvaeus–Tim Rice musical Chess...
, always in association with Benny Andersson or Björn Ulvaeus.
In the US
On October 12, 1996, the 90-minute (of nearly four-hour score) concert version with the original cast was presented, in Swedish, in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
as an opening event of the Plymouth Music Series
VocalEssence
VocalEssence is a non-profit choral music organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each year the organization presents a series of concerts featuring the 130-voice VocalEssence Chorus and its core group, a 32-voice professional mixed chorus called the Ensemble Singers, along with guest...
1996-1997 season in Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall (Minneapolis)
Orchestra Hall, located at Nicollet Mall and 12th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is home to the Minnesota Orchestra. The Hall was built in 1974 and opened for the 1974 concert season...
; and next day in Chisago Lakes High School
Chisago Lakes High School
Chisago Lakes High School, located in Lindstrom, Minnesota, serves more than 1,100 students in grades 9-12. The school has earned North Central Accreditation. It provides an average curriculum for its students, containing a typical smattering of electives and all of the state required courses...
in Lindstrom, Minnesota
Lindstrom, Minnesota
Lindström was settled predominantly by Swedish immigrants and their families. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,015 people, 1,225 households, and 855 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,332.1 people per square mile . There were 1,322 housing units at an average...
– the area where much of the events in Moberg's books took place and where the statue of the books' two main characters stand on the Main Street of the town.
The American premiere received a glowing review from Minneapolis Star and Tribune : "I have seen the future of the music theater, and its name is Kristina...Engaging, emotionally charged – and at times haunting – piece of work capable of enchanting US viewers even when performed in a cut-down, concert version and in a tongue foreign to the audience"; while Helen Sjöholm
Helen Sjöholm
Marie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå...
who performed the role of Kristina was described as "extraordinary".
Time magazine later wrote that "the show has Swedes, Americans, Indians; a sacrificial whore and the death of a child; and – in case you think it sounds too solemn for your tastes – a bilingual fart joke... and it's one of the most ambitious swatches of musical theater (39 songs!) since Gershwin's 1935 "Porgy and Bess," with one of the most serious, lyrically seductive scores since Rodgers and Hammerstein were creating their midcentury, midcult epics".
In March 2006, a workshop was held in New York and featured Sara Chase as Kristina, Kevin Odekirk as Robert and Alice Ripley as Ulrika
,
the latter performing the song "You Have To Be There" from the musical in her and Emily Skinner
Emily Skinner
Emily Skinner is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has performed in such Broadway shows as Side Show, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight and, currently, in Billy Elliot...
2006 show at The Town Hall
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:...
in New York and later releasing this live recording on Raw At Town Hall 2-CD set.
At the time, there had been talk of a fall 2007 opening at The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
, but those plans never materialized partly due to a protracted legal battle over the use of the original book written for the musical.
The English-language premiere of the musical, in a concert version under the name "Kristina: A Concert Event", took place at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on September 23 and 24, 2009 with Helen Sjöholm
Helen Sjöholm
Marie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå...
as Kristina, Russell Watson
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...
as Karl Oskar, Louise Pitre
Louise Pitre
Louise Pitre is an actress in musical theatre on Broadway and in Canada. She is best known for her role as Donna Sheridan in the ABBA-themed musical Mamma Mia!, which earned her a 2002 Tony Award nomination.-Biography:...
as Ulrika and Kevin Odekirk as Robert.
The performances received mixed reviews, from Time commenting that "some of the most rapturous melodies ever heard in Carnegie Hall poured out of that grand old barn last night" to Variety concluding that "Moberg's series adds up to some 1,800 pages, and many in the restless Carnegie Hall audience may have felt they were sitting through all of them...U.S. audiences are likely to find Kristina's epic tale less than gripping". Talkin' Broadway critic Matthew Murray admitted: "It’s a musical you don’t just want to listen to: During the better portions of its score - of which there are many - you feel you have to...Andersson’s work is so big, so thoroughly conceived, and so varied in style, tempo, and color that it often feels more like a symphony than a musical. Of course, making it one would mean jettisoning the specific story treatment and lyrics, losses most shows couldn’t weather. But its music is so good that Kristina could be even more powerful as a result".
The Carnegie Hall concert recordings were released on a 2-CD set by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
on 12 April 2010.
In the UK
Kerry EllisKerry Ellis
Kerry Jane Ellis is an English stage actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music...
premiered the song "You Have to Be There" in its English language version, at Thank You for the Music, a special event celebrating the music of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus on September 13, 2009. The song is featured on her debut album, Anthems
Anthems (Kerry Ellis album)
-Notes:* Tracks that were specifically written for this album.* Tracks that were originally songs by Queen.* Tracks 4, 5 and 10 were originally featured on Ellis' teaser album, Wicked in Rock....
, produced by Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
.
The UK premiere of the musical, also in a concert version, took place at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
on 14 April 2010.
Similarly to the US, it received a mixed critical response. "The inspiration for both score and lyrics feels more like a retread of the worst excesses of Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
(a fact amplified here by sharing the English lyricist of that show, Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer OBE is a South African-born English journalist and lyric writer. He is perhaps best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of Les Misérables.-Journalist:...
) and Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is most known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International Hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" for Whitney Houston.-Early years:Wildhorn was born in...
, with the occasional Lloyd Webber
Lloyd Webber
The name Lloyd Webber, composite of a middle and family name, may refer to:*William Lloyd Webber , English organist and composer*Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber , son of William, English composer of musical theatre...
rock riff thrown in for good measure", wrote The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
, while The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
concluded that "the piece displayed moments of musical power. But it will need major restructuring if it is to work on the theatrical stage... if it showed gleams of promise, this concert also emphasised that Kristina still has a long road to travel before any of us is truly moved to say thank you for the music".
Contrary to these opinions, chief classical music and opera critic for the Independent Edward Seckerson
Edward Seckerson
Edward Seckerson is a British music journalist and radio presenter specialising. He is currently the Chief Opera critic for The Independent. He wrote and presented the long-running BBC Radio 3 series Stage & Screen in which he interviewed many of the most prominent writers and stars of musical...
wrote a highly sympathetic review of the performance, calling Benny Andersson "a composer/melodist of startling distinction". He suggested that "this one-off concert performance...presented only its bare bones, a series of musical snapshots from a much larger whole...So dramatically sketchy, musically sumptuous. But Andersson's gorgeous folk-sourced melodies (like a Swedish Grieg) spirited us forward from one accordian-flecked knees-up and effusive ballad to the next...If ever a piece sung a nation's pride, this is it."
Further plans
The scaled-down Swedish-language stage production in Helsinki, Finland, is scheduled for 2012.Original cast
- Kristina - Helen SjöholmHelen SjöholmMarie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå...
- Karl Oskar - Anders EkborgAnders EkborgAnders Ekborg is a Swedish actor and singer who has performed the roles of Karl Oskar in Kristina från Duvemåla and Freddie Trumper in Chess, two musicals that were written by former ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus...
- Robert - Peter JöbackPeter JöbackPeter Arne Jöback is a Swedish singer and musical artist, and is regarded as being one of Sweden's best male vocalists .- 1997–2000 :...
- Ulrika - Åsa Bergh
- Fina-Kajsa - Marianne Mörck
Replacement performers included Frida Bergh (Kristina), Joakim Jennefors (Karl Oskar), Niklas Andersson (Robert), Lisa Gustafsson (Kristina) and Christer Nerfont (Robert).
Helsinki cast 2012
- Kristina - Maria Ylipää
- Karl Oskar - Robert Noack
- Robert - Oskar NilssonOskar NilssonOskar P. Nilsson was a Swedish vaulter who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.He was part of the Swedish team, which won the bronze medal in the team vaulting. In the individual vaulting competition he finished sixteenth.-External links:*...
- Ulrika - Birthe Wingren
- Fina-Kajsa - Sue Lemström
Plot
Act IA young girl, Kristina, sits on her swing and dreams about her beau Karl Oskar. He is on his way to see her, and she pictures how he makes his way through the familiar surroundings ("Duvemåla Pasture"). When Karl Oskar arrives he tells her that he has inherited his father's farm, and can now make Kristina his wife. The two are wed and begin a life together, but times are hard as they keep getting bad harvest years. Kristina worries that they won't be able to support their growing family, and suggests to her husband that they don't have intercourse, in order to prevent another pregnancy. Karl Oskar talks her out of it, saying that it would be a betrayal of his lust and love for her ("My Lust for You").
Karl Oskar's brother, Robert, is on his way to begin working as a farm hand on a nearby farm. He stops by a stream and wishes he was as free as the water ("Out Towards a Sea").
Kristina is pregnant again, and both she and Karl Oskar worry that they won't be able to feed their little ones during winter. There is a drought, and the harvest is bad. In a fit of rage Karl Oskar tells God that since he took their hay last year, he might as well take the rest. Shortly thereafter lightning strikes the barn and what little hay they had goes up in flames. Kristina, who is very religious, tells her husband that he got what he wished for ("Bad Harvest"). Robert returns home, having been beaten by his master. He refuses to go back, instead he wants his share of the inheritance. He plans to leave Sweden and travel to North America. Karl Oskar confesses that he has been considering the same thing. Kristina is horrified. Karl Oskar and Robert try to convince her that she will love life in America, but she is too afraid. She prays to God that he will not force her to go out on the sea and risk the lives of her children ("No").
Meanwhile Kristina's uncle Danjel is having a gathering in his house. Danjel believes that God has chosen him to lead the people away from the wrong teachings of the church, and he has gathered a group of outcasts to celebrate communion ("Little Group"). However the gathering is disrupted by the provost
Provost (civil)
A provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
and the local authorities, who scatter the group and threaten Danjel. One of the guests is Ulrika of Västergöhl, a former prostitute who is now on the straight and narrow. She is furious over the hypocrisy of the provost; one of his men used to be her customer. She vows that her daughter Elin will never have to suffer because her mother was a whore ("Never").
Kristina, and Karl Oskar's parents, try to convince him that it is foolish to move. They would never be able to return and would never get to see family and friends again. They wouldn't speak the language and would end up completely isolated. But when Kristina makes christening porridge for the new baby, their starving oldest daughter (Anna) eats it all and dies as a result. Realising that the poverty in Sweden is just as dangerous as anything on the sea, Kristina agrees to move ("Come To Me Everyone"). They visit the provost and write down their reasons for emigrating in the church book. The provost tries to convince them to stay by telling them of all the horrors waiting in America, and by saying that God will wipe America off the face of the earth within fifty years. The emigrants don't care however, and begin their journey ("We Open Every Gate"). Karl Oskar, Kristina, their children and Robert have gained some companions on their journey. Danjel and his family are moving to escape the religious persecution. Ulrika and her daughter is moving with them, and so is Arvid, a friend of Robert's.
The ship turns out to be smaller than they had thought it would be. There is no room for Karl Oskar in the family area and he must bunk with the bachelors. For the first time in their marriage, Kristina and Karl Oskar are separated ("Farmers At Sea"). One day Kristina discovers lice on her body. She is horrified, since she believes lice to be a sign of poor hygiene, and she has never had them before in her life. She blames Ulrika, who does not have a louse on her. The two have a heated argument while an old woman, Fina-Kajsa, tries to calm them by telling the story of how lice came to be ("Lice"). One night in the middle of a storm Karl Oskar is woken up by his oldest son, Johan, who tells him that Ma is bleeding. Kristina, pregnant with her fifth child, has fallen ill to scurvy. The captain does what he can to help her, and Karl Oskar sits by her side, waking through the longest night of his life ("Stay"). When morning comes Kristina is alive, but Danjel's wife is not ("Burial at Sea").
On Midsummer's Eve land is finally spotted. The emigrants set foot on American soil for the first time. The sight of all the New Yorkers out for a Sunday walk overwhelms them, as does the foreign language ("A Sunday in Battery Park"). Kristina sits and rests in Battery Park and longs for when she can finally have a place to call home again ("Home"). The group travel by train and then by steamboat, amazed at how wide America is ("From New York to Stillwater"). They arrive in Stillwater one rainy night and are taken in by the Baptist priest Henry Jackson. The women are amazed by how he handles household chores, and begin to understand that women are more equal to men in this new country. The immigrants struggle with the language barrier as they try to communicate with Reverend Jackson ("To Think That Men Like Him Can Exist").
Finally the immigrants become settlers, as they begin to build their homes. Kristina opens the chest with their belongings and gets a feeling of home ("Camphor and Lavender"). Robert is not content with living at his brother's new farm though. He tells his friend Arvid of his plans to go on the California trail and look for gold. Karl Oskar is highly skeptical, but his brother is firmly set on leaving ("the Dream of Gold"). Kristina gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and as she holds him in her arms she tells him about the land where she was born, and of her astrakan apple tree which is still carrying fruit ("My Astrakan").
Act II
A few years have passed by. The settlers have begun to build a new life and a new civilisation by Chisago Lake. They gather and celebrate their choice to move to this New World ("the Superiors"). But Kristina doesn't cheer with them. She lies awake at night, tormented by her longing for Sweden, and begs God to let her return. Karl Oskar wakes up, and tells her that if God tries to move her back he will reach out his hand and keep her by his side. He shows her the boot that belonged to Anna and reminds her of why they left. He also tells her that he plans to write her father and ask for some seeds from her astrakan tree back home. Hopefully a new tree planted at their new settlement (named New Duvemåla after the farm she grew up on) will help her feel more at home ("Bright Evenings in Springtime").
When Christmas comes Karl Oskar has bought Kristina a new stove, called the Queen of the Prairie. Their friends gather at New Duvemåla to celebrate Christmas, and they all marvel at the new stove ("the Queen of the Prairie"). The fun gathering is disrupted when Karl Oskar gets into a fight with Nöjd, a fur hunter. Nöjd tells Karl Oskar that he doesn't own the land he farms, and informs him of the crimes committed against the Indians. Karl Oskar defends himself by stating his plight back home in Sweden, and by telling Nöjd just how hard he has worked to turn the wild grass on his property into a home and a farm ("Wild Grass").
One day Robert returns. Arvid is not with him, but he has a lot of money. Karl Oskar takes the money to the bank in Stillwater, and while he is away Robert and Kristina talk. Robert tells her how he has come to accept his fate and bow to it ("I Have Resigned At Last"). Kristina finds a watch which belonged to Arvid and demands to know where Arvid is. Robert tells her the story of how they went searching for gold, but ended up lost in the desert. Arvid drank poisoned water and died, the watch slipping from his hand ("the Gold Turned Into Sand"). A furious Karl Oskar returns, informing Kristina that what Robert brought home was Wild Cat money. Wild Cat money is fake money, and Karl Oskar believes that his brother knew all along. He doesn't see that Robert has been tricked, and sick of his brother's lies and exaggerations he hits him in the face ("Wild Cat Money"). Robert leaves and walks out to the woods where he finds a lonely stream. He brought home the yellow fever along with the money, and by the stream he succumbs to it and dies ("Out Towards a Sea (Reprise)").
Back in Sweden Ulrika was a whore and no respectable man would look at her twice. Now she is a coveted maiden, and has several suitors ("Won't You Marry Me?"). She accepts a marriage proposal from Reverend Jackson and tells Kristina she is converting to Baptism. The two women marvel at how they have gone from enemies to the best of friends, and Kristina wishes her friend many years of blissful marriage ("A Miracle of the Lord"). She comes to watch her friend being baptised ("Down to the Sacred Wave").
Kristina suffers a miscarriage which is a hard blow on her already fragile health. Ulrika takes her to the doctor, and then brings Karl Oskar the bad news. After all the children Kristina has birthed, and after her miscarriage, her body is broken and can't handle much more. The next childbirth will mean her death ("Miscarriage"). A devastated Kristina is alone under the stars. She thinks of all the bad things that have happened to her, having to leave her home, losing her child and now losing her husband as well. It is as if God didn't exist. She desperately begs to God, not knowing what she will do if he isn't real ("You Must Exist").
As time passes, Kristina begins to feel better ("Harvest Feast"). She longs for her husband and one night makes up her mind. She tries to convince Karl Oskar that it is God's meaning that husband and wife should be together, and that if God wants her to live she will live, but if He wants her to die He will take her regardless. Karl Oskar resists her, until she repeats the words he said to her so many years ago ("Here You Have Me Again").
During the civil war, the state of Minnesota gets a civil war of its own, an Indian uprising. Chaos, murder and violence begins to spread as Kristina finds out that she is once again with child. She tells Karl Oskar and wants him not to worry, but he is very concerned. She turns to God and asks for help to comfort him, since she is so weak and tired herself ("Red Iron/Help Me Comfort"). The settlers begin to flee their homes as the uprising spreads ("Where Do We Belong?"). Karl Oskar sends the children away, but cannot leave himself. Kristina has miscarried again, and lies dying in her bed. He sits vigil by her side and picks the first apple off her astrakan tree. On the third day she once again recognises him, and takes the apple in her hand. She tells him not to worry, and that she will be waiting for him at Duvemåla Pasture, like she once used to do. Weakly she takes a bite, but dies before she can swallow it. Karl Oskar holds her in his arms and weeps ("In Good Keeping").
Music (1995 Original Cast Recording)
The song titles are the original Swedish ones. The titles in parenthesis are the titles directly translated into English.Act One
- "Prolog"
- "Duvemåla hage" (Duvemåla Pasture)
- "Min lust till dig" (My Lust For You)
- "Ut mot ett hav" (Out Towards A Sea)
- "Missväxt" (Bad Harvest)
- "Nej" (No)
- "Lilla skara" (Little Group)
- "Aldrig" (Never)
- "Kom till mig alla" (Come To Me, Everyone)
- "Vi öppnar alla grindar" (We Open All The Gates)
- "Bönder på havet" (Farmers At Sea)
- "Löss" (Lice)
- "Stanna" (Stay)
- "Begravning till sjöss" (Burial At Sea)
- "A Sunday in Battery Park"
- "Hemma" (Home)
- "Från New York till Stillwater" (From New York To Stillwater)
- "Tänk att män som han kan finnas" (To Think That Men Like Him Exist)
- "Kamfer och lavendel" (Camphor and Lavender)
- "Drömmen om guld" (The Dream of Gold)
- "Min astrakan" (My Astrakan)
Act Two
- "Överheten" (The Superiours)
- "Ljusa kvällar om våren" (Bright Evenings In Springtime)
- "Präriens Drottning" (The Queen of the Prairie)
- "Vildgräs" (Wild Grass)
- "Jag har förlikat mig till slut" (I Have Resigned At Last)
- "Guldet blev till sand" (The Gold Turned Into Sand)
- "Wild Cat Money"
- "Ut mot ett hav (repris)" (Out Towards A Sea (Reprise))
- "Vill du inte gifta dig med mig?" (Won't You Marry Me?)
- "Ett Herrans underverk" (A Miracle Of The Lord)
- "Down to the Sacred Wave"
- "Missfall" (Miscarriage)
- "Du måste finnas" (You Must Exist)
- "Skördefest" (Harvest Feast)
- "Här har du mig igen" (Here You Have Me Again)
- "Red Iron"/"Hjälp mig trösta" (Red Iron/Help Me Comfort)
- "Var hör vi hemma?" (Where Do We Belong?)
- "I gott bevar" (In Good Keeping)
Kristina: A Concert Event (2009 English language version)
On Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 8:00 and on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 8:00Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
, Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
, Ki-Chi-Saga and Universal Music presented "Kristina: A Concert Event"
Music by Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
Lyrics by Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer OBE is a South African-born English journalist and lyric writer. He is perhaps best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of Les Misérables.-Journalist:...
Act One
- Overture
- Path of Leaves and Needles
- Where You Go I Go With You
- Stone Kingdom
- Down to the Sea
- A Bad Harvest
- No!
- He's Our Pilot
- Never
- Golden Wheat Fields
- All Who Are Grieving
- We Open Up the Gateways
- Peasants at Sea
- Lice
- In The Dead of Darkness
- A Sunday in Battery Park
- Home
- American Man
- Dreams of Gold
- Summer Rose
Act Two
- Emperors and Kings
- Twilight Images Calling
- Queen of the Prairie
- Wild Grass
- Gold Can Turn To Sand
- Wildcat Money
- To The Sea
- Miracle of God
- Down to the Waterside
- Miscarriage
- You Have to Be There
- Here I Am Again
- With Child Again
- Rising from the Myth and Legend
- I'll Be Waiting There
Note: In the Playbill
Playbill
Playbill is a monthly U.S. magazine for theatregoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most Playbills are printed for particular shows to be distributed at the door...
for the concert the song "Summer Rose" was listed as a reprise at the end of Act Two but was not performed at either of the two concerts.
The cast featured:
- Kristina - Helen SjoholmHelen SjöholmMarie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå...
- Karl Oskar - Russell WatsonRussell WatsonRussell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...
- Ulrika - Louise PitreLouise PitreLouise Pitre is an actress in musical theatre on Broadway and in Canada. She is best known for her role as Donna Sheridan in the ABBA-themed musical Mamma Mia!, which earned her a 2002 Tony Award nomination.-Biography:...
- Robert - Kevin Odekirk
- Daniel - David Hess
- Brusander - Robert Ousley
- Arvid - Greg Stone
- Fina-Kajsa - Joy Hermalyn
- Jackson - Walter Charles
- Nojd - Raymond Jaramillo McLeod
- Ensemble - Derin Altay, Chris Bohannan, Jane Brockman, Walter Charles, Rebecca Eichenberger, Osborn Focht, Blythe Gruda, Liz Griffith, Joy Hermalyn, David Hess, Michael James Leslie, T. Doyle Leverett, Rob Lorey, Frank Mastrone, Raymond Jaramillo McLeod, Linda Mugleston, Jan Neuberger, Robert Ousley, Sal Sabella, Wayne Schroder, Greg Stone, Jessica Vosk, Kathy Voytko
- Understudies - For Kristina: Kathy Voytko; For Karl Oskar: David Hess
American Theatre Orchestra
Music director and conductor: Paul Gemignani
Director: Lars Rudolfsson