Benny Andersson's "Kristina" gearing up for NYC concert

With a 15-year civil suit resolved over rights to the book, the film "Mamma Mia!" in the can, and Herbert Kretzmer now free to move on from "Marguerite," Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulveus are focusing on tightening up their most ambitious work to date, "Kristina"--for a staged concert in New York. The piece is based on Sweden's most beloved quartet of novels written by novelist/historian, Wilhelm Moberg,

"The Emigrants", upon its translation to English, was hailed by the San Francisco Chorinicle as "A story of epic proportions by a master story teller." The Chicago Sunday Tribune declared the novel "A Masterpiece" and the Springfield Republican, "An essential panoramaof beauty joy and despair, while the New York Times stamped "The Emigrants" A story of poverty and heartbreak over which human faith has its will...filled with earthly humor, and the unpredictable flash of human malice".

More recently, Richard Corliss, writing in "Time" wrote,

"Kristina, available on a Swedish CD, is not only the first substantial piece that Andersson and Ulvaeus have written in their native language; it's the 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.

Kristina boasts dozens of gorgeous numbers: folk tunes, marches, love songs, rage-against-the-midwinter-night songs and, of course, anthems — Benny's done more of them than Francis Scott Key and Irving Berlin put together.
Don't wait for Kristina to come to Broadway or the leather-bar juke box.

Don't even wait for Kretzmer to translate it for the West End (besides, you can find an English-language libretto on the net). Buy the CD and dive into the musical rapture. Tunes with funny titles — Min Lust Till Dej, Ut Mot Ett Hav, Nej, Hemma, Min Astrakan, Gilden Blev Till Sand, Vildgras and the immortal I Gott Bevar (really!) — will be haunting you in no time."

Trevor Nunn was somewhat more restrained in his impression of "Kristina",

"It is by far the most accomplished piece of writing for the music theatre for a decade. I mean it is completely sensational!"

'Kristina' tells the story of a poverty-stricken Swedish family and their migration to American in the nineteenth century. The musical received a rapturous reception in Sweden, and was seen by over a million people, compared with 847,000 who saw the Swedish version of the Abba stars' international success 'Mamma Mia'.

With a full orchestra, choir and cast, it will be a chance for America to witness the music of Kristina without the huge risks involved in a theatrical run.
I imagine that gauging reaction to the concert will give Benny and Björn an opportunity to decide whether the theatrical or concert route is the right one to take for America..

(Credit: IcetheSite)


Sources in Sweden say a producer has signed in and a venue locked in and that specifics will be announced presumerably in the near future.

Updated On: 7/29/08 at 08:19 PM

Finally.

I'd love to hear this. "Du Måste Finnas / You Have To Be There" is a gorgeous song.

First, if you look for "Civil Sute", "Cortet of novuls", "San Francisco Examina" and
"Richard Korliss" you likely won't find those phrases, either.

Secund, have you heard the tripul See.Dee. set?

And, thirrd, did you no they're doing wunderful things theze days for the Kronically anul retentuve hoo self-medakate on the spelling erruhs of uhthez?

Updated On: 8/19/08 at 11:50 AM

I have waited years for Kristina to find her way to Broadway. I even read the 4 Vilhelm Moberg novels and wrote a synopsis.

Synopsis of Moberg's novels

Updated On: 8/19/08 at 06:51 PM

Yes.

I believe it was with Max Van Snydow (sp.) as Karl Oskar and that there was a sequel.

The "tweaking" for the Broadway stage is going to be diabolically difficult. The preview performances in Sweden lasted about four hours. Eventually they cut it to three. I've edited the 39 tracks down to 24 and could have probably kept in another three or four songs but since this piece is not sung-through, there's a great deal of dialogue that's essential to the narrative.

I think you could easily scuttle the part of Danjel's wife without losing much and the
onboard cat fight between Kristina and Ulrica could be worked.

The entire voyage from Battery Park to Stillwater seems a bit redundant since it is the rail equivalent of the sea crossing.

Whatever they've done to get it down to three hours must be stunning. Every review I've read has been in the stratosphere.

Like him or not, Trevor Nunn (who is in no way involved) was the genius behind "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby" which greatly influenced "Les Miserables". You can't blame him for passing up fat checks from ALW and trying to
breath life into a lot of shows that save for Really Useful's checkbook and Sir Andrew's clout, would never have seen the light of day.

At any rate, it seems that for the first time in 15 years legal entanglements, and no film or other stage projects to usurp their time, "Kristina" will make it to New York.

My guess is that B & B are not going to roll the dice and try to go up against "Billy Elliot" right out of the box. These guys are very shrewd businessmen. They're not very enamored of "Billy Elliot" but don't want to gamble that it becomes the megahit it has become on the West End. Nor would they want to go mano a mano against Michael Grandage and whatever rabbit he always seems to pull out of his hat.

It would be a very sad thing for Broadway if "Kristina" suffered the same fate as "Ragtime".

Had Garth Drabinsky waited a year he might have had a blockbuster rather than a brilliant also-ran.

Finally, about "Kristina" I can only add that the number of wonderful songs in the second act alone is astonishing.

"Kristina" is one of those rare shows where all the bells are rung and while it can be emotionally taxing, has more moments than I can remember that remind me why theater holds such an inescapable hold over me.

Updated On: 8/19/08 at 10:33 PM

The movies were "The Emigrants" and "The New Land."

"The Emigrants" was nominated for several Oscars.

Still enjoying the C.D's Jankl?

When a person such as yourself makes a statement like that, a person--an actor-- who sees many of the productions on the West End, it carries a lot more weight with me than someone whose scope is not as broad.

Your rave also attests to what I've heard on the CD's.

It is musically incomparable with songs that run the gamet of styles from Richard Rogers to Bach with here and their just a touch of ABBA.

The overture, which takes you by surprise right out of the gate had echoes of Sibelius in it. I cannot wait until audiences are jolted out of their seats with the complete surprise of "Vi Oppnar Alla Grindar".

One can make the case that little in "Kristina", taken out of context, is groundbreaking but I have never heard anything like the choral in "Vi Oppnar Alla Grindar".

Then, too, the likes of Benny's sweeping orchestral intro to "A Sunday in Battery Park" has not been heard since Richard Rogers wrote "Victory at Sea".

"Min Astrakan" ends Act One with a grandeur that would go down well at the Met Opera; "Skordefest" captures the prairies of Minnesota as if Aaron Copeland or Virgil Thompson composed the piece, and it would not have been surprising if hearing it for the first time, one thought Wagner or Dvorak had written "Var Hor Vi Hemma."

Finally, there are those fragile, shimmering strings that begin and end "I Gott Bevar" that is pure "Lohengrin".

It almost defies belief that the same men who wrote "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" have wrought this.

You are right: there has been nothing quite like it on Broadway in terms of scope, at least in my lifetime.

Updated On: 8/20/08 at 02:46 PM

Again, Trevor Nunn has nothing to do with the show.

As far as I'm concerned, though, he gets a lifetime pass for "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby".

Did you see it?