Julkonsert med Johnny Logan! [swedish]

(Sorry you guys who don't read Swedish, but there's no way I'd be able to review this Christmas Concert in English ... so this will be a Swedish blog entry. Hope you understand! Thanks!)


Dags igen för den årliga Julkonserten med Tonica-orkestern, under ledning av Peter Sjunnesson, som i år gästades av Carolina Jönsson, systrarna Jenny och Emma Freij samt ingen mindre än Johnny Logan!!!
Mycket trevligt!

I traditionsenlig anda började konserten med Tomtarnas julparad, till vilken hela orkestern bar tomteluvor! Mycket jul-igt!
Därefter sjöng de tre tjejerna Julen är här, vilket är en av mina personliga favoriter, och sedan avlöste jullåtarna varandra i rasande hastighet. Det blev t ex ett julmedley med Alice Tegnér-sånger, där publiken inbjöds till allsång i Pepparkaksgubbarna, men också lite allvarligare tongågar som First of May och Decembernatt.
Därefter dags för solisten: Johnny Logan!! En helt fantastisk röst, och mycket populär hos publiken - man såg t o m två irländska flaggor i publikhavet!! :) Han började med att sjunga sin hit-låt Hold me now, vilket var helt fantastiskt, och fortsatte med att sjunga två låtar från sin nya skiva, "Irish Connection" som kommer att släppas i Sverige snart!
Efter ytterligare några sånger, bl a en fin nytolkning av Tommy Körbergs Stad i Ljus (Sprid ditt ljus) med de fyra solisterna var det dags för paus.

Efter pausen körde orkestern igång med Sleigh Ride för att få alla i stämning igen och ganska snart kom Johnny Logan tillbaka med What's Another Year, en annan publikfavorit, utan tvekan! Det bjöds också på ett "American Christmas Medley" med olika amerikanska julsånger, innan det blev dags för ytterligare en allsång, den här gång den traditionella Dagen är kommen.
Konserten avslutades med att dirigent Peter Sjunnesson sjöng O Helga Natt, vilket verkligen är en stämningsful avslutning på en underbar konsert!
Ett extranummer bjöds det också på, förstås, vilket i år blev When You Wish Upon A Star.

En helt fantastiskt julkonsert även i år, som åtminstone har fått en del av julkänslan att infinna sig hos mig (har inte så lätt för att komma i julstämning)!!

Julen är här
Och lyser frid på jorden
Glädjen är stor
I ett barns klara ögon bor den

Julen är här
I våra mörka länder
Kom låt oss ta varandras händer
När julen är här

Musical Show Stoppers - 23 March

Featuring:
Alex Sharpe
Mary Carewe
Peter Corry
Conductor: Gareth Hudson

Yes, yesterday it was time for the Musical Show Stoppers Concert, with these wonderful West End performers!
Unfortunately they didn't even have a programme, only some little leaflet with information on the performers ... so this cannot be a complete review, as I have no way of remembering all the songs they performed. I will however try to say something about the highlights of the show!

This time it was performed with a different orchestra than I'm used to, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, they were very good indeed, with a lot of instruments I don't even know the name of! :)
The three performers were all absolutely fantastic, they started with some "Musical Show Stoppers" (suitable, huh?) song ... I never really figured out the song nor the musical, but it was a great introduction to the evening!
Peter Corry moved on to singing "Hello Young Lovers" from The King And I, which really was a bit unfortunate for me ... Philip Quast - my number one hero when it comes to musicals :) - sings that song on his album "Live At The Donmar", they had re-arranged it now, modernized it, and it really wasn't near as good as on Philip's album. (I guess you simply can't love everything, right?)
After that, Peter and Alex Sharpe performed "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon, which was absolutely wonderful!! They did such an amazing job, and it's fantastic to see real actors, because they actually act out the song! This was really a concert - and the performers had very little space on stage to move around - but they truly did an act!! I think Peter Corry surprised everyone - including Alex :) - when he ended the song by kissing her!
I had even more memories of Philip Quast, when Peter Corry later on sang "Oh What A Circus" from Evita! I really, really wanted to see it again in London ... oh well ...
Mary Carewe did a marvellous job as well, mostly I remember her "As If We Never Say Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard and also songs like "Somewhere" (West Side Story) and "Broadway Baby".
Peter Corry did a song I had never heard before, called "The Impossible Dream" from The Man From La Mancha, which I really enjoyed ... wonder if that's avaliable on cd somewhere ....
The first half of the show ended with an amazing medley from Anything Goes, with all three performers ... fantastic!
During the second half we saw more amazing work, Alex Sharpe was astonishing in "Whistle Down the Wind" and "Take That Look Off Your Face" (from Tell Me On A Sunday)! Peter Corry performed "If I Can't Love Her" from Beauty And the Beast, the lovely duet "I Know Him So Well" from Chess, fantastic by both Alex Sharpe and Mary Carewe!!
Mary Carewe also sang "Defining Gravity" from Wicked, and it was terrific!! I have heard people saying that's a great song, and I can totally agree now! Makes me want to see Wicked when I'm in London next time too ... don't think it's on my "Musicals-must-see" list ... rather on my "Musicals-want-to-see" list! :)
Peter Corry and Mary Carewe did "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom of the Opera, which was really fantastic ... and in all fairness, Peter Corry ended that song with a kiss as well!
Toward the end of the second half came what I had been waiting for all night: Les Misérables. Mary Carewe did an introduction, saying it was "the most popular musical" (Guess that's true in the U.K. anyway!) and since both Alex Sharpe and Peter Corry had been performing in it, they were doing 'their' songs ....
Alex Sharpe in "On My Own" .... what can I say?!? From now on, she and Sabrina Aloueche are my TOP favoruites!! Alex had impressed me a lot throughout the entire evening, and this just placed her in the "sooo-near-perfect"-category! She was amazing!!!
Moving on to Peter Corry who were doing "Stars" ... and I was nervous!! "Stars" is my song from Les Misérables, I have a pretty strong view of what I like and don't like regarding how it is performed, and it is not pleasing to hear your favourite song performed badly ... I was on the edge of my seat when the orchestra started playing ... and then I nearly fell out of my seat!! He was SOOOOO GREAT!!! I think I pretty much just sat staring in awe .... I have to admit that nobody will ever come close to Philip Quast's Javert to me, and Michael McCarthy certainly isn't far behind, but this guy is definately my number three!! He did such an amazing job with it, and you could really tell he was making an effort! I can't say he completely transformed into Javert, but with regards to this being a concert, without staging or props or costume or makeup, he did a hell of a good job of it!!! I'm SO impressed!

After a great finale the performers were called in for an extra number ... but it was so rehearsed, I think you could really say that was the finale ... "Fame" from the musical with the same name!! It was simply fantastic, the performers gave it their all, and the audience were clapping along like crazy! Me being picky when it comes to things like this, have a bit of a point to make! I really would have loved it if either one of the performers or the conductor (probably the conductor!) would have indicated to the audience to clap during the instrumental parts and the refrain ... and then let the performers be heard properly when they sang individually ... but I guess I am being picky.
I can't help it though, I think that it is important to the people on stage to communicate with the audience in order for it to be as great a show as possible. I actually do have a great example of this from when I saw Guys & Dolls last week! During a solo song by Tommy Körberg, a saxophone player actually came out on stage to do a solo in the middle of the song! It was very effective since you normally don't see the orchestra. When he was done with his solo, Tommy was supposed to finish his song, but before doing that, he communicated with the audience, by looks and body-language, to applaude the saxophone-player in the middle of the song - so that he would be given credit for what he had just done.
I just love that sort of subte communication between on-and off stage! :)

Well, to conclude this "review" (I really wanted a programme in order to write a proper review ...), I have to say it was an amazing evening!! I know I have left out songs, and probably forgotten quite a few as well, but I can't go on writing here forever, now can I?! ;)
All three performers were very impressive, all in their own way actually! Mary Carewe had a very special style to her, and she fitted certain parts and songs amazingly well! Peter Corry had a lovely charisma, and just the fact that he pulled off "Stars" the way he did, gives him top marks in my book! :) Alex Sharpe was probably my favourite, when it comes to her singing and her voice, because you could clearly see a true talent you don't often come across in her!

Hope you enjoyed the review! :)


Jessica's Websites

Good News Here And There ...

Actually I'm more or less stairing in awe at my life, which seems to definately take a turn for the better now. I can hardly believe it, after the way things have been over the last month, so I'm almost sitting around waiting for a disaster to occur!

I've had to turn to some 'alternate solutions' where Uni is concerned. I can't say that I'm happy about that, not at all, but I still can't feel bad about it, because the way things were, I think this was my only choice. And after having done that, Uni actually does work out!! I have fallen behind a lot, so I have a great deal to catch up on, but the daily routine of Uni is working now - and nobody is more greatful for that than me!

Also, another thing. It might not sound like a big deal to most of you, but considering my problems and the way I have been feeling these past five weeks or so, it is really huge for me. Since I had to cancel on a party I was invited to due to bad train trafic, I decided to invite two girls from Uni to my place just for a light meal and a chat. This is something I really don't do, unless it's people I really know, so this felt like a big step! I really like these girls, and today I found out that both of them are happy to come! :) We're working out the details now, and I'm so beyond happy about this actually happening!! I'm very nervous too, as this kind of socialising is rather new to me, and I really want it to work out - but I really think it will! :)

Music From Vienna

Yesterday I attended a concert, where an orchestra were playing classical Vienna-music, these wonderful waltzes and marches by Strauss and all the other great composers.
Unfortunately I was late coming there, so I never managed to get a programme (stupid me), which is why this entry won't be a detailed review. Also, I don't have a great knowledge of classical music, although I had a wonderful time yesterday!!
Just sitting in the audience and listen to a large orchestra playing live is an amazing experience and I really enjoyed myself. This is the third time I've listened to this particular orchestra, the Tonica Orchestra, and they are very good. Yesterday's solist was Elisabeth Assarsson who was sooo talented. There were a lot of operetta music, and even though I can't list that kind of songs and music among my favourites, I think it was really good yesterday!
I also enjoyed conductor Torsten Östergren, he both conducted and played the violin himself - amazing! He and Elisabeth Assarsson did presentations for all the music they played, which was fantastic for someone like me, who doesn't know too much about this!

Just before the break, there was an announcement that Elisabeth Assarsson had just turned 60 years old, so all the orchestra members as well as the entire audience stood up and sang the Swedish version of 'Happy Birthday' to her! :) I think she was quite surprised by that! :)
Also, in the second half of the concert, during one of Johann Strauss' most famous waltzes, four youngsters, probably in their early teens, appeared and waltzed along the isles back and forth! I just LOVE those little extras that the audience are given!! (it was the same during the Musical Highlights-concert - same orchestra! - when they sang songs from 'Kristina From Duvemåla' and had young children up to do a chorus!)
The audience went pretty crazy at the end - and I like that! :) Lots of aplauding and clapping the entire time, demanding extra numbers! And we got them too ... I think five or six (or even seven!??) extra songs - Amazing! Unfortunately, I had a somewhat unpatient gentleman sitting next to me, he started getting a little grumpy and complained about 'never getting dinner' ... which I felt was rude to the orchestra and the solist ...
The very ending was fantastic, the orchestra giving their all in the Radetzky March, while the audienced clapped along! Wonderful!!

Apologies for this not being a proper review, but you'll have to settle for this!
Needless to say, I had an amazing afternoon!!


Jessica's Websites

Julkonsert! [Swedish]

I am terribly sorry but I will make this review on the Christmas concert I attended today in Swedish only! The reason is that most of the Christmas songs, the traditions or whatever you want to call them, feel very Swedish ... and to be frank, I don't have the time nor the energy to try to come up with translations of everything - or try to find all the song titles in English if they are avaliable.
I do hope that the readers that don't read Swedish will forgive me for this - should there be a great interest for a review in English as well - please post a comment here or send me an email, and I'll see what I can do!

---

Okej, det var det. Över till Julkonserten ... som var helt fantastisk!
Tonica-orkestern, som jag bara har hört en gång tidigare (de spelade även på Musical Highlights-konserten) var mycket mycket duktiga!! (Konferenciern nämnde vid något tillfälle att han tyckte det var fantastiskt att en "amatörorkester" - med hans ord! - kunde låta så bra ... jag får ju vara ärlig och säga att jag aldrig hade kunnat benämna den som "amatörorkester", de är helt enorma!! Vid två tillfällen spelade de helt utan dirigent, vilket också imponerade på mig!! Hur kan man samordna en hel orkester så att alla spelar rätt sak vid rätt tillfälle utan att ha en dirigent?!

Under inledningssången - "Tomtarnas vaktparad", helt perfekt! - bar alla i orkestern tomteluva! *ler stort* Mycket "juligt"!

Solister var systrarna Jenny och Emma Freij och Anders Mårtensson och dirigenten hette Peter Sjunnesson. Alla, i vanlig ordning, oerhört duktiga.
Jag var väldigt imponerad utav solisterna, som gjorde en enastående insats och verkligen skapade julkänsla!!
Avslutande "O Helga Natt" var nog den absoluta höjdpunkten tror jag ... enorm insats av alla solister!!

Konserten inkluderade också allsång från publiken! :) :) Vi fick sjunga "Nu tändas tusen juleljus", "Stilla Natt" samt vers fyra och fem av "Dagen är kommen" och jag klämde naturligtvis i för kung och fosterland!


Publiken var mycket bra, det klappades med i inledningssången, och efter "O Helga Natt" då det var dags att avrunda, var publiken helt klart med på noterna och applåderade in solisterna samt dirigenten fyra gånger! Sånt gillar jag! :)
Vi fick också höra ett extranummer, nämligen "Julen är här", och även då var det "tomteluva på" för orkestern! :) En kille hade t o m tomteskägg - very cool!!

Det räckte dock inte med extranummer för denna härliga publik som bara fortsatte att applådera och applådera ... så solisterna och orkestern fick köra "Julen är här" ytterligare en gång - innan vi ansåg oss fyllda av julstämning och kunde gå hem!

Helt klart en underbar eftermiddag!!

Julen är här
Och lyser fred på jorden
Glädjen är stor
I ett barns klara ögon bor den

Julen är här
I våra mörka länder
Kom, låt oss ta varandras händer
När julen är här!



Jessica's Websites

The Best Of West End!

Löfbergs Lila Arena, Karlstad 11 November 2006

I was lucky enough to be able to see this wonderful show, filled with fantastical musical numbers and great performers! A wonderful evening indeed!!

First I will write a little about the performers we saw, then I will list the songs (and performers), but for obvious reasons I won't be able to go into detail about each and every song. Instead I will try to focus on certain highlights ... and naturally, there will be detailed descriptions of the Les Misérables songs! *lol*

Cast:

Scott Davies: Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He's done - among a lot of others - Mr Snow in Carousel, The Painter in Lulu, Don Ricardo in Verdi's Ernani, The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and he recently played Borsa in Rigoletto (as well as being understudy to The Duke of Mantua). In TV he's appeared in "Taggart", "Take the High Road" and "Crimewatch UK" (and much much more!).

Jody Crosier: He has a degree from Guilford School of Acting. He's played Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods, Marius in Les Misérables, Chris in Miss Saigon, Martin in Martin Guerre, Stephen in Snakes and Ladders and a lot more.

He performed in the Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert (in The Choir) and also in the Les Misérables concert performed for the Queen of England, Tony Blair and Jaques Chirac.

He's also appeared in Showstopper, War and Peace, Oklahoma, The Pirates of Penzance and much more!

Jacinta Whyte: Her career started at the age of 12 when she had the lead role in Annie in Victoria Palace Theatre and Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.

She's performed as Linda in Blood Brothers, Eponine in Les Misérables, Ellen in Miss Saigon and she has also had parts in Grease, Anne of Green Gables, Cinderella, West Side Story and as "Young Prostitue" in Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert.

She's been performing in "Friday Night is Music Night" for BBC Radio, and she won the 1989 Montreaux Golden Rose. She's worked for RTE Radio & Television where she had her on TV-show, "Jacinta".

She has performed with numerous orchestras and among her film credits are My Left Foot, The Commintments, The Lilac Bus and A Green Journey.

Lydia Griffith: Comes from Wrexham in Northern Wales. She has just finished playing Carrie in Carousel and the female journalist in Pravda, both in Chichester Festival Theatre.

She has done Greta in the UK Tour of The Snow Queen and she has played both Cosette and Eponine in Les Misérables (Palace Theatre). She's also appeared in Napoleon, A Christmas Carol and Cabaret.

She's on the Big Talet Show (ITV) in 1997 and she's a regular guest at "Friday Night is Music Night" on BBC Radio 2.

Swedish Guest Star
Anders Ekborg: A famous face in Swedish musical theatre and movies. He's played Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Karl-Oskar in Kristina Från Duvemåla and Freddie Trumper in Chess as well as the lead in Jekyll & Hyde and a Swedish production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Josef och hans bröder), and he played Che in the Swedish production of Evita.

He's recently done some television work, in "Snapphanar" and "Den som viskar", and he's just released his first solo album called "Äkta Vara".

Song List:

Act 1:

Company (Company) - Solists

You're Nothing Without Me (City of Angels) - Jody Crosier, Scott Davies

Maybe This Time (Cabaret) - Jacinta Whyte

Something's Coming (West Side Story) - Jody Crosier

Thoroughly Modern Millie (Thoroughly Modern Millie) - Lydia Griffiths

Starlight Express (Starlight Express) - Scott Davies

The Circle of Life (The Lion King) - Jacinta Whyte, Jody Crosier

This is the Moment (Jekyll & Hyde) - Anders Ekborg (sung in Swedish)

All I Ask Of You (Phantom of the Opera) - Anders Ekborg, Lydia Griffiths

Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera) - Scott Davies

Blow Gabriel Blow (Anything Goes) - Jacinta Whyte

Anthem (Chess) - Anders Ekborg

One Day More (Les Misérables) - Solists

Act 2:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) - Solists

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Mary Poppins) - Lydia Griffiths, Jody Croiser

Bui Doi (Miss Saigon) - Scott Davies

If I Loved You - Lydia Griffiths

What Kind of Fool Am I? (Stop the World - I Want to Get Off) - Jody Crosier

You & I (Chess) - Anders Ekborg, Jacinta Whyte

Heaven on their Minds (Jesus Christ Superstar) - Anders Ekborg (sung in Swedish)

I Could Have Danced All Night (My Fair Lady) - Lydia Griffiths

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (Les Misérables) - Jody Crosier

Stars (Les Misérables) - Scott Davies

The Prayer (Les Misérables) - Anders Ekborg

Macavity (Cats) - Jacinta Whyte

Mamma Mia! Medley - Everybody

I really hope nobody will be offended by the fact that I'm only choosing some songs to discuss further, but I simply don't have the time or the energy to write about every single one ... this, of course, doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the songs that aren't mentioned here ...

The first song I'd like to mention is "This Is the Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde, sung wonderfully by Anders Ekborg! It was great to hear this particular song, because I heard Christer Nerfont sing it in the Musical Highlights!-concert (October 8th!)! I can't say that I prefer one of them over the other, becuase they were both amazing!

Anders Ekborg and Lydia Griffiths singing "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom of the Opera was also a fantastic experience - their voices sound really wonderful togheter! Continuing on the Phantom-theme, Scott Davies went on to sing "Music of the Night". In my personal opinion, this was by far the best he did during the show, it was absolutely fantastic!! I bet he made an excellent Phantom *wished I could have seen him*!!

Jacinta Whyte sang "Blow Gabriel Blow" from Anything Goes, I'd never heard it before, and it was great!! Miss Whyte is so energetic with so much personality, you just couldn't help smiling the entire time!

Anders Ekborg's interpretation of "Anthem" was also something very special!! I hadn't heard him perform this particular song before, and he did a great job - he has a really powerful voice!!

Act One finished with "One Day More" from Les Misérables, to my great delight! :-) The songs has seven parts and they [almost] pulled it off with four people on stage - which impressed me a lot!! Scott Thomas sang Valjean and Enjolras, Jody Crosier sang Marius and Javert, Lydia Griffiths was Cosette and Jacinta Whyte sang Eponine and the Thénardiers-parts - and I loved the way she completely changed her accent when chaning from one part to another! Amazing! The choir parts were divided, which worked perfectly, but in the end, where all parts sing more or less togehter, they skipped the Javert- and Thénardiers-parts to make it work. Still, a very memorable Act One Finale!!

Act Two started with "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which I'd never heard before, but it was certainly the perfect song to get everybody back into the musical spirit!

Lydia Griffiths and Jody Crosier sang "Supercalifrailisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins, which was filled with joy and energy - fantastic!!

The lovely duet "You & I" from Chess was sung by Anders Ekborg and Jacinta Whyte and was so beautiful!!

Then came a few Les Misérables songs! Yay! Jody Crosier sang "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" and did a very good job! He's not one of my very favourites, but he really did a wonderful job with this very emotional song! Scott Davies sang "Stars", and I was a bit nervous before. "Stars" is my favourite song from my favourite musical, and I have very clear opinions on what it takes to make it great, and what performers have that ability (yes, I'm horrible, I know!) ... Mr. Davies did a quite acceptable job, without a doubt, although I can't say that he reached the levels my favourite performers are on ... this, of course, just being my humble opinion! I felt sorry for him though, because very early on in the song, he completely forgot the lyrics!! He went through most of the first half of the song just mumbling, and that must have been pretty tough - I mean, it can happen to anyone, but it's pretty horrible when it does ... Since I'm totally into this song, I noticed this right away, but for others in the audience not quite so obsessed with Les Misérables, it mightn't have been obvious at all! Anders Ekborg sang "The Prayer" ("Bring Him Home"). He's a very talented singer indeed, but to me, this is one of the most complicated and difficult songs I know of, it's enormously difficult to perform this song really well - and I don't know of many performers that can!! Still, a good job from Mr. Ekborg!

Jacinta Whyte sang "Macavity" from Cats, and this was a really nice surprise for me! This is one of the fe4w songs from Cats I've never really liked much, but Miss Whyte totally changed that! She made this song into something totally fantastic!!

The show ended with a huge medley from Mamma Mia! which was very powerful! The audience wasn't that great, unfortunately, because with a bit more activity and cooperation from them, the medely could have been even better!

The performers came back for one extra number, they did "We Are The Champions" from We Will Rock You, but once again, I think it could have been an even more powerful ending with a better audience.

It was still a most wonderful evening, and I think that seeing Jacinta Whyte was a highlight for me! Of course I have seen her in Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert but she was soooo much better than I ever could have expected!

It was also great to see Anders Ekborg live again, I hadn't seen him since I saw him as Freddie in Chess in January 2003!!

Naturally, the other performers also were absolutely fantastic!

A very memorable evening indeed!!

Jessica's Websites

Saving Money!

First of all, let me tell you that I am in a better mood today. The "stuff" or "issues" I've been writing about here earlier are still there, it's not the kind of thing that "if you ignore it, maybe it'll go away!", but at least I feel that it isn't paralyzing me the way it did during the weekend, and I have been able to function fairly well today!

I have come to realize something though! I seriously need to start saving a lot of money now!!! There are SO much I want to do at the moment, and none of it exactly comes cheap so to speak, so I definately need to start watching what I do with my money!
I was really inspired after seeing Les Misérables and Evita this summer and also after the Musical Highlights!-concert I went to last Sunday ... and I definately want to spend as much money as I can on seeing musicals or concerts! It is such a wonderful experience and I really feel like I'm getting energy from doing it. The only problem is that there are SO much avaliable, and naturally I want to see it all!

First of all, I'll be seeing the Best of West End-show in Karlstad when I go to visit my families in November! The day after that, I'm off to Oslo to see Chess - International Tour, with Michael McCarthy ... I can't wait!!!
Then, in the beginning of December, I'm going to Gothenburg to see Cats, I'm totally looking forward to that!! The day after Cats, there's this wonderful Christmas concert here, and I think that it would be lovely to go and see that!
Looking toward 2007 .... in February there is Follies - In Concert in London, with Philip Quast and Maria Friedman ... I want to see it!! And if I go to London, I have to see Les Misérables and Evita ... and possibly some other musical?
Later on, in the end of March, there's a Musical Show Stoppers concert here, starring among others Peter Corry from London!! A definately must!
Also, during the spring, Guys and Dolls will run not long from here, with a great Swedish cast, so it would be great if I could see that as well!
There are also several wonderful spring concerts, I could go to ...

Okay ... I'll stop rambling now, but needless to say, I can't spend a lot of money on trivial stuff like food and clothes!!

Tomorrow, I'll try to go and visit work! I haven't been there for a while now - I did have something else on my mind with this presentation thing!! - so it would be great to go tomorrow! I also need to get started on studies again! Well, after having taken a "break" this weekend, I did start today, but I haven't gotten that much done today, so I need to get into it tomorrow!! I have four assignments that need to be done by Wednesday, so I'd better get on that. Well, it's really three, but I missed handing one in last time, so I really need to finish all four now, so I'll be back on track again after Wednesday!

Since it's not that late, I think I'll try to get at least an hour of studying done tonight!
I made a Les Miz-background image earlier, and I feel quite happy with it actually ... that doesn't happen very often! :-)
Hope you like it too!

Jessica's Websites

"Musical Highlights!"

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the song of angry men
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drum
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Okay, the above was to inform you all that today Les Misérables celebrates its 21st birthday in West End - in case anybody didn't already know ...

The rest of this blog entry will function as a review on the "Musical Highlights" concert I attended today, hopefully it will satisfy your curiosity! Also, the concert was sung almost entirely in Swedish, and I'm not sure of some titles etc in English, so a bit of an apology to all those of you who don't understand Swedish.

The Tonica Orchestra was playing (wonderful!!!), conductor was Mats Janhagen (quite famous in Sweden, he was involved in the Phantom of the Opera production in Stockholm around 1994) and solists were Christer and Cecile Nerfont, two rather famous Swedish musical performers, who also happens to be married!
And the theme, of course : Musicals!!

The concert started out with an instrumental medley from Phantom of the Opera, very powerfully conducted and a terrific start of the concert. All the famous songs were in it of course: "Phantom of the Opera", "All I Ask Of You", "Music of the Night" and many more! Amazing!

The show continued with three songs from the musical Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in which Cecile and Christer played the leads for the Värmlands-opera this season. Cecile sang "Bring On The Men" (she did a marvellous job, really amazing!), Christer sang "This Is The Moment" (also wonderful) and together they finished with "Dangerous Game" (Christer was totally amazing as Mr Hyde, he did something with his voice and sounded totally scary!!)!

Then Christer and Cecile had a bit of a break, and the orchestra played an instrumental medley from West Side Story - once again with all the famous songs ... I loved it!

Christer and Cecile returned for Kristina Från Duvemåla, one of my very favourites!! First Cecile sang "Hemma" and they even had six or seven kids there to do the chorus ... they were even dressed up like Karl-Oskar and Kristina's children, in old and worn-out clothes! Really cool! Cecile did a wonderful job, I'm surprised she wasn't considered as understudy for Helen Sjöholm when the musical ran here. The Orchestra played the Battery Park song and than Christer sang "Guldet blev till Sand" ... what can I say ... Oh my God!! He was TOTALLY amazing ... and I have to admit I prefer his verson of the song over Peter Jöback's ... ! He also told sort of a funny thing - although I guess it's not funny if you really think about it. Christer was Peter's understudy in Kristina and when Peter left for London, Christer took over the part (Robert). Christer told us that he was repeatedly asked: "Wasn't he the guy that played Peter Jöback?!" At first we all laughed, but it must have been pretty horrible to hear something like that ... like Christer couldn't play the part, he had to play the guy that had previously played the part ... pretty horrible if you look at it that way!

Okay, the first part of the concert finished off with Christer and Cecile doing "There's No Business like Show Business" ... a wonderful finish with a lot of smiles and a lot of energy!!

After the break, the orchestra did an instrumental medley from My Fair Lady, with songs like "Wouldn't It Be Lovely?", "I Could Have Danced All Night", "On The Street Where You Live" and many more!!

Then time for my favourite part: Les Misérables!! The conductor spoke a bit about it being a French musical and whatnot, but he didn't mention that it is in fact Les Misérables' birthday today ... which I felt was a bit rude ... Still, I guess I'll have to forgive them for not being as obsessed about Les Misérables as I am ... right?!

They did play a lot from Les Misérables though ... to my liking of course. The instrumental songs played only by the orchestra were "At The End of The Day", "Master of the House" and"On My Own". It was SO funny to see the conductor during "Master of the House", he was really involved with the music and pretty much danced around on his little podium waving the conductor's stick around! *lol* In between these songs, Cecile sang "I Dreamed A Dream" (she did a great job, but unfortunately she didn't quite reach the high notes ...) and Christer sang "Bring Him Home" and "Do You Hear the People Sing?" (a short version). Christer was at his best here, I think. He actually did "Bring Him Home" better than ANYONE I've heard before, it just blew me away! The final notes, I just stared at him in awe!!! I think I want to see him as Valjean some day soon! *lol* Unfortunately, "Do You Hear the People Sing?" wasn't great. I've heard it in Sweden on a concert once before, and they arrange it in a VERY strange way!! They speed it up soooo much, I can't for the life of me understand how Christer managed to articulate the words, becuasue it was so quick ... and it sort of looses some of its power when you do that ... so that was a little disapointing actually ....

Okay, moving on from my favourite subject ;) - the orchestra played a medley from the Roger's & Hammerstein musical The King and I, which I'm not familiar with, and then Cecile came out and did "Where Ever He Ain't" ... didn't qutie catch which musical that's from ... Mack & Mable or something like that?? Anybody who can help out???

Christer and Cecile finished off with a lovely little speach on how they celebrated 10 years as professional performers and 10 years as a couple ... so cute! And than they sang the duet "Something Stupid" ... and it was just adorable and wonderful and totally fantastic!!

The orchestra finished off with the powerful "76 Trombones" from Music Man (**thanks for the info, Annika!**) - fantastic!!

Christer and Cecile were called in, I think five or six times actually, and the orchestra had to repeat "76 Trombones" before we all were satisfied and left!

All in all - this was a WONDERFUL evening, I had the best time, and I really hope I come across Christer and Cecile Nerfont again, they are wonderful performers and seem very at-ease and friendly!!

Hope you enjoyed my review ... now it's "Back to Studies" time!

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