Uppsala Nya Tidning 2022-01-19
By: GÖRAN STERNER
Helen Sjöholm goes in the waiting times – like the entire production behind Next to normal. The revival of the musical on Uppsala City Theatre’s big stage has been canceled twice and the rehearsals are currently completely down.
– Of course it doesn’t feel good. It’s not just me but the whole gang who feel a great deal of frustration, Helen Sjöholm says during a late afternoon walk in Nacka where she lives.
Like the new premiere, the UNT interview on place in Uppsala has been canceled twice. Therefore, there must be a telephone interview. This week Helen Sjöholm was ill and now another person in the ensemble has fallen ill, which gives a clear picture of how fragile a theater production is in the current situation.
(…)
– Of course it felt surprising to hear that we could only play in front of an audience of around 180 people when the salon has room for 500, but that’s how it is. I don’t really want to complain, if we just stick to the field of culture, there are many who have been hit much worse by the pandemic
(…)
– It’s a different musical and a fantastic role. But since we only had time to play a few times in 2020, I never got it into my body.
When the rehearsals for the planned revival began, Helen Sjöholm felt that during the long break she gained a partly new perspective on her character Diana Goodman and her demons.
– It feels like I can give her another depth this time. Therefore, to suddenly have to pause everything and wait for a third date for the revival feels extra frustrating.
The hope is that they will be able to get started next week with room for some necessary rehearsals before that. Then a string of performances awaits during the winter and spring if the stars are right. In that case, it’s time again to commute to Uppsala, a city that Helen Sjöholm really likes.
– I have so many connections there. My husband David Granditsky comes from the city and his father Palle Granditsky was the director of the city theater once upon a time. My sister’s husband also works at the theater
(…)
Although the most famous Uppsala collaboration is probably the shows with Jacke Sjödin. It started with Stora tabberaset at UKK and continued with a few rounds of Höjdarlunch at Katalin.
– Did you know that I first met him when I was ten years old? I’m from Sundsvall and occasionally visited a cousin in Jack’s hometown Sollefteå. Both Jackes and my cousin’s families were involved in local revues. Although it took until the 2000s before he and I did something together on stage.
As most people know and as may be seen from the text above, Helen Sjöholm is an unusually versatile artist. Revue, show, musical, film, theater – she has tried most things.
– That’s how I want it, without crop rotation I would be laid fallow.
Is there anything you have not tried that you would like to try? The melody festival?
– No, Mello is probably nothing to me. Tearing off a song in a maximum of three minutes in a competition context doesn’t feel so appealing. I have had inquiries but have chosen to say no. But you should never say never, I must guard myself
(…)
(The entire interview is not reproduced for copyright reasons)