Allehanda 130927
By: PETER CARLSSON
She is ranked as one of the country’s best singers and has been praised for roles in “As it is in Heaven” and “Kristina från Duvemåla”.
Helen Sjöholm is returning to Ångermanland to sing again with former inseparable colleague Peter Jöback.
– It feels good to come home to Norrland, says Helen Sjöholm.
Hardly anyone can claim that the fine singing Sundsvall native Helen Sjöholm is a stranger to the people of Ångermanland. As recently as this summer she performed an appreciated concert at the Skule festival, and two years ago she received Nicke Sjödin’s scholarship at Hullsta farm in Sollefteå. That she experienced many childhood summers with her grandmother in Näsåker, and have relatives still in Sollefteå, is also widely known.
The trips to Sollefteå and Näsåker have however become fewer over the years.
– I’m often in Sundsvall, since I grew up there. Last time I was in Sollefteå was when I received Nicke Sjödin’s scholarship. And I haven’t been to Näsåker in many years, says Helen Sjöholm.
Although the Ådal visits have become less, the musical star occasionally thinks back to her childhood in Näsåker.
– Now that I’m older and have children of my own I would like to go up there and show Näsåker to the kids. I still have a great love for the district.
When Allehanda reaches Sjöholm by phone she has just been to rehearsals for “I love musicals”, the show that this evening has its tour premiere in Fjällräven Center in Örnsköldsvik.
– I feel good about the premiere. It’s been long since I got to work with Peter, not least it’s a long time since “Kristina från Duvemåla”, so this show with Peter feels like a privilege and a luxury job.
Undeniably water has flowed under the bridge since Sjöholm rose to prominence in the mid -90s, when she pinched the role of Kristina in “Kristina från Duvemåla” in front of a 1000 other singers. Since then she has been featured in the hit musical “Chess”, become part of Benny Andersson Band and played a key role in Kay Pollak’s blockbuster movie “As it is in Heaven.”
The recent rumors that there will be a sequel to “As it is in heaven”, she knows nothing about.
– Honestly I know nothing about that and I have not been contacted about any sequel. I know however that there has been talk of a sequel before.
Helen Sjöholm’s focus is instead on “I love musicals”, her own upcoming tour and the future show “Livet är en schlager”, which will premiere in the autumn 2014. In the play Sjöholm portraits the pop song crazy Mona, Peter Jöback plays transsexual Candy Darling, Jonas Gardell directs and Fredrik Kempe has written several new songs.
Sjöholm travels today, Friday, to Örnsköldsvik with excitement and confidence.
– Since this show has been done before I step into a well-oiled machine, a machine that has developed over the years. The finest with “I love musicals” is that you notice that it’s made with love to the songs.
The thing is that Sjöholm is only at the “I love musicals” concerts in Örnsköldsvik and Luleå, since she’s going on her own tour.
– That it became the north of Sweden, and Ångermanland in particular, feels especially exciting given my connections to the area.
43-year-old Sjöholm says that tonight’s audience can expect many varied arrangements, but perhaps above all a grand and fun concert night.
– I’m in four, five songs. Among other things I do “You have to be there” from “Kristina från Duvemåla.” It’s difficult to avoid the song, but I have no problem with it. I carry Kristina with me constantly and it just feels great to be associated with her and the musical.