{"id":15176,"date":"2025-07-24T10:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T08:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/?page_id=15176"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:11:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:11:39","slug":"helen-sjoholm-and-gunilla-backman-about-the-new-collaboration-with-bjorn-ulvaeus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/press-clips\/various-2025\/helen-sjoholm-and-gunilla-backman-about-the-new-collaboration-with-bjorn-ulvaeus\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Gunilla Backman about the new collaboration with Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus"},"content":{"rendered":"

N\u00f6jeslivet 2025-07-22<\/strong><\/p>\n

By: ANTON LINDQVIST<\/p>\n

Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Gunilla Backman are embarking on a musical tour in Sweden.<\/strong>
\nThey\u00b4ll bring a specially written Abba song from Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus \u2013 which will be performed for the first time ever.
\n<\/strong>\u2013 It\u2019s not that well-known and that’s pretty crazy, Helen Sj\u00f6holm tells N\u00f6jeslivet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Someone\u2019s got to do it!<\/em> is a \u201cpocket musical\u201d starring Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Gunilla Backman. In addition, the beloved actor Sissela Kyle is directing, while the script is written by Per Naroskin. It will premiere at the Liseberg Theatre in Gothenburg on September 26, and then the musical will go on tour through the country. The audience can expect music from everything from Abba to Laleh and Th\u00e5str\u00f6m, which creates a broad and dynamic musical experience.<\/p>\n

How would you describe what a \u201cpocket musical\u201d is and what can the audience expect from that particular format?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, we are thinking about that too. That’s such a nice description in a way because it’s a one-act play. That means this isn’t a full evening, but it will be. It’s a packed, one-and-a-half-hour performance. And it’s pocket-sized in the sense that it’s you and me, Helen Sj\u00f6holm says (…)<\/p>\n

Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Gunilla Backman on musical tour<\/h3>\n

(…)<\/p>\n

In this context, it’s worth mentioning that the play was written by Per Naroskin, psychologist and partner of Sissela Kyle.
\n\u2013 We are completely different characters than Helena and Gunilla. We are Felicia and Cassandra. Yes, and we have chosen music that we do not normally sing, Backman says.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Exactly. And then there is the \u201cpocket\u201d a little attraction to what will be a lot on stage. It’s about many things. But it’s about books and it’s very exciting. This play is nothing like anything we have ever done before, and also musicals. As you said, we have sought out genres and songs that we may not normally sing. It feels very fun, Helen Sj\u00f6holm says.<\/p>\n

Helen Sj\u00f6holm: \u201cIncredibly creative, difficult and fun\u201d<\/h3>\n

There will be Abba, Laleh and Th\u00e5str\u00f6m among others. How do you approach those originals and have respect for those songs, but still make them your own?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 We have G\u00f6ran Arnberg who makes backgrounds and remakes them a little bit, in tone and in feeling from the originals. But the lyrics are so good that they will be like small bubbles that we enter into our own worlds, says Backman.<\/p>\n

\u2013 And there we have had to be co-creative. Because the play has existed, and was written for us based on an idea that P\u00e4r had before. But in this script we have ourselves sought out the songs that we feel end up in Felicia’s and Cassandra’s worlds. And we are not used to that either, we are used to sitting down at a rehearsal and everything is ready. But here we have had to be part of this process. Incredibly creative, difficult and fun, says Sj\u00f6holm.<\/p>\n

What attracted you to songs by Abba and Th\u00e5str\u00f6m in particular? I think they are such different expressions.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Making unexpected music choices is a lot of fun, both for your own input into how you make the songs but also for the audience, says Helen Sj\u00f6holm, who is also currently on tour with Tommy K\u00f6rberg this summer.<\/p>\n

Singing an Abba song in Swedish for the first time<\/h3>\n

The Abba song that the duo will perform is Cassandra<\/em>, which was originally released on the group’s second-most recent full-length The Visitors<\/em> in 1981. However, the version that Sj\u00f6holm and Backman will perform is completely new to the audience. This time it’s a specially written and previously unheard version, translated into Swedish from the English original \u2013 and by none other than Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus himself.<\/p>\n

\u2013 I had listened to it and had discovered it. It’s an old Abba song that I didn’t know about. It is not that well-known and it was quite crazy. But I heard us sing it and thought that something like that would be fun, since it’s our lowest common denominator that we have both worked with Bj\u00f6rn and Benny, both in longer productions, says Helen Sj\u00f6holm.<\/p>\n

(…)<\/p>\n

Collaborating with Ulvaeus<\/h3>\n

\u2013 It was so nice. We asked Bj\u00f6rn if we could do a translation of it. Because it’s only available in English. And he did so with pleasure, so it was great fun, says Gunilla Backman.<\/p>\n

\u2013 It’s called Cassandra<\/em>, which is my character’s name, and Per Naroskin took note of that. The funny thing was that the line had been in his mind before. It was so crazy that it was like that name and that legend around the old story of Cassandra, who in a future predicts the future, and no one believes her. That it was both in the song and in Per’s idea. It was almost a little spooky, says Sj\u00f6holm.<\/p>\n

So will it be the first time you hear it in Swedish?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 It will be a premiere with Bj\u00f6rn’s new Swedish text. And then it was really like this: Oh, how are we going to find other songs? But Th\u00e5str\u00f6m is an Ebba Gr\u00f6n song called Mental istid<\/em>, which fits into this story in a very good way, says Backman.<\/p>\n

This is how the relationship is today with Bj\u00f6rn and Benny<\/h3>\n

While we were still on the subject of Bj\u00f6rn and Benny. What is your relationship with them like today, and how has it developed over the years?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 You have a very close\u2026 says Backman and looks at Sj\u00f6holm.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, in a way and a long-term trajectory with different projects. So there is still contact. We have experienced a lot of great things together and that still exists. And to be able to have contact with Bj\u00f6rn and say: What do you say, what do you think? And get a positive answer. It’s fantastic, Sj\u00f6holm says.<\/p>\n

\u2013 It’s sometimes dizzying when you think. They are so cute and I had the pleasure of working with them in the Mamma Mia<\/em> musical. It’s a dream to work with them, because they are also such wonderful people, says Backman.<\/p>\n

\u2013 And quite talented, you might say\u2026 But it feels fun in a way that we are doing something like that. A song that most people have not heard, says Sj\u00f6holm.<\/p>\n

(…)<\/p>\n

(The entire article is not reproduced for copyright reasons)<\/em><\/p>\n

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N\u00f6jeslivet 2025-07-22 By: ANTON LINDQVIST Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Gunilla Backman are embarking on a musical tour in Sweden. They\u00b4ll bring a specially written Abba song Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":15174,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15176","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15176"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15184,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15176\/revisions\/15184"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}