{"id":9356,"date":"2020-03-08T15:00:04","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/?page_id=9356"},"modified":"2020-03-08T18:10:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-08T16:10:23","slug":"helen-sjoholm-in-new-musical-about-mental-illness-at-uppsala-city-theater","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/press-clips\/various-2020\/helen-sjoholm-in-new-musical-about-mental-illness-at-uppsala-city-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen Sj\u00f6holm in new musical about mental illness at Uppsala City Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aftonbladet 200301<\/strong><\/p>\n

By: JOANNA G\u00d3RECKA<\/p>\n

One of Sweden’s most loved singers, Helen Sj\u00f6holm, is Uppsala current with the award-winning musical Next to normal<\/em>. A show about bipolarity and mental illness that will be staged at Uppsala City Theater this spring. Aftonbladet met Helen Sj\u00f6holm and the counterpart, musical star Rolf Lydahl.<\/strong>
\n\u2013 We have broken down in turns, cried and laughed a lot, the actors say.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helen Sj\u00f6holm has been transformed into a ticket center, she says. She sits in a couch at Uppsala City Theater with opponent Rolf Lydahl and a huge package of envelopes and tickets in her arms. The clock is ticking, thank-you should be rehearsed, excited premiere mood prevails before the performance of Next to Normal<\/em>. And the musical stars on the couch agree: it’s a dream musical and the characters Diana and Dan are dream roles.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Everybody, no matter who you are, can find touch points in this musical. We have all failed, we may have lost someone or been involved in traumatic events that characterize one. That\u00b4s what makes it so poignant, Rolf Lydahl says.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Really. Since we started rehearsing, we have broken down in turns, cried – but also laughed a lot, Helen Sj\u00f6holm says.<\/p>\n

“Very fond of Uppsala”<\/h5>\n

It\u00b4s a modern musical, a chamber play. The story revolves around a family where mother Diana (Helen Sj\u00f6holm) is fighting with bipolarity. The relatives, husband Dan (Rolf Lydahl) and the couple’s children, commute with Diana between despair and manic happiness. The Broadway musical premiered in New York in 2008 and was awarded three Tony Awards and also the Pulitzer Prize. At Uppsala City Theater, it\u00b4s set up under the direction of Ronny Danielsson (\u2026) The crowd pressure was fierce directly and Uppsala City Theater extended the play dates with several performances as early as December.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Diana is having a tough time, Helen Sj\u00f6holm says, but I wonder if it isn\u00b4t the family members who are around who may have the toughest? You can’t evaluate who is feeling the worst, but this is how you are affected by living close to someone who is so unpredictable, growing up and having such a mother – what does it do to you?<\/p>\n

This is the first time that both Helen Sj\u00f6holm and Rolf Lydahl are on stage at the Uppsala City Theater and have thereby joined the numerous commuters who travel daily between Uppsala and Stockholm.<\/p>\n

\u2013 I felt at home here from the beginning, Helen says. I think it’s an incredibly nice theater. And commuting has gone great – so far, pepper, pepper. I\u00b4m very fond of Uppsala.<\/p>\n

Poignant<\/h5>\n

(…)<\/p>\n

The actors describe intensive work with many challenges. On the spot during the rehearsals there was a psychiatrist who assisted in the management of the disease. But the performance doesn\u00b4t go in minor despite the heavy subject and lack of leg-kicking on stage.<\/p>\n

\u2013 I think and hope you feel hope when the curtain goes down.<\/p>\n

Not sentimental<\/h5>\n

Anyone who trembles in pining can exhale.<\/p>\n

\u2013 It’s basically pop and rock, Helen says. Such a story could easily have been sentimental, it would have been easy to feel that it was being milked. But it doesn\u00b4t milk, it\u00b4s not tearing. It’s been a pleasure working with the music.<\/p>\n

How is it with the temper so short before the premiere? They are. Completely. Exhausted. But at the same time – almost hovers with zeal.<\/p>\n

\u2013 The rehearsals have been very intense and demanding, Helen Sj\u00f6holm says. You have to dig deep into yourself to reach these feelings, they can’t be cheated. So that’s why you are completely exhausted. But you also love the material, want to do it justice and tie as many knots around yourself. But now it’s time to relax and go for it (\u2026)<\/p>\n

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

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Aftonbladet 200301 By: JOANNA G\u00d3RECKA One of Sweden’s most loved singers, Helen Sj\u00f6holm, is Uppsala current with the award-winning musical Next to normal. A show Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9354,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9356","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9356","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=9356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9356\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}