KRISTINA's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus To Guest On National Public Radio and NY-1's 'On Stage' This Weekend
By: Gabrielle Sierra Sep. 18, 2009
Songwriting team Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, creators of pop super group ABBA, and the acclaimed stage musicals Chess and MAMMA MIA!, will be featured on television and radio this weekend in advance of the two-night only Carnegie Hall concert presentation of their musical KRISTINA next week.
National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition Saturday" host Scott Simon will interview the composers on the award-winning nationally syndicated program which airs in the New York metropolitan area on WNYC 93.9 FM from 8:00am - 10:00am on Saturday morning, September 19th, 2009.
NY-1 News' "On Stage" will feature a sneak peek into KRISTINA rehearsal on the weekly arts program on Saturday, September 19th at 9:30am and 7:30pm. "On Stage" will re-air Saturday, Sunday, September 20th at 9:30am & 7:30pm, Monday, September 21st at 9:30pm and Tuesday, September 22nd at 12:30am.
KRISTINA, with music by Benny Andersson and lyrics by Björn Ulvaeus and Herbert Kretzmer, will be performed in a concert presentation at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, September 23rd and Thursday, 24th, 2009, marking American premiere of the musical in English.
Staged by Lars Rudolfsson, KRISTINA will star original Swedish "Kristina" Helen Sjöholm, internationally renowned tenor Russell Watson, Tony Award® nominee Louise Pitre (Mamma Mia!) and Kevin Odekirk (Les Misérables) leading 30 member company and featuring the 50 piece American Theatre Orchestra conducted by Tony Award® winner Paul Gemignani.
Based on The Emigrants series of novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg (The Emigrants, Unto a Good Land, The Settlers, and The Last Letter Home), KRISTINA tells the epic story of an extended family's migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th Century.
Originally titled Kristina från Duvemåla, the musical premiered at the Malmo Music Theatre in Sweden in 1995 to great acclaim from critics and audiences alike. The musical ran for almost four years, winning four Guldmasken Theatre Awards (Sweden's Tony!) and was seen by more people than any other musical in Swedish history.In 1996, a concert version of KRISTINA was performed (in Swedish) at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota; a part of the country where many of the events in the Moberg novels took place. The Minneapolis Star Tribune called the concert "engaging, emotionally charged and haunting."
Universal Music is proud to promote the concert alongside Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. A cast recording will follow, released through Universal Music's Decca Records.
Tickets for KRISTINA are on sale at the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street & Seventh Avenue), via phone at 212-247-7800 or online at www.carnegiehall.org.
Visit www.kristinathemusical.com to listen to songs from KRISTINA in English, watch video content, check out photos and production background, and sign up to receive upcoming news.
Photo credit Peter James Zielinski
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