Review: PETER JÖBACK HIS GREATEST SHOW 'MED HJÄRTAT SOM INSATS' at Cirkus

Tonight was the opening night of the Peter Jöbacks show "Med hjärtat som insats" (With the heart at stake). And as is it should on an opening night champagne was served and the Swedish celebrities such as Björn Ulveaus, Tommy Körberg, Sarah Dawn Finer and Emmi Christensson (She played Christine with Peter in Phantom of the opera in Stockholm) was there. This was one of the main event for the season

Peter calls this show a Pop Theatre as it only includes music from his various records, except from musicals and as it also has a story line it is not just a concert. The story is about "The Artist" and his search for love and recognition. The audience follow him on his trip to Paris, London, New York and back to Stockholm. Anyone who has followed Peter through his career will notice the similarities to his life and the struggles he been through, as well as his successful career and his hard work to get there.

During the years, Peter has worked with a variety of artists, and for this show he has chosen some of them with different types of talents. Jens Hulthén (actor) and Elin König Anderssons (acrobate), Marianne Mörck (singer), Gunilla Backman (singer and musical artist), Frida Öhrn, (singer) Karl Noremo (muscial artist and dancer) and Daniel Mauricio (dancer). Gunilla and Jens plays the artist's mother and father, but otherwise there is no one who has a fixed role but appears as different people that the artist meets during his journey.

The show stars with a pre-show where Jens is our host. Elin, the acrobate, performs an impressive number. The ensambele sings a few of Peters hits, "Higher" and "Under my skin" with new orchestration as part of the pre-show. The jokes in the pre-show is a bit lame but the songs and the acrobatic number is good.

Even the introduction of the main show feels a bit lame and trivial at the same time the song "Tiden Tiden " in Paris is a bit stressed. It's starting to get a bit more interesting with the Depeche Mode song "Somebody" but the really excitement and one of the night's absolute highlights is the song "What If tomorrow never comes". In this song, Peter sings with passion and energy and a perfect pop voice and from this moment on he has the audience in the palm of his hand. This is one of the new songs featured on the Humanology album whch will be released the 26th of October. And it's the new songs that, with a few exceptions, are the best in the whole show. This is the turning point in the show and now it is absolutely world class on the show. An other part of the show which is really strong is"Everybody Hurts", which is performed as a form of group therapy, and Frida Öhrn shines with her special bright voice. The grand finals is absolutely amazing with several of the new songs and one of my favorite "Believer". The story about the artist ends with a nice version of "Stockholm", Peter's tribute to his hometown, Frida Öhrn is a genius on harmonica and I'm glad she is allowed to show it off in one of the songs. Marianne Mörck makes the audience laugh and she also shows that she can sing during the evening.

There is a huge variety of costumes in the show, ranging from circus-inspired costumes, devil clothes, gospel coats, beige lingerie, but above all Peter is wearing really nice suits, specially the leather suit in the big finale that fits him like a glove. He is really good looking in it.

There is a really nice slide show on the walls around the auditorium and the lighting is great. Many nice pictures in the slide show around the room that reinforce the feeling that we are in Paris, London, New York or Stockholm. Or just fire and candles as in the finals. Super Stylish!

The orchestra is great.

Pop theater is a great term of this kind of performance. It's pop and there's a storyline which the different songs tells. Recently, Peter has been doing a lot of musical such as Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. But in this show the emphasis is on his career as a pop singer. And with the new songs which he has written with Tobias Fröberg and Kathryn Williams he shows he is a great pop artist as well as the songs suits him perfectly. I've been looking forward to hear his new songs since I heard "Believer" in London 2014 and it has really been worth the wait. "Believer" is really good in its new, slightly more up beat version. It's a song that sticks in your head.

The premier ended as it should with a large mountain of flowers and everyone working on this production, received the audience's standing ovations.

The show runs till the 15th of December and I do recommend you to get at ticket as this is a modern show and Peter shines in it.

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