BWW Previews: BRIDGES IN MADISON COUNTY at Maximteatern

Today I had the privilege of going to the second audience rehearsal of the Bridges in Madison County. Many have certainly seen the romantic film with Meryl Streep as Fransesca, who has a short but very intense love story with the photographer Robert Kincaid, played by Clint Eastwood. The film was premiered in 1995 and is based on the book by Robert James Waller. In 2014, the musical with music by Jason Robert Brown opened. The Swedish singer Viktoria Tocca saw the musical on Broadway and became so fond of it so she decided to set it up in Sweden, and now 4 years later it is time for the Swedish audience to see it.

I really liked the movie, as it is one of the love stories you can cry to, so I was curious about how it would be on stage. The basic story is the same, one day when Fransescas husband Bud (Joachim Bergström) and the children, Carolyn (Moa Pellegrini) and Michael (Mattias Disman) are at a farm fair, the photographer Robert Kincaid (Daniel Sjöberg) shows up at the farm and asking for directions to Rosemund Bridge, the last of the 7 covered bridges to be photographed by him. An instant attraction happens, and Fransesca offers to accompany and show the way. The love story between Fransesca and Robert is as strong on stage as in the film. Viktoria is wonderful as Italian Fransesca, who after many years in the United States is bored and tired, but is now blossoming when she meets Robert. Daniel Sjöberg is quite similar to Clint as Robert, a bit stiff and silent but under the surface has a strong heat that Fransesca attracts. In the musical Bud's love for Fransesca is highlighted better. Joachim Bergström as a Bud shows with great warmth how Bud really loves his wife, but that he has lost his ability to show it in everyday life, the care of the farm and the children is taking all his time. He notices that something is wrong when he calls home from the fair and then when he gets home, but he does not understand what has happened. It is easier to understand the difficult choice for Fransesca. She struggles between the passion and the family. The emotions are strong on the stage and you are really affected by these three characters. All three have very good voices and have great empathy in all their songs. Over the past year I have heard some of the songs in various concerts performed by Viktoria and Daniel and hearing and seeing them in the correct context makes them better and stronger.

Petra Nielsen plays the curious neighbor Marge very well. Marge husband Charlie is played by Dan Bratt and he shows that he has a good voice at the end of the musical in the song he shares with Joachim Bergström. One of the best in the musical.

Janna Yngwe, Hanna Boquist, Pia Ternström, Josephine Betschart, Jonathan Björck, Oscar Collin and Elin Uvia Salas play other roles and / or ensembles.

The music and songs are consistently nice and pleasant and adds to the story in a very good way. Musical director is Micke Littwold and all musicians are great. I really understand that Viktoria loved the musical when she saw it and I'm very happy that she made her dream come true, to share this wonderful musical with the audience in Sweden.

As I said, today was just an audience rehearsal, so they're still working on the musical to improve, but on the whole it felt like a finished musical. The premiere is September 12th and runs in Stockholm until September 30th. It will then run in Malmö 12-27 of October. It is a warm, well-played musical with a lot of emotions in and I highly recommend it.