Review: JOYRIDE THE MUSICAL at China Teatern

Just over a year ago, Joyride the musical had its world premiere at Malmö Opera on a sunny and warm September day. Unfortunately, the Stockholm premiere was hit by persistent rain, so the festive atmosphere on the red carpet outside was a bit off, but inside the China Theatre the atmosphere was even higher.

When the first notes of Joyride are played, the audience is in on it from the start.

The plot of Joyride is based on Jane Fallon's book Got You Back about designer/stylist Stephanie (Jessica Marberger) who one day discovers that her partner Joe (Lucas Krüger) is cheating on her with Katie (Emelie Evbäck). Stephanie contacts Katie and it turns out that Joe has told her that they are divorced. Joe's double game is made easier by the fact that Stephanie, Joe and their teenage daughter Stella live in London, but Joe, who is a veterinarian, works weekly in the country where he lives with Katie. Stephanie and Katie meet and begin to plan their revenge on Joe.

This is a musical that highlights several strong female characters such as the eccentric Meredith (Hanna Hedlund) who is one of Stephanie's customers, Stephanie's colleague Natasha (Pia Törnström) and not least the daughter Stella who has a strong will. Compared to the strong female characters, Joe has a rather pale appearance and there are no sparks between either Stephanie or Katie and the thought strikes one how did they fall for him? A stronger chemistry, although purely platonic, is between Natasha and the boss Gary (Anton Lundqvist) who lift each other in a fantastic way. Anton is absolutely brilliant with a perfect comic balance in facial expressions, body language and the delivery of lines.

The combination of love triangle drama and the fact that it is partly set in the fashion world provides a perfect introduction to Roxette's songs such as the fast-paced Dressed for Success, The Look, Dangerous and the ballads Spending my time, Listen to your heart and It must have been love which have a strong and emotional meaning. Jane Fallon's Got You Back and Roxettes are a perfect match. And of course all four songs by Roxette who reached no 1 on Billboard list is inlcuded in the musical. 

Compared to the original production, a lot has changed. Jessica Marberger remains as Stephanie from Malmö, but the other roles have been swapped. Katie's appearance as the country girl is reinforced more in her choice of clothes than in Malmö, and the contrasts between Stephanie and Katie are more noticeable. The eccentric Meredith has been tweaked a little more towards the eccentric side and somewhat less pomp.

In terms of scenery, Malmö Opera and China Teatern are very different, which means that they have made adaptations scenically and used the lighting technology in different ways. The staircase that is used to illustrate their home remains. But there are different lights and backgrounds. The biggest difference, however, is that at Malmö Opera the music was performed by a full symphony orchestra, which gives it a power in a different way. What I missed most in Listen to your heart was that it was so strong, emotional and grand in Malmö with Sanna Martin. That said, Listen to your heart is an incredibly strong song even in Stockholm and Hanna Hedlund's voice impresses greatly in it. The music with the smaller orchestra is more like what you are used to hearing, which suits the smaller stage.

The dance numbers are absolutely fantastic and one of the most memorable are the silver mannequins.

Many fantastic singing performances and cool, fast-paced dance numbers spread a joyful energy into the audience.

The applause begins with a video cavalcade from Roxette, which is also a nice tribute to Marie Fredriksson, which transitions into a fast-paced Roxette medley which most likely guarantee that there is no one who leaves the China Theater without humming a Roxette song.

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