Musical

Joyride – the Roxette musical is coming to Stockholm

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After having sold out at Malmö Opera, Joyride – The Musical is finally coming to Stockholm.

The hit musical, which premieres at China Teatern on 11th September, is this time co-produced by Per Gessle himself, while the music now has a more intimate band feel in the original Roxette style.

Per says:

I have really been completely knocked out by the response to Joyride – The Musical in Malmö. Sold out for more than six months and an absolutely fantastic atmosphere inside the theatre. Now it’s time for a brand new production in Stockholm at the lovely China Teatern. It will be magical.

Listen To Your Heart, It Must Have Been Love, The Look, Dangerous, Dressed for Success… Everyone has a relationship to the classics that made Roxette a multi-million-selling global phenomenon in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

These songs also form the basis for the equally energetic, grand and inventive performance Joyride – The Musical, which will have its Stockholm premiere at the China Theatre on 11th September.

The musical, based on the successful English author Jane Fallon’s relationship comedy Got You Back, is handled in Stockholm by partly new creators and in a different production than in Malmö where it had its world premiere and was a great success. Among other things, adjustments are being made to both the script and translation, the latter by Calle Norlén. The choreography is by Jennie Widegren (Bounce) and Miles Hoare. In addition, Per Gessle himself is now stepping in as co-producer.

Organizer and musical director Joakim Hallin says:

It is exciting to see how well Roxette’s pop songs fit into the telling of this rather dramatic story. We have fewer musicians than in Malmö and that means we will work very dynamically with a tight Roxette band sound, but without losing the majesty of songs like “Listen To Your Heart” and “It Must Have Been Love”.

Joyride – The Musical serves both as a nostalgia trip for the part of the audience that grew up with these songs and an introduction to Roxette’s music for a new generation that is curious about one of Sweden’s greatest music export successes ever. Inspired by Roxette’s iconic music videos and a consistently ’90s aesthetic, the acclaimed star director Guy Unsworth, co-director Johanna Hybinette and award-winning set designer David Woodhead are building a completely unique world for this love triangle drama that takes place in London. The plot revolves around Stephanie and Katie, who both have a relationship with Joe, whose double life the women eventually get fed up with – with various complications and intrigues as a result.

The ensemble consists of Lucas Krüger (Joe), Emilie Evbäck (Katie), Jessica Marberger (Stephanie), Anton Lundqvist (Gary), Pia Ternström (Natasha) and Hanna Hedlund (Meredith).

Per says:

It’s fantastic to follow this journey. There are so many incredible people involved from all sides. A gigantic amount of talent is gathered around the same goal. For me, it’s mostly been about daring to let go of control over the material a little and trust those who can do this. It’s a whole new chapter for me.

SOME OF THE ENSEMBLE ABOUT ROXETTE

Hanna Hedlund: I was 13 when “Listen To Your Heart” came out. Right in puberty, so for me that song is associated with great love and great heartache. That song was as big as all the emotions you felt.

Emmie Asplund: I remember when I was 6-7 years old, I snuck into my older sister’s room and borrowed the CD “Joyride” – I loved it. Since then, Marie Fredriksson has been an inspiration, with her fantastic voice and cool image.

Jessica Marberger: Roxette is a soundtrack to so many people’s, and generations’, lives. Of course, for Per Gessle’s unique ability to compose melodious pop songs.

Olle Roberg: Even though “Fading Like A Flower” was released in the early ’90s, the bombastic drums and electric guitars of the ’80s still live on in this song. The verse in minor leads so well into the chorus’ major, the choruses are snappy and there’s a key rise – what more could you ask for?

Linda Holmgren: Really good music is immortal. Good music and good lyrics are touching and last to be played over and over again for years and also to be rearranged and performed in new contexts – and Roxette’s music has shown that it is just that.

Marcus Elander: For me, their music or many of their songs are timeless, which is very unique and cool.

Kitty Chan Schlyter: Strong melodies are energetic anthems. You can’t defend yourself and have to sing along or sway along. Then Marie’s voice was the crowning glory and made the song catalogue something out of the ordinary.

Lucas Krüger: A song that has recently become a favorite is “Queen Of Rain”. It has both sensitivity and power, and a unique sound that touches. I’m really looking forward to singing it!

Oliver Gramenius: I think some music has a kind of nerve at its core, a nerve that is not about trends or genres. It’s just there and it will touch people throughout time. Roxette has that nerve.

Emilie Evbäck: They are so incredibly good at capturing a specific feeling with each song that I think everyone can relate to. And then they were always one hundred percent themselves without following trends too much, which I think is a key to being timeless.

Ulrika Ånäs: Roxette was played a lot during my childhood. I had many moments in front of the mirror when I mimed to Marie’s amazing voice.

Hampus Engstrand: The songs stick in your head right away. Very catchy.

Olivia Kungsman: My parents listened to Roxette when I was little so I recognize a lot of their music from my childhood.

Alexandra Fors: I remember when I was a kid watching the movie Pretty Woman and hearing “It Must Have Been Love” and thinking it was so cool that a Swedish band had made it!

Pia Ternström: The music is both timeless and emotional, has strong hooks and a distinct and recognizable, raw Roxette sound. I think that a good cocktail of their enormous global impact, the power of nostalgia, catchy melodies and the eternally relevant themes of love, longing and passion means that both old and new generations continue to listen to Roxette. It’s impossible not to sing along.

The show is produced by 2Entertain, Vicky Nöjesproduktion, Elevator Entertainment and Live Nation. The show will be played at China Teatern in Stockholm between 11th September and 20th December 2025. Tickets will be released on Showtic on 31st March.

Photos by Christoffer Bendixen

The Roxette musical moves to Stockholm

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Joyride – The Musical will be staged in Stockholm this fall. After that, Per Gessle hopes for an international venture. The idea of the musical is to spread like a carpet over the planet, he says and smiles.

The musical premiered last fall in Malmö. Roxette’s classic songs as a backdrop for a romantic comedy were a success.

This fall the musical will move to Stockholm. On September 11th it will premiere at the historic China Theatre. But that’s just the beginning, hopes Per Gessle, who aims for Joyride to be staged abroad.

That’s my vision. Roxette was so big, so there is a capacity to get there.

Planet Earth next

Gessle is tight-lipped about the concrete plans.

We can’t talk about that now, but let’s say that planet Earth is the next step.

It will be a slightly different Joyride that comes to Stockholm compared to the Malmö version. Several new members of the ensemble will be added and Calle Norlén has, among other things, done a new script adaptation. But Jessica Marberger continues in the lead role as Stephanie.

She says:

I’m looking forward to doing this in Stockholm and to coming to the China Teatern. I love being able to stand there and tell this story.

The plot of Joyride is based on the English author Jane Fallon’s book Got You Back and is a love triangle drama about stylist Stephanie who discovers that her husband Joe has another woman.

And then you think it can only be “Thanks and goodbye, I don’t want to live with you, we don’t give a damn about this”. But it won’t really be like that. There will be a little more exciting things, Jessica Marberger says and laughs.

“New” Roxette

It’s now been just over five years since Marie Fredriksson passed away, and Per Gessle has just restarted Roxette. He has recently returned from a tour in South Africa and Australia with Lena Philipsson as the new singer in the band.

Per says:

It is a challenge for all of us to embark on a project like this. But it has gone really well. On a scale of 10, it would be an 11. It has been truly magical.

Several gigs are expected this summer in Sweden and the rest of Europe. Will there be a continuation?

That is not the idea right now, anyway. Now we are going to do a big summer tour and then we will see. We will have to decide in the next few weeks what will happen.

Facts: “Joyride – The Musical”

The Stockholm production will premiere on 11th September at China Teatern.

Cast: Jessica Marberger, Lucas Krüger, Emilie Evbäck, Anton Lundqvist, Pia Ternström and Hanna Hedlund.

Article by Mikael Forsell / TT

Photos by Magnus Lejhall / TT

“Joyride – The Musical” world premiere through the eyes of a longtime Roxette fan

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I’ve been a Roxette fan for 33 years. Music-wise Joyride was the first real life-changing experience for me when I first heard the song. The little girl who in 1991 was sitting persistently in front of MTV to catch the video certainly wouldn’t have thought that 33 years later she would be sitting in the front row of the audience in Malmö Opera and see the world premiere of a musical titled Joyride, including tons of her most beloved band’s amazing songs.

Besides music, theatre is my other great passion, so when I heard that a musical would be created based on Roxette songs, I couldn’t be happier and more excited. The press release about Roxette’s music becoming a musical came out in May 2022. Per already talked about musical ideas in an interview in 2015. He said he can imagine that there could be a musical built on Roxette’s hits, just like ABBA’s Mamma Mia! and the Queen musical, but only if the right way is found. Something new. As he mentioned recently, Malmö Opera came into sight in 2017. Good things take time, right?

In 2022 it was also revealed that the musical would be based on bestseller author Jane Fallon’s novel Got You Back (published in 2008). Of course, I immediately bought that book and read it to see what it’s all about. It’s an entertaining story about the triangle between a husband, his wife and his mistress and the revenge of the latter two gone wrong.

While reading, a tremendous amount of Roxette songs popped up in my head and back then I made a list for myself. 12 of the songs I put on that list ended up in the musical. That list was long (32), but I could have added at least as many tracks still. Usually, 20-25 songs fit in a musical and when it comes to a world famous band, of course, the most well-known hits should be included. But is there any place for lesser-known songs?

Fast forward to November 2023. The title was revealed: Joyride – The Musical. The world premiere was set to 6th September and the ticket sales started. 35,000 tickets were sold in a very short time and people from 30 different countries bought tickets. As Per said in an interview, 45% was bought by people who have never been to Malmö Opera before, so Roxette is a strong magnet.

This strong magnet pulled me to Malmö to see the world premiere. I arrived in Malmö a couple of days before the big show and I was happy to walk around and be greeted by a Joyride musical banner on Södra Förstadsgatan. Malmö Opera has an LED screen on their roof and that one had been promoting Joyride – The Musical since long and it gives a wonderful picture together with Tragos Fountain at the square in front of the opera house.

 

Before premiere day, there were 3 main rehearsals to which Malmö Opera invited closed groups of theatre people and students. In social media you could see some pictures and short videos popping up and all of them praised the show. I heard one of these main rehearsals didn’t go too smoothly, but hey, those were still rehearsals, when the show was not ready yet. It has to be ready for the premiere.

On premiere day, while having my breakfast, I saw Per – sitting in his hotel room – giving an interview to Nyhetsmorgon on TV4. He joined in via video call and you could see he was excited and so ready for that historical day.

During the day we bumped into other Roxers in town as well – fans from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Finland, the Netherlands and other strange places. Haha. We got dressed for success and arrived at Malmö Opera after 5 pm. The red carpet was already rolled out, there was a Joyride photo wall in front of which anyone could take pictures and of course, there were tons of balloons. Heart-shaped ones!

There were photographers and journalists waiting in front of the red carpet, people who wanted to see the prominent guests’ arrival were standing there too. Others were already inside the building, grabbing a bite or having a drink on the terrace. I went inside to pick up some press stuff. The package included a Joyride musical bag in which there were two printed program booklets. One of them was the one that anyone could pick up for free, a smaller size, colorful booklet in Swedish, the other was a bigger, 12” vinyl size booklet full of pictures and interviews, words by Per. Mine was in English, but it exists in Swedish too. This latter one you can buy for 150 SEK.

The building is huge and spacious! In the foyer, there is a giant bronze statue of Thalia and for this historical world premiere, she got some heart-shaped balloons in her hands too. Tragos Fountain was on fire – I thought it was also for the event, but I was informed the fire is on every day when there is a performance at the theatre.

  

The invited guests walked the red carpet, many of them were stopped by the photographers, then by the opera house’s cameraman who recorded short interviews with them. Then they entered Operagrillen to have a drink or two before the show. Yeah, there were Joyride – The Beer cans both at Operagrillen and the theatre buffet. Such a cool idea!

At 6 pm (for about 15 minutes) there was an introduction to the musical in the lower foyer by dramaturg Boel Adler, while opera singer Rickard Söderberg and dramaturg Tor Billgren joined her.

Who walked the red carpet? There were some early birds like Alar Suurna, Magnus Börjesson with his wife and Mats MP Persson. We were all extremely happy to see Mikael Bolyos!!! He arrived with a friend. Then came Valdemar Wahlbeck, Staffan Karlsson, Mats Olsson, Uno Svenningsson, Nisse Hellberg, Anders Roos, Jan-Owe Wikström, choreographer of the musical Miles Hoare and Fredrik Etoall. All with families and friends.

 

At appr. 6.15 pm, Per appeared around the corner, Marie Dimberg was showing the way towards the red carpet. PG – the pop star – was stopped by fans who asked for autographs on their records. The schedule was tight, so Mr. G had to move forward to the red carpet, in front of the Joyride photo wall and he was of course joined by the muse who on one fine day wrote that note in Swedish that became the starting idea of Roxette’s fourth US No.1 hit. „Hello, you fool, I love you!” Åsa and Per were posing for photos, then they were joined by their son, Gabriel and his girlfriend. Some more photos were taken and then they walked off the red carpet towards the same way they came from. Some fans took selfies with Per and SVT also stopped PG to do a short interview with him.

 

 

Then some more invited guests walked the red carpet: Sven Lindström, Dea Norberg, Micke Syd Andersson (he even jumped back to pose with a bunch of fans), Göran Fritzon, Christoffer Lundquist, Lars Nordin, Clarence Öfwerman, director of the musical Guy Unsworth and set designer David Woodhead. They all came with families and friends as well.

 

More red carpet and stage photos HERE!

Here I just mentioned the guests related anyhow to the Roxette world, but I’m sure there were even more famous Swedes on the guest list.

We all entered the opera house to find our seats and finally join the Joyride in musical form. The starting time was set to 7 pm and the show was said to be 2 hours 45 minutes long including a 30-minute break between the two acts.

I had my seat in the first row, in the middle. As I mentioned previously, I love going to the theatre and I sit in the front, because it’s important for me to see the faces of the actors while they are playing. I love to see all the little details, the facial expressions, the gestures. For those who like to see the whole stage, all at once, I suggest sitting in further rows or on the balcony. Also, the dialogues are in Swedish, the songs are in English, but everything is subtitled both in Swedish and in English, so if you want to read the texts during the show, you should definitely sit further away, because the texts are above the stage. All choreographies are anyway very enjoyable from the front row close-up too, but if you prefer the big picture, sit in the 5th row or further away.

Malmö Opera’s main stage has an auditorium that holds an audience of 1511 and the stage is one of the largest in Europe. It’s a large stage indeed. XXXL! What you see when you enter the auditorium is the word JOYRIDE set up letter by letter on stage. Before I saw pics and vids from the rehearsals, I thought the orchestra would be right under the stage in the orchestra pit in front of me, but the setting was different. The orchestra had its place behind the JOYRIDE letters, the musicians were tuning in their instruments.

Stella (Sara Stjernfeldt), the daughter of Stephanie (Jessica Marberger) and Joe (Alexander Lycke), entered the stage with a guitar while everyone in the audience tried to find their seats. She sat in the middle of the stage, in front of the JOYRIDE letters. She seemed to be writing a song.

 

When almost everyone was already sitting, Per and his family and friends also entered the auditorium and seated themselves on the left side of the stage in maybe rows 8-9.

The excitement was growing and… it was time for the musical to start. BUT, before a performance starts at theatres, there is always a voice asking you to switch off your mobiles. This time the voice was Per Gessle! Haha. When Per posted a picture of himself a couple of weeks ago saying „Yep. Had to work today at Malmö Opera! Joyride The Musical needed me!”, I was quite sure this would be the case, recording his voice for the mobile alert. Fab! The intro to Per’s talking was the tune of the Joyride whistle (already here the audience got very silent) and then Mr. G greeted the crowd at Malmö Opera and said that filming and taking pictures are not allowed during the show and he kindly asked you to switch off your mobiles. „And now… C’mon, join the Joyride!” The audience was cheering very loudly.

Here I switch off my usual me who always describes / transcripts things in details how they were, because I don’t want to spoil the fun for you watching the musical whenever you have the chance to see it. I will only share some general feelings, observations which are of course subjective and I’m of course biased when it comes to anything related to my most beloved band. So be prepared for all the positivity and love. Haha. Those who don’t want ANY spoilers should stop reading here. Oh well, actually, they shouldn’t have started reading this article at all. Nevermind!

The show is played in two acts. The first act is appr. 1 hour 15 minutes long, the second lasts for appr. 1 hour and 10 minutes.

The key roles of Stephanie (the wife), Katie (the mistress) and Joe (the husband) are played by Eurovision Song Contest participant Jessica Marberger, West End musical artist Marsha Songcome and Alexander Lycke, international musical actor and frequent leading man at Stockholm City Theatre.

The direction and adaptation for the stage of Klas Abrahamsson’s original script are made by Guy Unsworth, international award-winning director and writer, whose intention was to create a perfect evening for those who love musicals, but also for those who love Roxette.

In the creative team we could see two familiar names: Clarence Öfwerman (producer and musician; Roxette producer from the very beginning; keyboards in Roxette) and Christoffer Lundquist (producer, multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter; producing Per’s music since Mazarin and playing in the Roxette band mainly on lead guitar, but on other instruments as well). We could be sure that Roxette’s music was in right hands and all the songs would be handled with care. So besides the fact that Per has been involved in the project from the start, it could also give us a guarantee that the end result would be magical.

The music has been reworked by Clarence and Christoffer in collaboration with Joakim Hallin, who is the conductor of the orchestra. This team did one hell of a job!

Earlier Per said:

I haven’t had any direct wishes or opinions about how it should be other than that I think it should be very much Roxette. I think the worst that can happen is that it sounds like a Roxette cover band playing this. You want it to sound like the soul of Roxette is present in some way.

Since everyone in the promo videos and in interviews, as well as the press conference was very enthusiastic about the musical, I was sure they would put all their efforts into making it a magical night. Everyone in the cast and creative team was excited to be part of creating something new, a newly written musical. Malmö Opera also promoted the show at their summer events, where the actors were singing songs of Roxette and so we could hear they are all very talented singers. Now on stage it came out even better. The three main characters, Stephanie (Jessica Marberger), Katie (Marsha Songcome) and Joe (Alexander Lycke) have amazing voices and oh. my. God. what a voice Stella (Sara Stjernfeldt) has! This girl is pure awesomeness how she sings. Then there is Meredith (Sanna Martin) with fantastic vocal abilities. The ensemble, when they are singing together, it sounds fabulous!

The amount of Roxette songs that got into the musical will amaze you. There are so many songs it feels the dialogues are only there to fill in the gap. Haha. Nah. The whole performance is put together in a great way. All songs included come at the right point of the story adding to it with their lyrics. Even if the story was already there and the lyrics were already there, not written especially for the musical, they all fit together, completing each other. I don’t know which direction is more difficult. To write a story based on existing songs or find the most fitting songs for an already existing story. What happened here feels like a match made in heaven.

The choreographies by Miles Hoare are very modern and you feel like you would love to jump on stage to dance together with all the dancers. Of course, singing along (at least miming) during the whole show is evident for a fan, I think. It was impossible at least for me to shut my mouth when all Roxette songs came one after the other. It felt like being at a concert. Especially the fact that the main characters sometimes hold the mics in their hands or stand next to a mic stand while singing strengthens this feeling. My theatre-lover side would love them to use only their head microphones, because that doesn’t grab me out of the scene and lets me live together with the emotions of the character, but my Roxette fan side says hey, it’s all about Roxette’s amazing song catalogue, so I like it like that and I want to sing along with Katie or Stephanie or Joe or Stella and feel the emotions through the songs.

The costumes are amazingly colorful – mainly during the fashion-related scenes as Stephanie is a stylist. They perfectly fit the vivid colors of Roxette’s music. Torbjörn Bergström and his team did a fab job! There are also hints related to Roxette clips and I love that. They probably won’t be noticed by standard audiences, but fans appreciate all the little details.

And those little details are not only in the costumes. They appear in the texts too. In the dialogues there are references to lyrics and small things all fans know about. One of my favourites is when Stella says Gibson (her guitar) is to be pronounced with a hard G. So it’s these kinds of small things. You must love it.

The JOYRIDE letters on stage have different functions, not only to be beautiful. The back side of the letters is set like a shelf at the fashion company (where Stephanie works) or shelf in a shop, shelf of the vet clinic (where Joe works), things like that. The stage set is effective and playful. How the stage construction is used is also playful. The orchestra appears here and there, pulled to the front, pushed to the back. The front of the stage goes very deep at one point and there are scenes when the actors climb stairs to get to the next floor of the apartment.

Oh yes! There is a car! After all, it’s JOYRIDE – The Musical, so there just has to be a car at some point. A red one, of course.

The audience’s reaction to the songs is everything! Their clapping along, singing along, the cheering, the whistling.

During the break I bumped into Christoffer and we talked a little. I told him I absolutely loved it so far and he was very happy to hear it. He said that at the Tuesday rehearsal it didn’t look like it would work out, they even had to change this and that. For the premiere it seems every piece fell into its place.

  

Before I mention my top favourite songs, I have to mention my absolute favourite character. It’s Gary (Oscar Pierrou Lindén). He is so entertaining! His look, style, facial expressions, singing, most fun!

My Top3 songs together with the related scenes are:

No. 3: I’m sorry, I have to cheat, because I can’t decide, but The First Girl On The Moon performed by Stella (Sara Stjernfeldt) on guitar is magical and it has to be one of my No. 3 songs. This girl is amazing! The song is interrupted, then Stephanie (Jessica Marberger) and Joe (Alexander Lycke) sing the rest of it. Wonderful! The other No. 3 song is The Centre Of The Heart (Is A Suburb To The Brain) – how it heightens the thrill together with the dialogues in between. It’s sung by Katie (Marsha Songcome) and the ensemble joins in. The orchestration is wonderful.

No. 2: Haha. I need to put 2 songs + scenes at this spot too. First of all, Crash! Boom! Bang! – sung by Stephanie and Katie. Exceptional the way it’s sung by two women. The scene before they start singing is very entertaining and their singing is very dramatic. The ensemble’s choir is magical here. The other No. 2 is Queen Of Rain sung by Joe (Alexander Lycke). It’s not the only Marie ballad Alex sings in the musical, but for me this was the strongest. Wow! A.m.a.z.i.n.g. vocal performance! Goosebumps! The orchestration here is wonderful too.

No. 1: What’s She Like? – I love how the song is used, how the lyrics support the flow of the story. Stephanie (Jessica Marberger) sings like a rock star here and when the ensemble joins in, I love it too. The choreography is surreal with all the costumes as well. Top! (I only missed a little pause here to be able to give a round of applause to this scene, but a next ballad comes right after.)

These are my Top3 (after seeing the musical only once), but it would be hard to set further top songs and scenes, because it feels very complete to me and also very emotional as a fan. I’ve been wondering how it can affect the songwriter himself to hear all these songs one after the other that mean his life, when even me as a fan of 33 years feels like it’s all my life. These songs have been standing by my side in good and bad times.

Besides my top songs mentioned above, of course the big hits like Listen To Your Heart, Dangerous, The Look, Dressed For Success, It Must Have Been Love, How Do You Do! (haha, have to laugh when I remember the scene it was used in: love triangle surprises at their best), She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio), Sleeping In My Car, Spending My Time, Neverending Love, The Big L., Fading Like A Flower, Wish I Could Fly are also included. It’s a jukebox musical after all! At the same time, there are lesser-known songs (to the wider audience): Milk And Toast And Honey, Stars (the choir singing in this one is outstanding and absolutely magical), Opportunity Nox, Dance Away, Half A Woman, Half A Shadow, Goodbye To You. The fact that Marie’s song, Little Girl got in the musical and the spot it got, sung by Stephanie (Jessica Marberger) is in itself wonderful. Jessica said in an interview that this is the song she likes to sing the most in the musical.

Did I miss something? Oh, yeah! JOYRIDE! Haha. Wow! So many songs, so little time! Haha.

You would think they used all the hits in the first act, but then you realize you still haven’t heard this song and that one, so you can be sure there are goodies left for you in the second act as well.

At the end of the show I loved seeing short video scenes from clips where Marie also appears. Her presence was felt. Much love!

And much love to the whole team on and off stage! No surprise the world premiere ended with a standing ovation, loud cheering and neverending applause. Hats off to all involved in the making of Joyride – The Musical! You all did a wonderful job!

Thank you, Per, for all the amazing songs that have always made this world a better place and provided a soundtrack to thousands of people’s lives! Also thanks for your neverending drive and striving for keeping Roxette’s legacy alive!

 

 

Per thinks Marie would have liked that Roxette’s music now becomes a musical:

I think she would have thought it was amazing. She was much more interested in musicals than I really was from the beginning. So I think she would have thought this was really cool. I’ve never been a huge musical fan myself. It’s a new chapter in the book of my life and it’s exciting to step into it.

To the question how important it is for him that their music becomes a musical, Per replied:

It’s a big thing and it’s exciting. It feels great and I have a good feeling about it in every way. I hope this musical will be a success, so that it can go on around the planet, just like Roxette did once upon a time.

Why I am confident it will work very well not only in Sweden, but all around the world is because all the fans who are definitely not fans of musicals liked the show and as I could see, all the musical fans enjoyed it a lot as well. Win-win!

Ticket sales are going crazy! All shows in autumn are sold out. Malmö Opera decided to add two more shows in December and they sold out in an hour. So, if you still see tickets available, make sure you buy one, because they are selling like hot cakes and you definitely don’t want to miss this show! You can see it at Malmö Opera until 27th April 2025. Get your tickets HERE!

I have to see it again (and again and again) not only to notice even more little details, but to enjoy this amazing piece of art the team put together. The plan was to make a feel-good musical and they oh so succeeded!

West End, Broadway, musical theatres all around the world! C’mon, join the JOYRIDE!

 

Cast and creatives

Creatives

Based on the songs of Roxette and the novel Got You Back by Jane Fallon

MUSIC AND LYRICS by Per Gessle
ORIGINAL BOOK by Klas Abrahamsson
NEW BOOK by Guy Unsworth
DIRECTED by Guy Unsworth
MUSICAL SUPERVISOR Joakim Hallin

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CONDUCTOR Joakim Hallin / Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason
SET DESIGN David Woodhead
COSTUME & MASK DESIGN Torbjörn Bergström
CHOREOGRAPHY Miles Hoare
LIGHTING DESIGN Ulrik Gad
SOUND DESIGN Avgoustos Psillas
ARRANGEMENTS Joakim Hallin
ORCHESTRATIONS Joakim Hallin, Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundquist
VIDEO DESIGN Daniel Denton /Nathan Fernée (animator)

Cast

STEPHANIE Jessica Marberger / us Caroline Gustafsson
KATIE Marsha Songcome / us Kerstin Hilldén
JOE Alexander Lycke / Patrik Martinsson
NATASHA Sara Lehmann / us Sienna Sebek
GARY Oscar Pierrou Lindén / us Rasmus Mononen
MEREDITH Sanna Martin / us Emilie Evbäck
MICHAEL Patrik Martinsson / David Lindell / us Fredrik Sjöstedt
JOHN Jan Modin / us Erik Gullbransson
STELLA Sara Stjernfeldt / Elsa Zetterqvist Thunström / Tilda Hallström

Ensemble

Marcus Elander
Kerstin Hilldén
Michael Jansson
Caroline Gustafsson
Patrik Martinsson
Fredrik Sjöstedt
Erik Gullbransson
Sienna Sebek
Rasmus Mononen
Emilie Evbäck
David Lindell
Emmie Asplund
Joel Zerpe
Steffen Hulehøj Frederiksen
Robin Lake
David Auxoilte
Oliver Gramenius
Hanna Carlbrand
Emma Kumlien
Leila Jung
Christel Nilsen

Malmö Opera Orchestra

Publisher

PUBLISHER / AGENCY Nordiska ApS / Jimmy Fun Music

All photos in the article have been taken by Patrícia Peres

Per Gessle interview on Studio Ett about “Joyride – The Musical”

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Studio Ett, news magazine on Swedish Radio P1, did a phone interview with Per Gessle after he saw one of the final rehearsals of Joyride – The Musical on 3rd September. Listen to it HERE!

The program leaders welcome Per Gessle on the show. He is joining via phone from Halmstad. Per was in Malmö yesterday (on 3rd September) to see one of the final rehearsals. The program leaders are curious what it was like to see and hear Roxette songs in musical form. Mr. G says it was the first time he got to see it together with an audience and it was absolutely fantastic. It’s a strange experience, of course, but it’s awesome. It’s a new chapter in the book in a way. It’s amazing.

To the question in what way it is a strange experience, Per replies it’s awesome, it’s so big. There are almost 300 people who worked full time on this musical in Malmö. It’s a huge production and there are costumes, there is a 45-piece orchestra and everything is larger than life. Then they play these Roxette songs for 2.5 hours. It’s absolutely magical.

Per is asked if it was obvious to say yes to the musical. He says it wasn’t. They have been talking about it since 2015, actually. They got the first request then and he has been to various showcases in London and everywhere. Different companies, different producers presented different ideas, but they have all been turned down, because the script has never been good enough. Then they heard about Jane Fallon’s book, Got You Back and all of a sudden it felt like it could work with their music. It’s a cool story and it simply fits the music. Per doesn’t think the music itself has any major problems to fix so it works in a musical context. There are very big emotions and big melodies and there are a lot of ups and downs. So it fits the musical format very well.

As Per saw the show yesterday in Malmö with a lot of people, but there are many who of course haven’t seen it yet, the program leader asks him to describe it. Mr. G says that so far there were three rehearsals with invited audiences, e.g musical school children and others, but the actual premiere is on Friday. It’s magnificent. It’s a large venue for 1,400 people, it’s a fairly large theatre. It’s a fantastic production that has a huge orchestra and an enormously talented cast. There are many singers and dancers. You have to go and have a look yourself, he suggests.

The program leader says Roxette was Per and Marie Fredriksson, who passed away five years ago and is missed. She wasn’t really a musical girl, so the program leader is curious what Per thinks Marie would have thought about this musical. Per says Marie liked the musical idea. He thinks Marie would have thought this was great fun, because it keeps the Roxette spirit and the Roxette catalogue is shown to new audiences. Per thinks you should welcome such things. He thinks it’s the same they did with the Gyllene Tider movie that premiered this summer. You reach a new group of people, a new generation all the time with your music, so he thinks Marie would have thought this was amazing.

Speaking of the GT movie, it’s very much Per Gessle right now. Musical, film, Roxette tour with Lena Philipsson by his side next year, new solo album in October. Per turned 65 in January and the program leader asks him if this is how he picks up the pace. Per laughs and says he is retired now. He says he ended up on the cover of a pensioners’ magazine. He was shocked. Getting back to the question, it just happened. The movie and the musical were not really meant to come out with such a short interval, but it has become so. Per tries to keep up as much as he can. He likes his work and he loves working with all these projects. It’s incredibly exciting stuff, both the film and the musical and the solo album, which is mostly duets in Swedish, coming in October. It’s very exciting. Then the whole adventure with Lena Philipsson next year will also be a completely new blank page of what it will be. So he tries to keep up as best as he can.

Roxette has sold close to a hundred million records. It’s almost hard to take in. They have had enormous success. The program leader asks Per how often it comes to his mind when, for example, he was packing food boxes in Halmstad and his teacher came by and said „I knew this is where you would end up”. Per laughs and says it was like that. He says he came from a fairly simple childhood and very much lived in the middle of his little bubble all his life until he met MP and started a band in the late ’70s. It became Gyllene Tider. We all have our own destiny and lines to follow, so he tried to keep up as best as he could. It has been fantastic.

The program leader asks Per what of everything he does he would most like this teacher to see and hear. Per says, nothing, he didn’t like him. Per doesn’t think about it, it doesn’t matter anymore. There are so many adversities that you face, especially when you are young. It becomes a driving force. You have to show yourself that you can handle things. Per has always been quite a determined and ambitious type. It was one of many things that got him going.

The program leader mentions that as Per says, he loves to work and he loves his job, but a large part of his job was Marie Fredriksson. She wants to know how much Per misses her in everyday life and now that Joyride – The Musical is premiering. Mr. G says it’s been a long time since Marie passed away, but he thinks about her every day. Especially now, when so many Roxette-related things are going on. She is there in spirit somehow. The whole musical is an homage to her in a way, it’s also written in the program. It’s clear that she is felt. Per has to say that it’s highly emotional for him to sit in the theatre and hear all these songs. You kind of travel back to a lot of events, tours and things that they worked on over the years. It’s a common journey that’s completely unique, so it’s clear that Marie is there all the time.

The program leader asks what the strongest memory is that Per gets from watching this musical and hearing their songs. It’s above all the big Marie ballads, It Must Have Been Love, Spending My Time, Queen Of Rain, the songs that she represents. Every time you hear these songs, she sits next to them. It’s magical. Then there are some of her songs that are in the musical as well, songs that she has written, so it’s not just Per’s stuff. It’s amazing, Per thinks. He adds that he thinks a lot of people will like this, because it’s strong and a lot of people have a very big relationship with Roxette, especially with Marie.

The program leader says there are many people who have a relationship with Roxette all over the world. She is curious if Per thinks many people will go to Malmö to see the show. Mr. G says he actually knows that that is the case. Someone at Malmö Opera said that 45 percent of all tickets sold are bought by people who have never been to Malmö Opera before. It must mean that Roxette is a strong magnet.

Here the interview ends by thanking Per for joining Studio Ett.

Per Gessle thinks “Joyride – The Musical” is awesome

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TT News Agency has published an article in which they talk to Joyride – The Musical director Guy Unsworth.

There have been many suggestions of a musical based on Roxette’s music. Per Gessle has turned down previous offers, because the scripts weren’t good enough, including one that focused on cancer during a period when Marie Fredriksson was ill.

When Unsworth came in as director, it was about one thing: keeping the Roxette spirit.

It was one of the first conversations I had with Per, if you want to capture Roxette in a feeling, what kind of feeling would it have been? For Per, it’s a lot about having fun at concerts. At the same time, they have made songs that evoke incredibly strong emotions.

The result is a musical based on both parts.

Unsworth continues:

We wanted the audience to smile, but at the same time we also wanted to manage the fact that Roxette is associated with some of the biggest “break-up ballads” of all time. The atmosphere is “feel-good” from the early ’90s when they had their heyday.

The script is based on best-selling author Jane Fallon’s novel Got You Back from 2008 – a triangle story full of drama.

The dangerous thing about musicals is that many people come just to listen to the music. That’s why we wanted a story that outweighs the music.

Another challenge has been to attract both devoted Roxette fans and musical enthusiasts. Unsworth explains:

We want to reach out to everyone regardless of whether they like Roxette or not, but we will offer a little extra to all fans. We’ve woven in some of the lesser known songs. So if you are really a fan, there are a few surprises in both costumes and melodies. It’s also a little tribute to Marie.

With two days left until the premiere at Malmö Opera, Unsworth believes they will succeed in conveying the Roxette spirit. The tickets are almost sold out until December and Gessle himself has expressed that he is satisfied.

He has been an important part of the process. He has been very present, but also trusted us very much. He probably realized that musicals were not his area of interest and instead turned to others. I was fascinated by the idea of creating something that he would appreciate. He has said that he thinks it will be an awesome musical.

Check out Aftonbladet for the original Swedish text.