“Joyride – The Musical” 2.0 premiere in Malmö

Joyride – The Musical had its world premiere in Malmö on September 6, 2024 and celebrated Roxette’s music with 84 sold-out shows. On April 27, 2025, after the final Malmö performance, it was announced that one of Malmö Opera’s biggest audience successes ever would return in 2026.

Joyride took over Stockholm’s China Teatern from September 2025 to March 2026, with 92 performances, before returning to Malmö last Friday, October 2.

I decided early on that I would rejoin the Joyride, and I got hold of my premiere ticket on the day the tickets went on sale. My plan was to see it more than once, but unfortunately, the next show after the premiere is not until October 11, and that didn’t fit my travel schedule. Malmö Opera was kind enough to provide me with a ticket for the final dress and audience rehearsal one day before the premiere, though.

As I’m also a theatre fan, it was fantastic for me to see how a final rehearsal works abroad. Before the show started, director Guy Unsworth came onto the stage and informed us that it was still a rehearsal, so there might be mistakes. He told us to do whatever we wanted: clap, sing, laugh, cry or leave, haha, “No, don’t leave!”

He also shared some bad news: Caroline Gustafsson, who was supposed to play Katie, was sick, so understudy Alexandra Fors – who is otherwise part of the ensemble – would play the role of Katie. Alexandra did a great job and we kept our fingers crossed for Caroline that she would get well for the premiere.

The director, the choreographer and the costume designer were sitting in the audience, observing the rehearsal. A prompter was sitting at the front, and someone in the middle was continuously checking the list of songs (and probably many other things as well).

Before the start of the performance, the Joyride whistle could be heard as a signal and fortunately, they kept Per’s greetings and the mobile alert that they used during the first run. I really missed that in Stockholm.

I loved the intimate feeling in Stockholm, because there you could feel like you were sitting right in the band that was playing the music, but I was really looking forward to hearing the Malmö Opera orchestra playing again. The orchestration is so beautiful, and it was amazing to hear the songs in this setting again.

The rehearsal ended with a standing ovation and the audience was cheering during the performance too, so you could tell that this Joyride season in Malmö is going to be a big success as well.

On Friday, the premiere wasn’t as fancy as the world premiere. I mean, there was no long guest list and red carpet. The Thalia statue in the hall got heart-shaped balloons in her hands and there was a photo wall in the back where you could take pictures.

At 18:00, one hour before show start, costume designer Torbjörn Bergström talked about how he created the costume design for Joyride, where he got his inspiration from and how much he listened to Roxette throughout the entire process. He also talked about ’90s fashion in general. It was very interesting.

Some hardcore Roxers attended the premiere from Hungary, Poland, Germany, Spain and Sweden. Photographers and journalists were expecting Per to perhaps appear before the audience was let into the auditorium, so that they could take photos of him in the hall or ask him questions, but he only entered the auditorium once everyone was sitting inside. He came with Åsa and Marie Dimberg.

The audience was already very enthusiastic when they heard the mobile alert and they stayed active throughout the whole performance, cheering and applauding, with some singing along too.

The cast is new except for two actors. Stella was played by Elsa Zetterqvist Thunström and she performs in most of the shows, but Sara Stjernfeldt is also still playing Stella. They are now two years older, so more grown-up than they were as teenagers two years ago, but as I witnessed, Elsa is singing just as beautifully as before (The First Girl On The Moon) and plays with the same enthusiasm as she did two years ago.

Another good old member of the cast is Oscar Pierrou Lindén, who plays Gary – my personal favourite character. I love how Oscar impersonates him. Great acting, singing and dance moves!

It was very strange to see a new Stephanie after the most amazing Jessica Marberger played this role both in Malmö and in Stockholm, but Jenny Holmgren is great in this role too. She gives the character another touch. Her voice is softer than Jessica’s, but you can clearly see that she enjoys singing these songs.

For the premiere, Caroline Gustafsson had recovered and it was lovely to see her playing Katie. She also has great vocal abilities, and I especially loved the chemistry between Jenny and Caroline when they sing together and when they have scenes together.

Joe is played by Hani Arrabi. I’m still amazed at the high notes all the Joes so far have been able to sing, and I find it amazing that those big Marie ballads (Spending My Time and Queen Of Rain) are sung by a man.

Anna-Maria Hallgarn plays Meredith, and her acting fits this comic character perfectly. Meredith got new costumes compared to Malmö 1.0 and Stockholm. Pretty Woman came into my mind several times while she was trying on different clothes. The scenes are nothing like the shopping scenes on Rodeo Drive in the movie, but somehow that popped into my mind. These scenes in the musical are still great fun. Shoo, shoo! Haha.

Reuben Sallmander plays grandpa John. He is not the typical grandpa-grandpa, but a very jovial, modern grandpa. Sofia Jung plays Gary’s partner in crime, Natasha. She takes on the role with a lot of fun. Andreas Eldeen is great in the role of Michael Sotheby. Gary approved. Haha.

There are some dancers in the ensemble whom I also saw in the first run in Malmö. They are still amazing – the whole team is. There is a new guy who is very acrobatic – he even does a backflip on stage and in the fashion show scene he looks like Jamiroquai.

I’m very happy that my most favourite scene, What’s She Like?, is back in its colorful version. I simply love it! It’s also great that the coreography during Fading Like A Flower is back – now the bigger stage allows the dancers to show the emotions in their choreography.

The Opportunity Nox fashion show scene is also among my favourites, and the quick scenes when Joe still doesn’t know that Stephanie and Katie have teamed up are hilarious.

All in all, this musical is still amazing, and Malmö Opera is a lovely home for it. I would just turn up the volume a bit more so that the music and the singing are louder. If I remember correctly, it was louder during the first run.

Anyway, the show ended with a standing ovation and since it was the premiere, the creators appeared on stage during the curtain call. When Per entered the stage, the cheering got even louder. Haha.

After the main characters take their bows, there is a screening of Marie and Per using clips from the past, just like in Stockholm, with a heart drawn around Marie at the very end of this part. The screening was more clearly visible in Stockholm because here it is projected onto the stage set (the brick-patterned wall and stairs), but it is lovely to see anyway.

The show is fantastic! Hats off again to everyone involved in the making of this musical, both on and off stage, and I wish them sold-out shows and standing ovations night after night all the way through March!

During the break, photographer Ulf Stjernbo could quickly take a picture of Per. After the show, when all the people had already left the building, the hardcore fans stayed in the hope of having the chance to meet Per. First, we met Åsa and could exchange a few words before she had to leave. Then Per came from backstage with Marie Dimberg and kindly stopped to take some photos with us and sign our Joyride booklets. He made all the fans very happy with this gesture.

Get your tickets for the Malmö shows HERE! Altogether, there are 57 shows until March 7, 2027, and some of them are already sold out! There are two sing-along days (December 10 and 17), when the audience can sing along during the show (not that some of us don’t sing along every time we are in the audience, haha), and you can celebrate the end of 2026 with Joyride on December 31.

Have fun if you join the Joyride!

Per after the premiere:

Yea! Amazing opening night of the 2nd run of ”Joyride The Musical” in Malmö last night! What a show this has become! So tight, so rapid, so entertaining. Superb performances + awesome orchestra & arrangements all over the place! I’m so proud to be part of this!