Abba singer
Successful premiere of Ulvaeus’ Pippi Longstocking musical
Abba star Björn Ulvaeus arrives at the premiere with his partner Christina Sas. Photo: Steffen Trumpf/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Pippi Longstocking in the circus arena: The show “Pippi på Cirkus”, produced by Abba icon Björn Ulvaeus, premiered on Tuesday. The singer is happy afterwards.
The Swedish Abba icon Björn Ulvaeus (77) brought a Pippi Longstocking story to his great compatriot Astrid Lindgren as a circus musical in the ring. The show “Pippi på Cirkus” (Pippi in the circus) produced by Ulvaeus premiered in front of almost 1200 spectators on Tuesday evening in the Stockholm event house Cirkus. In the leading role of the girl with the protruding red pigtails, the actress and musical performer Ida Breimo delighted the audience, who gave the ensemble standing applause for several minutes at the end. The Swedish-language production can be seen in the Swedish capital until August 14th.
“Pippi på Cirkus” is loosely based on the story by children’s book author Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), in which Pippi Longstocking and her friends Tommy and Annika go to the circus together. They meet the circus princess Miss Carmencita, tightrope walker Elvira and the world’s strongest man, the strong Adolf. Ulvaeus wrote the lyrics to the show himself, and his Abba colleague Benny Andersson contributed to the music.
“People clearly loved it. From my point of view, it went very, very well, »said Ulvaeus after the almost 75-minute performance. At the premiere, he walked the red carpet holding hands with a new woman at his side – her name is Christina Sas and Ulvaeus’ new love, as it was called from his environment. In February, the musician and his second wife Lena announced their divorce after more than 40 years of marriage. He had previously been in a relationship with his Abba colleague Agnetha Faltskog for several years.