#Anna Maria Hallgarn

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A promotional image for Svenska Teatern’s spring 2023 performances of Next to Normal, featuring Anna-Maria Hallgarn (who’s replacing Maria Ylipää in the role of Diana).

Image from the theatre’s website.

[starlene]

Thank you for the birthday wishes, friends!

Also, thank you to the cast and crew of Next to Normal Helsinki for the tears and feelings (I cry harder every time, it seems like), and @littlebluestars for company! What a nice birthday treat, to see a show and to talk about all things musical theatre before and after.

An auspicious start to my 30s, I hope!

[littlebluestars]

@ svenska teatern please give me more photos of Anna-Maria Hallgarn as Diana. two group photos are not enough

[wild-icarus]

Judas Iscariot, “Heaven On Their Minds”-”Judas’ Death” Costume (Patrik Martinsson) Göta Lejon Jesus Christ Superstar Production 2012-13 (1/2)

Costume design: Camilla Thulin

Jesus: Ola Salo

Mary Magdalene: Anna Maria Hallgarn

Costume Notes: For fans of Peter Johansson’s version (2014 tour) you may find that this is practically identical to Johansson’s costume; however there are some minor differences. Martinsson, unlike Johansson who succeeded him, wears his netted shirt sleeves all the way down to his wrists rather than rolling them up. This is most likely due to preference, one, but also due to Martinsson’s costume’s lack of bracelet/cuffs. Instead of wrist décor Martinsson has simple leather-like chord necklace reminiscent of Carl Anderson’s movie costume’s necklace (minus the beads). From what I can tell Martinsson switches between tucking his pants into his boot or having the pants go over the tops of the boots. He also leaves his netted shirt mainly untucked, so it covers his belt (which appears to be plain black, different from Johansson’s). It also appears early on Martinsson had a more brown straight wig (top center and right pic) which was later switched to the more grey wavy wig, which is kept for the 2014 tour as well. Martinsson also has little eye makeup, especially lacking in eyeshadow which will change for the 2014 tour. One final thing about the costume, he only wears the black velvet jacket for “Heaven on Their Minds“ and perhaps the betrayal based on the second row left picture though I believe that is merely a promo shot and not what he actually look like in that scene (assumption based on Johansson’s performance).

Production Notes: This version later went on tour which was the 2014 Arena Tour with Peter Johansson as Judas. From this version in Stockholm to the tour there is very little change. The only change aside from costume is Jesus’s face. As you may have noticed in one of the photos Jesus has red stars on his face, while they do not stay the whole show they stay for a bit of the first act. This was removed later on in the run and for the tour, but was probably a continuation from the 2008 Malmö Opera version where Jesus had a single red circle painted on his forehead.

The 2014 arena tour of this version is available on Peter Johansson’s YouTube channel (act 1, 2). For Martinsson as Judas, his “Heaven on Their Minds” is available in full on YouTube and parts of his “Superstar” is available in the trailer for this production (bts video available as well).

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Wasa Teater’s production of Ingvar!, the IKEA musical. Featuring Thomas Lundin, Tove Qvickström, Erik-André Hvidsten, Johan Aspelin, Anna-Maria Hallgarn and Maria Udd.

Photo by Frank A. Unger.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

Mainoskatko!

Musikaalimatkassa-podcastin uusimmassa jaksossa katsotaan suomenruotsalaista teatteria suomalaisin, ruotsalaisin ja norjalaisin silmin.

Miten suomalaiset teatterinkatsojat eroavat skandinaavisista yleisöistä, entä millaista Suomessa on työskennellä ulkomaalaisena? Voiko kielimuurin ylittää? Musikaalinäyttelijät Anna-Maria Hallgarn ja Erik-André Hvidsten vastaavat!

Seuraa Musikaalimatkassa-podcastia: Soundcloud // iTunes // Facebook // Twitter

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Wasa Teater’s production of Ingvar!, the IKEA musical. Featuring Thomas Lundin, Johan Aspelin, Anna-Maria Hallgarn, Tove Qvickström, Erik-André Hvidsten, Maria Udd and Saara Lehtonen.

Photo by Frank A. Unger.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

My third personal favourite is this photo by Frank A. Unger featuring Anna-Maria Hallgarn as Diana Goodman in Wasa Teater’s 2012 production of Next to Normal.

I think this photo is a fantastic depiction of the character. It’s a private, vulnerable, very honest moment. It’s as if we’re looking at a real woman with all her fears and scars instead of an actor playing a character – until we remember that if she were real, this photo would not have been taken, since no one wants to be captured in a moment like this.

Frank A. Unger is Wasa Teater’s resident photographer and graphic designer. Give him a follow on Instagram (as you can see there, he’s also a talented blacksmith!), check out his photos on the blog or go browse Wasa Teater’s website for more of his work.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

Musikaalimatkassa the podcast interviews musical actors Anna-Maria Hallgarn (Sweden) and Erik-André Hvidsten (Norway) about working in Finland, culture shocks, and playing furniture in an IKEA musical. The interview is in English.

Full episode in Finnish here.

[fyeahfinnishmusicaltheatre]

A scene from Wasa Teater’s upcoming production of Ingvar!, the IKEA musical. Featuring Richard Mitts, Anna-Maria Hallgarn, Tove Qvickström, Thomas Lundin, Erik-André Hvidsten, Johan Aspelin, Maria Udd and Saara Lehtonen.

Photo by Frank A. Unger.

[starlene]

I did an audio interview in English!

Me and my co-host got to interview musical actors Anna-Maria Hallgarn (from Sweden) and Erik-André Hvidsten (from Norway) about working in Finland for our musical theatre podcast. We talk about language barriers, cultural differences, how audiences in different Nordic countries differ from each other... and about playing furniture in an IKEA musical, too. We don’t introduce ourselves here, but I’m the one who asks most of the questions.

Anna-Maria and Erik-André are both so nice, this interview was a joy to do. (Whole episode in Finnish here.)