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nordleuchten · 4 years ago

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La Fayette's first letter to Washington

This is the very first letter (that we know of) that the Marquis de La Fayette wrote to General Washington. He wrote the letter while recuperating from the wound he suffered during the battle of Brandywine on September 11. There is something else about the letter that is quite remarkable - it is a direct inside in La Fayette’s process of learning English. After Washington’s death, his family returned all of La Fayette’s letters to the Marquis, as was rather common at that time. With the letters once more within his keep, La Fayette did something that he did with many, especially many of his early letters - he edited them. In the square brackets is all that La Fayette crossed out while editing. He also added a few sentences here and there but these additions are taken out of this version of the letter - the letter has basically been restored to its original state. So, when you are reading the letter and find yourself stumbling over La Fayette’s, at times quite … individual way of spelling things - that is just how he wrote back in October of 1777. (As somebody for whom English is a secondary language as well, I can relate. I would not want for anybody to see my first attempts at writing in English either.)

Bethlehem, Pa. the 14 october 1777

My dear general

I do not do myself the honor of wr[a]ïting to you as many times as I would ch[u]se, because I fear to disturb[e] your important occupations—but I indulge Now that pleasure to me on the occasion of the two nominations of Congress—general connay is a so brave, intelligent, and active officer that he schall, I am sure, justify more and more the esteem of the army and Your approbation—for the baron de Kalb who is unknown to your excellency I ca’nt tell any particularity of his arrangements since his [niew] convention with Congress, because I am not well acquainted with them—he was employed with succis in the last war in the [part] of ammunition and fourages—I wrote to cannay to congratulate him and I believe indeed that he will acquitt himself [with his functions] as well as possible—for [the] baron de Kalb I do not Know Where he is—I do’nt take the liberty of asking the sentiments of your excellency about those promotions because I do not think that Congress could [be able of doing] such a things in the army without your [petition] and approbation.

I can’t express to you, dear General, with what pleasure I heard general gates’s advantages [upon] the queen’s light dragoons’s colonel—without speaking of my very sincere love for our cause; without speaking of Congress [which (betwen us) I am not so fond of as I was in france], every thing important to your own succis, agreement, and glory procures me the greatest happiness.

Give me leave, dear general, to Speack to you about my own [business] with all the confidence of a son, of a friend, as you favoured me with those two so precious titles—my respect, my affection for you, answer to my own heart that I deserve them on that side as well as possible—Since our last great conversation I would not tell any thing to your excellency, for my taking a division of the army—you were in too important occupations to be disturbed—for the Congress he was in a great hurry, and in such a time I take my only right of fighting; I forget the others—now that the honorable Congress is settled quiete, and making promotions, that some changements are ready to happen in the divisions, and that I endeavoured myself the 11 september to be acquainted with a part of the army and Known by them, advise me, dear general, for what I am to do—it is not in my character to examine if they have had, if they can have never some obligations to me, I am not usued to tell what I am, I wo’nt Make no more any petition to Congress because I can now refuse, but not ask from them, therefore, dear general, I’l conduct myself by your advices. consider, if you please, that europe and particularly france is looking upon me—That I want to do some thing by myself, and justify that love of glory which I left be known to the world in making those sacrifices which have appeard so surprising, some say so foolish[.] do not you think that this want is right? in the begining I refused a division because I was diffident of my being able to conduct it without Knowing the character of the men who would be under me. now that I am better acquainted no difficulty comes from me—therefore I am ready to do all what your excellency will think proper—you Know I hope with what pleasure and satisfaction I live in your family: be certain that I schall be very happy if you judge that I can Stay in america without any particular employement when Strangers come to take divisions of the army, and when myself by the only right of my birth should get in my country without any difficulty a body of troops as numerous as is here a division—we have there different ways of advancement as the different ranks of men—I know it is not right—but I would deserve the reproachs of my friends and family if I would leave the advantages of mine to Stay in a country where I could not find the occasions of distinguishing myself—I do not tell all that to my general, but to my father and friend—for Congress I’l tell never nothing to them because tho’ I like very much some as Mr lee, Mr lawrence &c. Some others did not behave with me with that frankness which is the proof of an honest mind—all what I have the honor to wraït to your excellency in this letter is, if you please, under the most intimate secret, and confidence—I schall conduct myself entirely by your advices, and if You say that some thing is proper I’l do it directly—I desire only to know your opinion.

among the officers who came on board of my ship, this whom Congress did pay the less regard to, is the very same whom I recommended as the most able and respectable man and my best friend—he was coming only for me—if I was to be at the head of a division and your excellency would be master of it, (as I am told that Stephens gives his dismission) I can not help to tell you that a division of virginians as they are, principally with general woodfort would be the most agreable for me.

I hope that I’l be in camp in three or four days when I’l be able to speack to your excellency about all my busineses. I beg your pardon for being so tedious. it is for You a very disagreable and troublesome proof of my confidence—but that confidence is equal to the affection and respect which I have the honor to be with Your excellency’s the most obedient servant

the mquis de lafayette

#marquis de lafayette #george washington #lafayette #la fayette #american history #french history #amrev #american revolution #letters #englisch #learning #i can relate

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veilingofthesun · 8 years ago

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My Tänk Om(If/Then) review/report part 2

I’m gonna start this up by explaning a bit more about the scenography. The stage is a turntable, so they revolve it to change the layout of the six ramps and create new spaces and sets. The ramps differ between being on the ground, standing up and hanging on wires from the roof. Inside the ramps they put different set pieces, like the chairs on the train, Lisa’s bathroom, her bed, a couch…The ramps serves as a benches at the football game, bar in the moment explodes etc…often the ensemble dance on them or sit on them when they’re in the background of a scene…

One of the ramps has chairs attached to it that’s used for the first scene with Betty and Steffen in the office and later reused for The moment explodes where they serve as airplane seats.

The lightning really complements the set perfectly. I think they’ve been inspired by the broadway versions lightning in some scenes…it’s got a very similar colour scale going on. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and as I mentioned before, it’s really effectful the way the dancers creates shapes and silhouttes…

The costume design is so well thought out…the ensemble has a base costume of grey and pastells and it creates a beautiful effect. The ensemble are usually a bit more edgy and modern.

Kate’s costumes are mostly very colourful and she’s got bracelets and big earrings. Her clothes are as loud as she is.

Anne has awesome costumes, she looks so cool. She never wears a dress or skirts. She has a lot of ripped jeans, leather jackets, denim shirts, leather pants and sneakers.

Lisa is dressed in a more relaxed way…she’s a jeans and t-shirt/shirt/knitted shirt kind of person. The only time she wears a dress is when she’s pregnant and when she’s getting married. Her colour scale is mostly blue, white and black. Her bright pink shirt from the trailer and the pro pics has been changed to a white one…it suits her personality much better. Since she’s very much the girl next door…She’s got a very ‘swedish’ style..if you’d walk down the street in any swedish town you’d see a lot of women dressed like Lisa..

Betty is similar in the way that she never wears a dress or skirt either and she mostly wears black, dark blue and sometimes a bit of dark teal…

She’s got a more business woman style, of course. Lots of dress pants and blazers paired with heels. When she’s not working, she dresses like Lisa.

Lucas dresses similar to broadway Lucas with hoodies, striped shirts and pants. His colours are mostly green and red. He always has a scarf on.

John has similar outfits to his broadway version too…he looks stylish but his clothes dosen’t stand out much. Earthy tones, jeans, knitted shirts, a leather jacket. Very down to earth and Joshish…

Elena is more young and girlier in her dress sense than her broadway counterpart. She dresses like a lot of young students in Sweden does..like she buys all of her clothes at H&M.

This day/Walking by a wedding

The ensemble sounds so amazing in this one and the choreography is really beautiful. It starts out with a couple in wedding clothes and their wedding party. The groom comes out carrying the bride through the space between the two standing ramps. Later, John comes out carrying Lisa, you realise that the first married couple was dressed exactly the same as Lisa and John. The choreography in wbaw is really beautiful and simple. I can’t really explain it, because if I try it sounds like a bunch of people walking around and being affectionate with each other. You kinda have to see it to understand what I’m talking about. It’s both girl/girl pairings, boy/boy pairings and girl/boy pairings walking around behind Bety, holding hands, hugging etc..While Betty sings, she walks around the whole stage..up on the ramps and behind them..

In the beginning of the song, when the broadway cast sings “ And all the wrong turns on the way” the swedish cast instead sings “You learn to be strong and weak” (it’s a swedish expression) which is a nice foreshadowing to yltlw. More foreshadowings to come…

The This day choreography is much more upbeat, of course. I love this routine, the ensemble is having so much fun with this one. Kate/Anne and Lucas/David are adoreable too. David actually carries Lucas in his arms when they come out on the ramps.

The wedding photographer bit has been extended, probably to give Linda some more time to change her clothes..I think that on broadway they had the dress hidden underneath Betty’s skirt. Here Betty wears pants, so I guess they needed a bit more time…

The photographer seems to be very drunk when he shows up. He starts asking where the bridesmaids and groomsmen are and all of the wedding party starts messing with him. Poor guy, lol.

The outro has been extended a bit too, some of the ramps has to be lowered down and the stage revolves to create the setting for Lisa and Johns conversation leading up to Hey Kid.

Hey Kid

It starts out the same way as on broadway, John at the table with the laptop and Lisa coming in and slamming the laptop shut. But then she proceeds to throw the newspaper straight at him when she talks about the kid being killed in traffic.

John tells her that she’s oversensitive in which she replies: I’m not over sensitive, then she cries out: I’m sensitive.

I have watched quite a few bootlegs and heard some audios, but I can’t recall hearing a Lisa being this angry and because she’s so angry it gets John going too. They’re both so good in this scene though. Their chemistry just keeps getting better and better in every scene. Linda has a great balance between being angry and very matter of factly. Especially when she says the line: “I’m a neurotic mess…” That’s the way I am, deal with it.

Three ensemble women comes out to dance on the ramps behind him wearing hospital gowns and baby bumps. (Imagine the contraction ballet from Waitress..kind of) The dancers leaves once Lisa comes back on stage, and then there’s just the three of them.

Instead of a nurse coming out with the baby, Lisa comes out with the baby, holds him for a while and then hands him over to John who sings the rest of the song with the baby in his arms. Lisa sits on the bed watching them, looking completely drained and in tears, but she also looks at them so lovingly. The look on her face breaks your heart.

Christopher is so amazing in this song. Both vocally and emotionally. He conveys all the different feelings and emotions John goes through in this song perfectly. He’s so believeable and puts so much feeling into this song and his performance.

A quick thing regarding the change of Jake’s name to Tim that I forgot to mention in part 1. Linda has a son called Tim who’s been around a bit during rehearsals and performances, so it’s a little nod to him. :)

Some other me

Okay, remember how I talked about Ydntlm and the beautiful heartbreaking dance routine? I thought it could not get even more beautiful and heartbreaking…but I was so wrong. The combination of everything in this number, the intense emotions, the beautiful singing, the choreography, the fantastic dancers, has completely ruined this song for me(in a good way) I can’t even think about this song let alone listen to it without breaking into tears. I have it on my playlist at work, and nowadays that is not a good thing..

I really wish Malmö Opera or the choreographer, Ambra Succi, would post some clips from this number (or any other number for that matter) or from rehearsals. Or just the dancers doing the routine. Because this is SO good, it really deserves to be seen.

First things first, the actors. Oh, they really break my heart here. Previously, their relationship was so easy going, compared to this. Sure, they had their issues sometimes, but they were always there for each other and they were never uncomfortable together. In this scene they’re so uncomfortable and awkward around each other. You could really feel the tension in the room. There’s thick silence and both of them desperately trying to find something to say..and when they do, it’s forced, It’s clear that neither Betty nor Lucas know what to say or how to act around the other one. And it’s so sad to see them that way…It’s clear that they both miss what they had and don’t know how to get it back.

Their fight here is really intense, I’ve talked before how passionate Lucas is about everything. And he’s so angry here, and since they play so well off each other, Betty is furious with him too.

Moving onto the whole scene: There’s a male and a female dancer that wears the same color scheme and the same type of clothes as Lucas and Betty. The male dancer also has his hair in a manbun. The dancers dance Betty and Lucas story. It starts off with the dancers seperately from the actors, a bit lighter in the mood. When Lucas verse starts, both Betty and the dancer symbolising her, sit next to each other on the ramp, watching their men. Occassionally reacting to the things their Lucases are singing/dancing, for example throwing their arms out in frustration(mirroring each other, of course)…Just as in ydntlm, Lucas and the dancer mirror each other.

When they reach the bridge of the song, Actor Betty and Dancer Betty approach Actor Lucas and Dancer Lucas. The dance gets more intense and portrays where they are now. They continue to mirror each others movements throughout the rest of the song. Actor Betty and Dancer Betty switch places, so that Actor Betty stands slightly behind Dancer Lucas. But she and Dancer Betty glances across the stage at their Lucas with a sad face, before they all go their seperate ways…

It’s so simple, just the actors and the dancers, yet so effectful…

The way Lucas says: “It was nice seeing you” is so weary and angry…

I hope I didn’t confuse you, it’s hard to explain because it really has to be seen. But I really wanted to try to paint a picture of it for you. Because it’s truly something very special.

I stole this picture from one of the dancers instagram..This picture is not the best to describe it, because it’s in the middle of a move and they’re not wearing the clothes they had on in the show…but imagine the girl dancer in jeans and a blue shirt and the guy dancer in in green/greyish jeans and a red shirt. It will give you an idea at least… Edited because I forgot something I wanted to mention about Jonas (Lucas)… He is terrific…hi’s portrayal of Lucas is so amazing. I mentioned before how passionate and angry he is ..he plays those scenes so well. But he is also really caring, sweet, needy, hilarious, cranky and a bit of a drama queen….there’s so many layers to him and Jonas manages to be believeable in all of them…He has found a great balance between all these sides..he really makes you feel so bad for Lucas but he also makes you laugh a lot..

Best worst mistake

Where do I start? These two adorable little geeks makes me so happy. David arrives on his bike, Lucas has the baby’s stroller on his scooter and gets scolded by Lisa. David is so proud when he shows her the baby helmet, he smiles like a little school boy and says: Super cute!. Lisa is not so amused. When Lisa takes her leave she ‘accidently’ forgets the helmet. David runs after her and calls out to her: Lisa, wait, the baby helmet! She laughs awkwardly and mumbles sarcastically: “Yes, How did I manage to forget that one?” and throws it into the stroller.

When she has left, David says: “We could have our own, you know” and Lucas replies: “Baby helmet?” David’s face is a picture.

Moving forward in the dialogue, when David says that he saw Lucas shopping for baby clothes last night, (baby JCrew has been changed to H&M)he proceeds to shout really loudly over the whole park that Lucas buys baby clothes at H&M.

There are six male dancers behind them on the ramps. Three dressed in Lucas style and color scheme and three in Davids. The ‘David’ guys sometimes has baby strollers incorporated into the choreography. When Lucas says: “You tricked me into saying that”, two of the dancers rides past them on a bike, laughing at Lucas. David smiles knowingly at them and says: Hi guys!

During this number they ride on Lucas scooter together, as you can see in the trailer. They’ve gone with the feel of the orginal here too, with David’s bike and Lucas on his scooter (I know that it was a skateboard, but it’s almost the same..) and in the end they bike and scooter away off the stage. They’re so sweet and funny together that I just smiled throughout the whole number.

I need to mention something about the translation…we didn’t notice it live. But when we were listening to the audio while trying to fix the sound a bit, we noticed something..You know when Lucas sings “Let it go”, in swedish he sings Slå dig fri (which just happens to be the swedish title of the song Let it go) We laughed out loud when we heard that. Very well played by the translator. Either he’s really done his research or it’s mentioned in the material they got when they bought it…Either way, it’s a very nice touch:D

One small thing is that Nils(Davids) voice is not completely suited for this song…he’s got a real ‘church’ like voice, which works perfectly for wwyd..but maybe not as well for this one…but it’s a small issue…He makes up for it with his passion and charms. It sounds better when they sing together too..

I hate you

I had just about recovered from SOM and then this happens…(I knew it was coming of course, I almost cried when I saw the kids beds being wheeled in…my vulnerable heart couldn’t take anymore…basically act 2 was a big sob fest)

It starts out with John on the phone and Lisa by the kids beds. But instead of saying: Let’s have wine while we can…she goes over to him, kisses him and starts taking off his shirt. First, he kisses her back, but then he pulls his shirt down, grabs her by the arms and tells her that he has to ship out.

They’re killing me with this one…they both nail this. The beautiful and very organic chemistry they’ve had from the start is on top here. Just when you think it can’t get any better they somehow manage to surprise you yet again. It just feels so real…

There’s actually dancers in this routine, the only Lisa/John song with dancers in it. There’s two pairs, man/woman, on top of a ramp each, with Lisa and John between the ramps. The dancers are all dressed in black and the lightning is quite dark in this scene. The dancers were not distracting at all…they painted pictures of what the actors were singing and acting. I hate you is quite a physical song…she uses her body a lot, pushes John away and expresses her feelings with her whole body. Again, it’s choreographed so well..the dancers and Lisa mirror each other. When she pushes John away, they push their ‘John’ away etc..When John leaves, the male dancers leave and the female dancers remains behind, looking at them as they leave, just as Lisa looks at John…

When John has turned around to leave and she shouts at him to wait, he stands with his back to her and before he has a chance to turn around, she runs towards him at full speed and throws herself at him and holds him really tight. (I like to call it ‘the Gabe grab’…like in i am the one(reprise) where he grabs a hold of Dan) She holds on so tightly and refuses to let go when John has to leave…He literally has to pry himself away from her grip, because she just holds on and refuses to let go. Their faces in that moment…if I hadn’t lost it before I lost it there…

The ramps behind them ‘split’ apart and creates a walkway where John’s soldiers walks in to pick him up. He leaves with them and Lisa stands there looking so small and sad…

Two soldiers comes in the same way to tell her that John has died. Linda is just fantastic here…anyone who performs this song must be so emotionally and physically drained after this. She really takes you on a roller coaster of emotions here…

I really like something they’ve done with the translation here..in the orginal she sings: “Let’s look at this calmly, discuss how I hate you..”, in swedish she sings: “Let’s look at this calmly, with focus on hating” It really hits home how she focuses on hating him to not think about the pain and how much she’ll miss him..

Small edit: In the orginal she sings I love-d you. In swedish you can’t add a letter to make a word past tense. So instead she sings I love you(very big and dramatic) and, whimpers ‘loved’ silently and then sings ‘have loved you’ kind of angrily. It kind of changes it a little bit, but it works really well…the contrast between that quiet little word and the anger in the next three words is very powerful.

A map of New York(reprise)

Not much to say about the song since it’s so short…but he sounds great in it though.

Funny little moment though: Betty’s fixing her make up while Steffen is talking to her and her intern is fixing her hair, spraying it and fluffing it up..When he’s done,(the intern is a guy in this version) Betty whispers something to him and they smile..On the way out, he sprays Steffen in the face and sassily walks away…

The ensemble are used in the background here as office workers/business men and woman in an office space. At least that’s how I interpret it…They walk around in the background and sometimes connect with each other.

When Steffen says: “Have you learned to take care of yourself?” Betty gets a text message, checks her phone and dosen’t pay attention to what he says and asks: What? Steffen makes a: “told you so face”, like he thinks that she’s too invested in her work.

You learn to live without

I love how this scene is set up..the almost completely black lightning with some shades of blue fits the scene perfectly. It’s really simple and intimate(this is one of my favourite pro pics, because it captures the feel and mood brilliantly..it’s also a great shot:D) This picture captures the conversation where the friends talk about Lisa..You’ve got the intern up on the ramp, then Kate, Lisa, Anne, David and Lucas.

The song starts with Betty up on the ramp where the intern is. She remains there until the conversation between her friends. While they talk, she walks down the ramp, sits down and becomes Lisa. All five of them stays on stage until the intern and Kate asks if everything is okay. She says: “You can go, all of you..”

I can not say enough good things about this. This song has always been one of my absolute favourites so experiencing it live felt really special. Linda is SO amazing here, both vocally and emotionally…it’s just so beautiful and sad. I think this is one of my favourite moments in the whole musical. I didn’t think I could cry anymore, but sure. the tears were running here too..

And when even the sometimes to a fault polite swedes(who’s really afraid of clapping for a song unless it has a big ending preferably with a boom and a pose, because we don’t want to disturb the flow of the show) applauds even though it blends into another song, then you’ve done your job well. (even though they stopped quickly when they realised they were going into another scene, lol)

I know that I talk a lot about the translations, it’s probably not that interesting, but I’m very impressed with his translations. They’re very true to the orginal and also very beautiful. Because swedish is so different from english, he had to word things differently to get the timing right.

“You learn somehow to like the dark and even love the doubt” is translated to

“You slowly rewrite your life, a dark but strong novel” It sounds a bit strange in english, but it’s beautiful in swedish. It’s very poetic.

The moment explodes

These chairs, as I mentioned before, are attached to the ramp, and is folded down by the actors as they enter for this scene. Even though the stage is a turntable stage, they don’t use it for this scene, as they did in the broadway version. Instead they remain seated throughout the whole song, at the very end of the song they get up and run to the edge of the stage. They do a bit of sitting choreography, grabbing the ramp, each other…some jerky movements.

The dancers behind them dance a very dramatic routine, and coupled with the stunning singing and the gorgeous lightning it becomes very effectful. I keep talking about the silhouettes the dancers creates, but it’s so well thought out, a real collabroation between the choreographer, the set designer and the lightning designer.

They have two flight attendants with a trolley who joins the others on the chairs when the song starts.

Oh, the tracks are a bit different here. The deputy major is also the architect and the bartender is a woman. The bartender and Kate is at the ramp to the left of the one in the picture. Their ramp serves as a bar disk and the bartender slides the drink down to Kate.

The singing and the harmonies is so beautiful here. It’s very powerful..The ensemble is on top form here. Seriously, the whole ensemble is just so good. I adore this cast so much.

Love while you can

The setting here is quite simple…just a bunch of girls sitting behind them reading books. They do what I call ‘bookography’, it’s not a dance routine, but they flip the pages in their books, holds their books up synchronizally etc… The choreography they do in Betty’s verse is repeated in Anne’s verse (probably because Betty and Anne both want Kate & Anne to stay together) and in the bridge and during the rest of the song the choreography changes.

The three of them are amazing in this scene/song. They’re so good together and they play off each other so well. You can really feel the anger in the room here. Kate is so furious at Anne, Anne gets furious at her in return and Betty is so done with being silent and accepting things. Kate runs after her and pulls her back when she tries to get the reading girls attention by calling out: My ladies…and ladies. They just look at her and shushes her.

Karolin and Sara sounds fantastic, their voices go so well together. I love this song so much, so this was another highlight for me..Lachanze and Jenn Colella is a tough act to follow, but they do a really, really good job. And their passion and chemistry is just fabulous.

They’ve changed the ending of the scene a bit, though. Instead of hugging and walking off together, a teary eyed Kate holds up her hands and walks off stage alone while a devasted looking Anne is left behind. :( That really hurt, it made me want to yell: No! Stay with her! (But I didn’t, of course…I got teary eyed again though..) But, don’t worry, they didn’t get a divorce in Betty’s story too. The timeline in the program says they didn’t…in my head canon Kate needed a bit more time to think it through and then they made up, because their two hours weren’t up after they’d finished singing;)

I have to talk about Sara Lehmann (Anne) too. She’s just phenomenal. (Probably my favourite after Linda) Jenn Colella has really made her mark as Anne, but Sara makes a fabulous Anne. Her voice,her dancing, her passion and performance skills is just WOW. She has this light about her that draws your eye to her a lot of the time. Even when she’s in the ensemble (hidden underneath a cap) she commands your attention. By reading her bio in the program I noticed that it’s her first ‘big’ role. She’s mostly been in the ensemble beforehand. Coming from ensemble roles to a much bigger role makes her performance even more impressive.

The way she embodies the character of Anne is spot on. She’s really going for it. It’s the complete package, singing, acting,dancing, facial expressions(also her wig and costumes play a big part in it, she’s got the coolest hair and awesome costumes) and I can’t forget to mention, body language. Anne is very comfortable with herself and with her body and Sara is not afraid to show that. She takes up a lot of space, sits with her legs spread apart, yells over the whole book store that she likes sex more than Kate, deals with drunk Lucas, who’s almost about to punch Steffen, like a pro…She’s a very nice combination of tough, funny, emotional, passionate and also really nice and caring.

She and Karolin are soooo good together too. Kate does her crazy things and her reactions to Kate’s antics are perfect. Her facials and the way she talks, laughs and sighs at Kate..nailed it.

What would you do

They’ve kept a lot of broadways colour scheme here, both in the lightning and the costumes. It’s simple, but powerful. It’s just the four of them.

The way Lucas says No…no, after Lisa says: “So Zhuangzi was what, an idiot?” is so confused and sweet…and David has to comfort him(kind of like in the orginal)

I love how Linda plays Lisa here, she seems so tense and angry and laughs loudly and uncomfortable sometimes…it’s like she’s trying so hard to keep it together but it’s starting to crack…

This is a very nice moment for Nils to shine. I mentioned before that he has a very deep, ‘church’ like voice, and it works perfectly for this song. It’s so emotional and really beautiful. It sounds and looks like he’s about to burst into tears before he starts singing and that continues throughout the song. Nice little translation parallel again…He sings: If you could start over from the beginning (directly translated, again, a swedish expression) and in ASO Lisa sings: We’re starting over from the beginning..

When they go to get the car ready, Lucas takes David’s hand and they walk off together holding hands…

I haven’t really mentioned the orchestra before, but they deserve some credit too..and I thought they sounded really beautiful in this one(well, they always did…) It’s a big orchestra,almost 30 people(they’re employed by Malmö opera and work on all of their productions) and that makes the beautiful score sound even richer.

Always starting over

Unfortuneately there are no pro pics from ASO:(

This scene starts with Lisa taking out her phone to call John’s cell phone and listening to his voicemail twice. After the second time she starts talking…so it’s like she’s leaving a message on his voicemail. Just that little thing made the tears come out again…

The dialogue leading up to ASO is amazing though…she was really in tears throughout the whole dialogue and the look on her face…you had to see it, but it was heartbreaking…

I mentioned in part one that there’s a parallel between Surprise and Always starting over…she actually sings the same phrase, new start, in both of the songs. (in the orginal it’s and start, here it’s new start) I love all the little parallels they’ve snuck in..

She really nails this song. Listening to Idina and Jackie, I didn’t think we had anyone that could live up their standards…When we first heard that they were making a production of If/Then, we couldn’t think of anyone that we knew could play this part..We’re so happy and pleased with Linda. She really embodies the character and is perfect for the part. She brings out other sides of Elisabeth and has her own take on the character. She plays out the emotions differently. For example, sometimes she’ll be more angry, other times more matter of factly and she also has great balance between the comedy and the tragedy. She has a very sarcastic sense of humor. Not the mean kind of sarcastic, it’s hard to explain. In Sweden we call it krass, there’s no proper english word for it… Her krassness got lots of laughs from the audience, because a lot of swedes are like that, it’s a very common theme in swedish pop culture.

The Lisa part of her character is more physical, uses her body language a lot more, where as Betty she is more ‘restrained’.

She has a great understanding of the role and really seems to love playing Elisabeth and getting to explore two sides of the same character.

There is one thing I’m upset about though, they took out the second verse of ASO:( I love that verse so much, so I’m still not over that. I guess it has to do with the length of the show again..and I can understand that something had to go since other things had been extended, I just wish it wasn’t this though..

I would love to hear/see the lyrics to the second verse, but unfortuneately I don’t think that’s going to happen…but you never know, she might sing it in a concert someday…

What if(reprise)

In What if and the reprise it’s sexy guitar guy and his percussionist friend who sings the first lines. It’s like they’re still singing the same song after five years…

In Lisa’s conversation with Lucas, when he says: “Move to us in the suburbs” David joins them with the baby in a sling and says excitedly: “Yes! Do that” I think it’s really sweet that they involved David in the scene too, I really liked that.

Their baby is called Finn in this version, but don’t worry, Huckleberry has not been removed completely…David starts saying: “Since we had Finn… and Lisa interrupts him by saying: “I’ll call him Huckleberry” She asks them if they want coffee and David says that he and Finn will go with her. As they walk off she says: “Come on, Huckleberry” and laughs. It’s really sweet.

After Lisa and David’s gone off stage, Lucas remains on stage and does his trademark manbun Lucas switch..

Speaking of trademarks, I forgot to mention that Kate carries around a kazoo, which she uses when she deems it appropiate. Usually to call attention to things or when she’s really excited. For example, she uses it to announce that she’s teacher of the year.

The conversation between Kate and Lucas is amazing from start to finish. When Kate goes to get coffee and tells him to not tell Betty, she says: I’ll cut you into pieces, slowly and makes a knife cutting gesture at him. Then she laughs like a hyena.

When Betty tells him to not tell Kate, Lucas brings out his falsetto voice again and screams in panic.

In Betty’s storyline when Lucas tells her to stay and listen to the sexy guitar guy, she walks over to him, listens for a while and then she starts swaying to the music and dances slightly looking very content and happy. In the background you can see John watching her with a smile on his face before approaching her. It’s a beautiful moment.

Betty’s and Josh’s meeting is beautiful. He seems so shy and bit more Lucasish here..He dares to approach her, but when he talks to her he’s a bit more awkward…I love the way he replies to the war guilt line…

The last thing she does before she exits the stage is to take her phone out of her bag. She smiles and holds it up like she either gets a phone call or is about to make a phonecall..

That’s it…thanks so much for reading all this and for caring. I really love this production and I want to spread the Tänk Om love. I didn’t know what to expect before I saw this production but everyone involved has done such an amazing job and they surpassed all of my expectations and hopes. Malmö Opera has been very brave to produce this musical. Here in Sweden everyone usually goes with more famous and traditional musicals because they draw the crowds. We’re a small country with no big traditions of producing original musicals from scratch. So people here are not that used to seeing orginal work that isn’t based on anything.. I believe that most people that has seen Tänk Om hardly knew anything about it beforehand…I’ve seen a few people mention that they knew about the orginal, but the majority of the audiences is completely new to If/Then… I wish I could share footage with you because there’s so many great things that deserves to be seen. But this report and my audio is the best I can do. My ask is open if you have any questions. :)

Big thanks and credit goes to my sister and partner in crime @askyfullofcomets for helping out with this report. We noticed different things so this is a collabroation.

#tänk om #if/then #if/then sweden #malmö opera #drained #but i've loved writing this

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