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I should go to bed since I got work tomorrow... But I just had to update with this little... travel-report? Musical-report? Whatever you wanna call it. :-)
Had to get up quite early yesterday morning, but hey... it was cool. :-) Took a shower and then got some food in me before![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
peting73 drove me and spicehobbit to the train station.
It wasn't crazy early, but I like to take it slow in the morning. The bus left at 8:40am and then around 10am we took a train from Gothenburg all the way to Malmö. The trip was pretty uneventful, I'd say. Unless you count the time a girl asked us to stop talking so damn much, since we were bothering her. X-D We did travel First Class since we ordered our tickets so early it was still very cheap. :-) So we felt truly spoiled with free fruit, tiny cakes and coffee and tea for free. Was a lovely trip.
Once at Malmö, we had NO idea where to go to find the hotel were we were to stay. *lol* Both of us are talkative and slightly crazy, so we just walked up to two bored security guards and asked where the town square was where the hotel was supposed to be located. Apparently they liked talking to two crazy ladies, so they told us how to go and were really sweet. :-)
Off we went! And it was raiiiinging... UGH! Boring. But we didn't have much packing, so we got to the square quite quickly and found the hotel quite quickly to once we were there. The guy at the reception desk was a real sweet heart, and we got the key cards to our room right away! And what a lovely hotel and room it was! If you EVER go to Malmö in Sweden, I do recommend Elite Plaza Hotel. It was LOVELY! The whole place felt newly renovated and was just... top notch on all accounts.
After settling in getting rid of our bags and such, we explored the city a little. We haven't been to Malmö before, so we asked our way when we didn't know where to go. Give a smile to a stranger on the street and you'll get a smile in return. :-D We found a really nice restaurant that way where we more or less stuffed our selfs with food. X-D And we went to Malmö Operahouse too! To get our tickets thatspicehobbit had pre-ordered for us. It was a bit messy there that day, but we kept patient and after waiting for 15mins or so, things calmed down and we got our tickets and a programme for the show to, of course! :-)
So after that and dinner, we went back to the hotel to... try and make ourselfs look pretty. *lol* I'd givespicehobbit a higher score in that. Blonde, short and looking like a total sweetheart. :-)
And then off we went to the Opera! :-D
It was huge inside as well as outside. Gorgeous building. And once we've gotten rid of our coats, we managed to find our seats. Again, I've been proved to trustspicehobbit with things like this. We had BRILLIANT seats! Quite close to stage, but not to close, you know? So that was brilliant.
Then Les Miserables started.
Holy fuck.
Swedish actors and singers Dan Ekborg and Fred Johanson played Jean Valjean and Javert respectively. And even though Fred Johanson fucking OWNED the stage as soon as he entered it, Dan Ekborg was not far behind. What Fred is so good at, besides having a voice that makes my whole chest vibrate (sign of a good singer, according to my mom), is that he has SUCH a presence on stage. He doesn't have to do much when he enters the stage. He just owns it. Yes, I fangirl him a bit, but there is a reason for it. He is just THAT AWESOME!
I really liked how Dan played Valjean and how Fred played Javert. If you look at the story classically, Valjean is usually portrayed as insanely good and Javert as insanely evil. Well. After reading the book, I've never seen it like that. I think the whole story is just a whole big gray mess. There is no one pure good, and no one pure evil. Apparently Dan and Fred agreed with me on this, because that is JUST the way they played them. Valjean might work damn hard to be good, but the criminal... the assassin and thief... is still there. Not far away. And Javert? He is sooo damn hard on himself... there is NO compromises in his world. No doubt. Only order and responsibility. That is why he is so dead set on finding Valjean. So none of them is really bad. And none of them is really good. And both Dan and Fred really, really played on that. Best part really of the whole thing. I loved how they played off each other on stage.
In the show programme there is really really interesting interview with Dan Ekborg and Fred Johanson how they see their characters. I loved reading this. I stumbled on an english translation of it on Tumblr just now. So go read it, will you! It is awesome! :-D
Two men - Two ideologies about doubt and choice: A translation of an interview about Malmö Operas Valjean and Javert
Then there was the classical romance couple, of course. :-) Cosette was really nicely played, I must say. Not a spoiled brat, but a young woman trying to figure herself and her history out. Must say I liked that. Cute woman with a bright wonderful voice. (I like male singers more though, to be honest.) And then there was Marius who falls in love with her (and she in him). From the actor/singer I got the feeling that this is a very naive young man with strong political views that he don't understand where they might bring him... At least not to his near death, had it not been for Jean Valjean. :-P
Can't have a story without the bad guys, right? X-D And the Thénardiers were HILARIOUS! Both the comic relief AND the creepy bad guys... Because even though their songs and scenes were a laugh, you really really got that creepy feeling from them. Mounsiour Thénardier was supposed to be played by another famous swedish actor, but he wasn't there that night. Didn't matter that much though, since his understudy really did bring it all to the stage. Got a Gollum feel from him. Sneaky smiley at your face, while preparing to stab a knife at your back... Madame Thénardier had some SERIOUS boobs with the biggest décolletage I've ever seen! Didn't know you could get a WHOLE SET of table china in gold down a décolletage like that! o.O Impressive... I think.... *lol*
You could say I loved the whole thing! Well, the only critical thing I could have to say about the show is that to get the story... at least in the beginning in the first act... you kinda have to be familiar with how the story goes from the start. If you don't know the story, you will be confused and not understand where you are and why things happen. :-P So that was a bad thing. But the rest seriously rocked!
After the show was over, all the actors and singers got standing ovations! They'd deserved it after the three hour long show. I even jumped up and down and hollered when Fred Johanson got on stage to take his bow! X-D Not sure if that is proper protocol in an opera house, but I didn't give a fuck! HE ROCKED!
When we'd gotten our way out and our coats in the sea of people that poured out the opera house, we walked back to the city discussing the show.... We got back to the same place were we'd eaten our dinner that day to try their desserts, but it was closing... so no could do. Instead we found another nice little place were we got some sweets andspicehobbit had a glas of wine while I had a sweet drink. :-) I think was sat there discussing the show for more then an hour.
Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Now, we've known each other for 21 years (or is it 22?). Sharing a hotel room and a bed... Not a problem! :-D We got in bed and talked and talked and talked... for quite some time before we turned off the lights and feel a sleep. The bed was really, really comfortable, and I slept like a rock all night long!
Come morning, I woke up last (not surprisingly), and I am a bit slow in the mornings, sospicehobbit had to wait a bit for me. But there was no rush since our train didn't leave until the afternoon. :-) Once we got ready we went down to the restaurant to eat breakfast that was included in the price. And DAMN! That was really really nice breakfast! Bacons and eggs... various cereals and yoghurt's.... bread with a lot of different spreads... and fruit.... lots of fresh fruit.... So, so nice. :-D
Then we relaxed in our room and just... took it easy for a while. :-) It was a really really nice hotel room.
After a while we decided to call up the wickedest candy of the all..._devilcandy_ who lives in Malmö these days with her hubby. She was a bit hungover, but was really happy to hear that we were in Malmö and loved to meet up with us!
Checking out of the hotel, we then meet up with_devilcandy_ and went to eat the dessert we missed the night before (it was really, really delicious, thank you!) and then we walked around Malmö checking out old buildings and just talking. All three off us are history geeks, so it was really really fun! Even went to an old church, St Petri Church, and checked out the old grave stones that are set in the floor of the church... way back from 1500 and onwards to mid 1700... trying to figure out the writing on the stones and looking at the carved out portraits, talking about who they were and what life they might have lived... Yeah, we are weird geeks. :-P It was really nice though! :-D And it was awesome meeting up with _devilcandy_!
Then it was time for the trip home! Yep, we got First Class tickets for the trip home to! We had to change trains at Alvesta though and wait for an hour there for the next train. But we found a nice restaurant there and had dinner, so that was no big deal really. :-) On the last trek of the trip home, I feel asleep! X-D Apparently,spicehobbit did to, so I wasn't alone in that at least! *lol*
I did send a text forpeting73 though, so he knew we were on time. So when we arrived at Borås, he was there waiting for us and drove us home! :-D And thats... The end of the story of my trip to Malmö to watch Les Miserables! I won't forget that show in a hurry, let me tell you!
Also... Fred Johanson rocks. *lol* X-D
Bedtime now. Work tomorrow. :-P Laters! :-D
Had to get up quite early yesterday morning, but hey... it was cool. :-) Took a shower and then got some food in me before
peting73 drove me and spicehobbit to the train station. It wasn't crazy early, but I like to take it slow in the morning. The bus left at 8:40am and then around 10am we took a train from Gothenburg all the way to Malmö. The trip was pretty uneventful, I'd say. Unless you count the time a girl asked us to stop talking so damn much, since we were bothering her. X-D We did travel First Class since we ordered our tickets so early it was still very cheap. :-) So we felt truly spoiled with free fruit, tiny cakes and coffee and tea for free. Was a lovely trip.
Once at Malmö, we had NO idea where to go to find the hotel were we were to stay. *lol* Both of us are talkative and slightly crazy, so we just walked up to two bored security guards and asked where the town square was where the hotel was supposed to be located. Apparently they liked talking to two crazy ladies, so they told us how to go and were really sweet. :-)
Off we went! And it was raiiiinging... UGH! Boring. But we didn't have much packing, so we got to the square quite quickly and found the hotel quite quickly to once we were there. The guy at the reception desk was a real sweet heart, and we got the key cards to our room right away! And what a lovely hotel and room it was! If you EVER go to Malmö in Sweden, I do recommend Elite Plaza Hotel. It was LOVELY! The whole place felt newly renovated and was just... top notch on all accounts.
After settling in getting rid of our bags and such, we explored the city a little. We haven't been to Malmö before, so we asked our way when we didn't know where to go. Give a smile to a stranger on the street and you'll get a smile in return. :-D We found a really nice restaurant that way where we more or less stuffed our selfs with food. X-D And we went to Malmö Operahouse too! To get our tickets that
spicehobbit had pre-ordered for us. It was a bit messy there that day, but we kept patient and after waiting for 15mins or so, things calmed down and we got our tickets and a programme for the show to, of course! :-) So after that and dinner, we went back to the hotel to... try and make ourselfs look pretty. *lol* I'd give
spicehobbit a higher score in that. Blonde, short and looking like a total sweetheart. :-)And then off we went to the Opera! :-D
It was huge inside as well as outside. Gorgeous building. And once we've gotten rid of our coats, we managed to find our seats. Again, I've been proved to trust
spicehobbit with things like this. We had BRILLIANT seats! Quite close to stage, but not to close, you know? So that was brilliant. Then Les Miserables started.
Holy fuck.
Swedish actors and singers Dan Ekborg and Fred Johanson played Jean Valjean and Javert respectively. And even though Fred Johanson fucking OWNED the stage as soon as he entered it, Dan Ekborg was not far behind. What Fred is so good at, besides having a voice that makes my whole chest vibrate (sign of a good singer, according to my mom), is that he has SUCH a presence on stage. He doesn't have to do much when he enters the stage. He just owns it. Yes, I fangirl him a bit, but there is a reason for it. He is just THAT AWESOME!
I really liked how Dan played Valjean and how Fred played Javert. If you look at the story classically, Valjean is usually portrayed as insanely good and Javert as insanely evil. Well. After reading the book, I've never seen it like that. I think the whole story is just a whole big gray mess. There is no one pure good, and no one pure evil. Apparently Dan and Fred agreed with me on this, because that is JUST the way they played them. Valjean might work damn hard to be good, but the criminal... the assassin and thief... is still there. Not far away. And Javert? He is sooo damn hard on himself... there is NO compromises in his world. No doubt. Only order and responsibility. That is why he is so dead set on finding Valjean. So none of them is really bad. And none of them is really good. And both Dan and Fred really, really played on that. Best part really of the whole thing. I loved how they played off each other on stage.
In the show programme there is really really interesting interview with Dan Ekborg and Fred Johanson how they see their characters. I loved reading this. I stumbled on an english translation of it on Tumblr just now. So go read it, will you! It is awesome! :-D
Two men - Two ideologies about doubt and choice: A translation of an interview about Malmö Operas Valjean and Javert
Then there was the classical romance couple, of course. :-) Cosette was really nicely played, I must say. Not a spoiled brat, but a young woman trying to figure herself and her history out. Must say I liked that. Cute woman with a bright wonderful voice. (I like male singers more though, to be honest.) And then there was Marius who falls in love with her (and she in him). From the actor/singer I got the feeling that this is a very naive young man with strong political views that he don't understand where they might bring him... At least not to his near death, had it not been for Jean Valjean. :-P
Can't have a story without the bad guys, right? X-D And the Thénardiers were HILARIOUS! Both the comic relief AND the creepy bad guys... Because even though their songs and scenes were a laugh, you really really got that creepy feeling from them. Mounsiour Thénardier was supposed to be played by another famous swedish actor, but he wasn't there that night. Didn't matter that much though, since his understudy really did bring it all to the stage. Got a Gollum feel from him. Sneaky smiley at your face, while preparing to stab a knife at your back... Madame Thénardier had some SERIOUS boobs with the biggest décolletage I've ever seen! Didn't know you could get a WHOLE SET of table china in gold down a décolletage like that! o.O Impressive... I think.... *lol*
You could say I loved the whole thing! Well, the only critical thing I could have to say about the show is that to get the story... at least in the beginning in the first act... you kinda have to be familiar with how the story goes from the start. If you don't know the story, you will be confused and not understand where you are and why things happen. :-P So that was a bad thing. But the rest seriously rocked!
After the show was over, all the actors and singers got standing ovations! They'd deserved it after the three hour long show. I even jumped up and down and hollered when Fred Johanson got on stage to take his bow! X-D Not sure if that is proper protocol in an opera house, but I didn't give a fuck! HE ROCKED!
When we'd gotten our way out and our coats in the sea of people that poured out the opera house, we walked back to the city discussing the show.... We got back to the same place were we'd eaten our dinner that day to try their desserts, but it was closing... so no could do. Instead we found another nice little place were we got some sweets and
spicehobbit had a glas of wine while I had a sweet drink. :-) I think was sat there discussing the show for more then an hour. Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Now, we've known each other for 21 years (or is it 22?). Sharing a hotel room and a bed... Not a problem! :-D We got in bed and talked and talked and talked... for quite some time before we turned off the lights and feel a sleep. The bed was really, really comfortable, and I slept like a rock all night long!
Come morning, I woke up last (not surprisingly), and I am a bit slow in the mornings, so
spicehobbit had to wait a bit for me. But there was no rush since our train didn't leave until the afternoon. :-) Once we got ready we went down to the restaurant to eat breakfast that was included in the price. And DAMN! That was really really nice breakfast! Bacons and eggs... various cereals and yoghurt's.... bread with a lot of different spreads... and fruit.... lots of fresh fruit.... So, so nice. :-DThen we relaxed in our room and just... took it easy for a while. :-) It was a really really nice hotel room.
After a while we decided to call up the wickedest candy of the all...
_devilcandy_ who lives in Malmö these days with her hubby. She was a bit hungover, but was really happy to hear that we were in Malmö and loved to meet up with us! Checking out of the hotel, we then meet up with
_devilcandy_ and went to eat the dessert we missed the night before (it was really, really delicious, thank you!) and then we walked around Malmö checking out old buildings and just talking. All three off us are history geeks, so it was really really fun! Even went to an old church, St Petri Church, and checked out the old grave stones that are set in the floor of the church... way back from 1500 and onwards to mid 1700... trying to figure out the writing on the stones and looking at the carved out portraits, talking about who they were and what life they might have lived... Yeah, we are weird geeks. :-P It was really nice though! :-D And it was awesome meeting up with _devilcandy_!Then it was time for the trip home! Yep, we got First Class tickets for the trip home to! We had to change trains at Alvesta though and wait for an hour there for the next train. But we found a nice restaurant there and had dinner, so that was no big deal really. :-) On the last trek of the trip home, I feel asleep! X-D Apparently,
spicehobbit did to, so I wasn't alone in that at least! *lol*I did send a text for
peting73 though, so he knew we were on time. So when we arrived at Borås, he was there waiting for us and drove us home! :-D And thats... The end of the story of my trip to Malmö to watch Les Miserables! I won't forget that show in a hurry, let me tell you!Also... Fred Johanson rocks. *lol* X-D
Bedtime now. Work tomorrow. :-P Laters! :-D
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-09 03:20 am (UTC)Great show. So jealous!! I'm glad you had good food, too, that always helps!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-11 09:04 pm (UTC)Did you read the interview with Dan Ekborg and Fred Johanson (http://starlene.tumblr.com/post/13684268329/two-men-two-ideologies-about-doubt-and-choice-a)? It is a very good interview and I agree with much what they say there, actually. I was so surprised to find such an interesting interview in a musical programme... Usually they are just filled with pretty photos (was plenty of those to, of course), and not that much text. But this one was. :-) So that was definitely a nice surprise.
Personally my favourite character in the story has always been Javert. (And the little kid Gavroch). Closely followed by the Thénardiers, since they are just such AWESOME slimy bad guys! :-D
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-09 12:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-11 09:06 pm (UTC)