It took time before Colin Nutley decided to accept a musical version of “Angel Farm.” With “Black Jack,” it went much faster.
There was no time to think about it at all this time, Nutley notes.
The idea to make a musical version of the 1990 film arose at a dinner where Niklas Strömstedt and his wife Jenny were guests. There they discussed the “Änglagård” musical and then moved on to “Black Jack.”
It was one of my films I had long thought would work as a musical and for which I'd received several requests from theaters over the years. Now the idea came that we should take on the creative part ourselves.
“Already written the songs”
Niklas Strömstedt was not slow in accepting.
When we were standing there in the hall with our coats, Colin and Helena had already asked me if I would consider writing the music for this musical, and I said I would love to try, he says.
A few days later, he re-watched the film in which Helena Bergström, Carl Kjellgren and Reine Brynolfsson play major roles, with the Swedish dance band world as the backdrop.
I watched it again and again, and during the third viewing the thought occurred to me that I had already written those songs, says Niklas Strömstedt.
Helena Bergström had not listened to Strömstedt's song catalog so closely before, but was thrilled.
It was a “perfect match,” she says.
Holm's hit song won't be missing
There will also be an occasional newly written Strömstedt song - and "Black Jack" fans need not worry. Lasse Holm's hit song "Ingen stoppar oss nu" is also included in the performance, which will premiere at the Oscarsteatern in Stockholm in September next year.
It is not yet clear who will play Helena Bergström's role in the show.
It will be incredibly exciting to find her. We will be looking for the role through auditions that we will hold in a month, she says.
Just like with "Änglagård", Vicky and Johan von der Lancken are producing the musical. They believe it can attract more than the usual musical audience: both Niklas Strömstedt's fans and those who loved Colin Nutley's film.
But Strömstedt adds a caveat, just in case.
Although the backdrop in the story is often - but far from always - a dance club, "Black Jack" will not be a dance band musical, he says.
The 1990 film is set in a dance band environment around Gävle. Single mother Inger (Helena Bergström) returns to her hometown and goes out dancing on the weekend. The dance band Black Jack is playing there, with womanizer Tommy (Carl Kjellgren) as the drummer.
The film received generally poor reviews, with a few exceptions. But it quickly became an audience favorite and has become a beloved classic over the years.
"Black Jack" was the first film in which Colin Nutley directed Helena Bergström.
