''Spader, Madame!'' is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

that had its première on 10 January 1969 at the

Oscarsteatern Oscarsteatern (English: Oscar Theatre), also known simply as Oscars, is one of Stockholm's private theatres and is the best-known musical theatre in Sweden. It is located at Kungsgatan 63 in central Stockholm. History The theater was designed ...

in Stockholm. It was written by

Hans Alfredson Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their p ...

and

Tage Danielsson Tage Danielsson (; 5 February 1928 – 13 October 1985) was a Swedish author, actor, comedian, poet and film director. He is best known for his collaboration with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage. Career After graduation from ...

, the duo known as

Hasse & Tage Hasse & Tage ( sv, Hasse och Tage) were a popular Swedish comedy duo featuring Hans "Hasse" Alfredson and Tage Danielsson. They are sometimes known as ''Hasseåtage'', a spelling created by the Swedish press in the 1960s, but never used by the du ...

, and directed by Danielsson. Both of the writers starred in the show; Hasse played the

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

Falkenström and Tage friherr von Löwenskiöld. The show also starred

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained int ...

Birgitta Andersson Ulla Birgitta Helena Andersson (born ''Andersson''; 20 April 1933) is a Swedish actress and comedian. Career Andersson made her breakthrough by acting in various variety shows with Povel Ramel and Karl Gerhard. She was part of the group around H ...

Grynet Molvig Ann-Kristin "Grynet" Molvig (born 23 December 1942 in Rygge) is a Norwegian actress and singer. She made her name as a singer in the 1960, with acts such as Kjell Karlsen and Willy Andresen. Later, she also started performing in Sweden, often ...

Martin Ljung Martin Vilhelm Ljung (15 August 1917, in Notviken, Luleå – 30 September 2010, in Stockholm) was a Swedish comedian, actor and singer.Gösta Ekman Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman (; 28 July 1939 – 1 April 2017) was a Swedish actor, comedian, and director. Career Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was the son of the director Hasse Ekman and Agneta (née Wrangel). Ekman represented ...

, Fatima Ekman, Fina Kören and

Gunnar Svensson Gunnar Svensson (27 June 1956 – 31 January 2020) was a Swedish ice hockey player, head coach and sports agent. During his playing career Svensson played for Örnsköldsvik and IF Björklöven. He began his coaching career in Örnsköldsvik ...

s Salongsorkester. The show was later adapted for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, using Sturehov Manor near Stockholm as the setting. This has been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and the film soundtrack has been released for both LP and CD.

Plot

The story is set at the beginning of the 19th century, an era that

thought was very much like the 1960s. A group of people from the upper classes has withdrawn to a place in the country where they plan to live for a couple of days, listening to Schubert's music and simply enjoying life. The plan goes very wrong however, when most of the things go wrong and the company runs out of food and drinks in a couple of days.

Music

All the music in the show was based on compositions originally written by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

, but with new lyrics and arrangements by

Hans Alfredsson Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their ...

and

. The songs used in the show are as follows: First Act * ''Forellen'' (The Trout), sung by

( Die Forelle, D. 550). * ''Sång, som handlar om sig själv'' (Song, that is about itself), sung by Egil and the men (Nachthelle, D 892) * ''Herdens sång om herdens sång om herden'' (The shepherd's song about the shepherd's song about the shepherd), sung by

Martin Ljung Martin Vilhelm Ljung (15 August 1917, in Notviken, Luleå – 30 September 2010, in Stockholm) was a Swedish comedian, actor and singer.8th symphony 'The Unfinished', Second Movement) * ''Du går an'' (You're okay), sung by

and

( Octet in F major, Fourth Movement, opus 166 D. 803) * ''Pigornas Kurt'' (Kurt of the maids), sung by Monica Zetterlund (Theme from the 6th Symphony, First Movement) * ''Vid sybågen'', aka ''Här sitter jag i värmen'' (At the Embroidery, or Here I sit in the warmth), sung by Grynet Molvig ( Der Lindenbaum, op 89, d. 911) * ''Spader, Madame!'' (A word play, Spader Madame can be thought of as The Queen of Spades, but the sentence actually means "I'm going crazy, madame"), sung by all ( 5th Symphony, 3rd Movement) Second Act * ''Den gode vilden'' or ''Lilla svarta Saras dans'' (The Good Savage, or Little black Sara's dance), performed by Fatima Ekman and chorus ( Nr. 3, from 3 Klavierstücke, D.946). * ''Längtans blåa blomma'' (The Longings blue flower), sung by Ulla Hallin and chorus ( ''Rosamunde'', Entr'acte No 2) * ''Blodvisan'' (The Bloodsong), sung by Grynet Molvig (Waltz No. 6 from Twelve Waltzes, op. 18, D. 145). * ''Donna Juanita'', sung by Monica Zetterlund. ( 6th Symphony, Second Movement). * ''Hittebarnet'' (The abandoned child), sung by Monica Zetterlund and chorus (First and Second waltzes from Twelve Waltzes, op. 18, D. 145). * ''Solen är en ball kula'' (The Sun is a groovy marble), sung by all (Overture from ''Rosamunde''). * ''Lyckan är alltid kort'' (Happiness is always short), sung by all ( Theme from the Unfinished 8th Symphony, First movement).

Reception

The stage play, although popular with the public, got very bad reviews from the press. The televised version, however, gave the show recognition among both public and critics. Those who had been negative about the stage play and written harsh reviews on it gave a very positive response to the other version of the show. The show was revived at Malmö stadsteater in 1977 and at the Göteborg City Theatre in 1986.

References

* Staffan Schöier & Stefan Hermelin (2005). Hasse & Tage: Svenska Ord & co: Saga & Sanning

External links

* {{Tage Danielsson 1969 comedy films 1969 plays 1969 television films 1969 films Swedish television films Swedish-language films