''Bør Børson Jr.'' is a Norwegian musical based on the novel '' Bør Børson Jr.'' written by

Johan Falkberget Johan Falkberget, born Johan Petter Lillebakken, (30 September 1879 – 5 April 1967) was a Norwegian author. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and career Johan Falkberget was born on the Lillebakken farm in the Ruglda ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. The musical was written by

Egil Monn-Iversen Egil Ragnar Monn-Iversen (14 April 1928 – 7 July 2017) was a Norwegian musician, one of the most influential modern composers in Norway. He has had many important roles in Norwegian music, film, opera, television, comedy and theater. For so ...

(music) and

Harald Tusberg Harald Tusberg (6 April 1935 – 3 October 2023) was a Norwegian television personality, screenwriter, songwriter and author. Biography Harald Tusberg was born in Bergen on 6 April 1935. His parents were Kristoffer Lund Jensen Tusberg and Sig ...

(book/lyrics). The performance is considered the first Norwegian

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, and has since its premiere in 1972 achieved great popularity. It is still being performed in theaters across Norway. The plot follows Bør, a young businessman from the countryside, with big ambitions and great naivety. He runs the village's general store and often travels on business trips to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. Before he achieves his fame and wealth, he must fight against seductive maidens, «village beasts», and stock speculators. The action is set in the fictional village of Olderdalen in

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag (; ) was a Counties of Norway, county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag () county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. ...

. ''Bør Børson Jr.'' confirmed that not only

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and West End could be suppliers of premises for musicals, but that stories from Norway were also suitable for musical theater. The performance was even at one point considered to be produced for performance on Broadway. The music reflected Norwegian folk tradition, and Monn-Iversen used

gammaldans Gammaldans (Swedish and Nynorsk) or Gammeldans (Danish and Bokmål) (literally "old dance") is a small set of Nordic dances that became broadly popular in the late 19th century. These were also the dances of the Nordic immigrant communities in t ...

as a consistent musical approach. The musical and Egil Monn-Iversen were awarded the jury's honorary prize during

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

the same year as the premiere of the musical. Songs from the musical, such as «Wienerbrød-tango», «Æ kjinne ein kar», «Omforlatels O. C. Bentzen» and «Børs song», have become classics in Norwegian popular music.

Original cast

References

{{Reflist 1972 musicals Musicals based on novels Musicals set in the 1800s Musicals set in Norway