Theatre, 1954

The Merry Widow

Bergman set a new audience record (155,000 viewers) as Malmö City Theatre celebrated its 10-year anniversary with this celebrated operetta.

'The Merry Widow is like a wonderful old kerosene lamp. One must be careful not to put electric lights in it. It has to be treated with care and must not be modernized.'
Ingmar Bergman

About the production

In the early 1970s Barbra Streisand asked Bergman to make a film version of the operetta, with her in the leading role. Bergman wrote a synopsis, but a film never came out of it.

Sources

  • The Ingmar Bergman Archives.
  • Birgitta Steene, Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide (Amsterdam University Press, 2005)

Collaborators

  • Åke Askner, Baron Mirko Zeta
  • Britta Larke, Valencienne
  • Gunnel Nygren-Almquist, Valencienne
  • Per Grundén, Count Danilo
  • Gaby Stenberg, Hanna Glawari
  • Sigvard Berg, Camille de Rossillon
  • Paul Höglund, Vicomte Cascada
  • Arne Dahl, Raoul de St. Brioche
  • Per Björkman, Bogdanowitsch
  • Ulla Hellberg, Sylvaine
  • Per Hjern, von Kronow
  • Ulla-Greta Starck, Olga
  • Åke Åkerlund, Pritschitsch
  • Anna-Greta Nyberg, Praskowia
  • Toivo Pawlo, Njegus
  • Marianne Törje, Lolo
  • Marianne Andersson, Dodo
  • Gisela Bennech, Jou-Jou
  • Titti Dupont, Frou-Frou
  • Judith Frithiof, Clo-Clo
  • Stina Jerre, Margot
  • Leo Stein , Author
  • Viktor Léon, Author
  • Carl-Gustaf Kruuse , Choreography
  • Ingvar Wieslander, Musical arrangement
  • Ingmar Bergman, Director
  • Per Falk, Designer