Born as Anna Myrra Malmberg in the Stockholm suburb of Farsta on 20 December 1966, she spent her childhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) and her teenage years in Stockholm, Sweden. She graduated the Stockholm High School of Music and immediately embarked upon a theatrical career. Early on she took on roles such as ‘Maria’ in West Side Story, ‘Hodel’ in Fiddler on the Roof and ‘Jemima’ in Cats, but also straight acting roles such as ‘Poppy’ in Noises Off.
In London’s West End where she was cast as ‘Christine’ in Phantom of the Opera by Hal Prince. Malmberg also played ‘Cosette’ in Les Misérables, ‘Estella’ in Great Expectations and ‘The Narrator’ in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She caught the attention of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and joined the cast of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in St Paul’s Cathedral and elsewhere. Malmberg also starred in the BBC’s Royal Variety Show broadcast from London’s Palladium Theatre, BBC’s Blue Peter, GMTV and the BBC series Showstoppers.
Other roles include ‘Eva Perón’ in Evita at the Gothenburg Opera, ‘Emma Carew’ in Jekyll and Hyde at Stockholm’s China Theatre and ‘Maria’ in West Side Story at the Rome Opera in Italy and the Gothenburg Opera, Sweden.
Malmberg’s Swedish TV credits span from drama production ‘Fallet Paragon’ over popular entertainment shows such as ‘Allsång på Skansen’, ‘Go’kväll’, ‘Söndagsöppet’ and ‘Så ska det låta’ to ‘Celebrity Jeopardy’ (which she won) and participating in ‘Melodifestivalen’ (The Swedish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest). She has also performed as a special guest star in Russia’s own Eurovision in the early 1990s to 80 million viewers.
Her discography includes an intimate and personal look at Stephen Sondheim’s music on ‘Myrra Malmberg Sings Sondheim: What Can You Lose’, a Lloyd Webber’s music accompanied by a string quartet on ‘Myrra Malmberg Sings Lloyd Webber: Unexpected’, a handful of bossa nova albums especially successful throughout Asia, the singer/songwriter album ‘Serendipity’, plus various cast albums and soundtracks. She has been awarded a Grammy.
Malmberg’s latest recording is a classical crossover production titled ‘Another World’. Together with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and internationally renowned conductor Paul Bateman she explores the musical territory between the classical and popular music genres. The album starts with a cover version of Wuthering Heights and also includes original songs written by Malmberg herself.
She has written songs and lyrics for other recording artists and has translated lyrics and scripts into Swedish from English, French and Danish, among them ‘Jekyll and Hyde – the Musical’ for Malmö Opera.
Her photography includes portraits and album covers for various recording artists such as Benny Andersson, Berndt Rosengren, and The Sweet Jazz Trio. Malmberg has also held solo exhibits of her work.
References
- Myrra Malmberg. Wikipedia, retrieved 25 September 2018.
