Early 2018 Recap

I'm still alive!

From the first days of 2018, I've been really busy with many new projects (first and foremost the musical podcast I co-host, listen to our playlist of interviews in English here), so though I've missed writing, I haven't had enough time to blog in the past months.

I have, however, had time for theatre – so here are three mini-sized reviews of productions I've seen as of late.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Oscarsteatern

Sara Jangfeldt and Andreas T Olsson. Photo by Mats Bäcker.

First, a macabre little romp to get this year going!

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder tells the story of a man who finds out he's a distant relative of a rich aristocratic family. Soon, he figures out that the only way he's ever going to inherit the family fortune is to murder his newfound relatives in increasingly imaginative ways...

Henrik Dorsin, who plays the D'Ysquith family (all the relatives meeting their end, that is), is advertised as the big star of the newest Swedish production. He is funny in his multitude of roles – but my personal favourites are Andreas T Olsson and Sara Jangfeldt as the murderous gentleman Monty Navarro and his feisty sweetheart Sibella. You know how you sometimes take a liking to an actor immediately, how your gaze is drawn to them and just watching them onstage makes you happy? Both Olsson and Jangfeldt had that effect on me.

I have to mention that I'm not too enamored by the portrayal of women in this musical. The cheerfully self-centered and calculating Sibella is fun, but her counterpart Phoebe, who's sweet and kind and only wants to marry for love... yawn.

Overall, though, I like the characters and the story. The tunes are not especially catchy, but the lyrics are witty, and many scenes made me laugh out loud.

Sometimes, a light-hearted tale of murder is just what you need. A fun, yet not all that memorable experience.

Godspell, Tampereen Työväen Teatteri

Please note: I was invited to see this production for free because we made a podcast episode partially about it.

In the middle, Sonja Pajunoja as Jesus. Photo by Kari Sunnari.

I knew nothing of Godspell beforehand except for that it's composed by Stephen Schwartz and about Jesus. Turns out, it's a full-blown concept musical based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. Parables of Jesus and praise of God via vaudeville-ish song and dance numbers.

Man, the 70s gave us some pretty odd musicals.

It took me a while to warm up to this. To me, the concept feels like a Christian youth club on steroids – Christianity is cool, y'all!! For someone like me, who's always felt averse of organized religion, it felt a bit too revival-meeting-like to have all that energetic gospel with hardly any criticism mixed in. Or maybe it's just too American for my tastes, praising God out in the open like that. In Finland, religion is generally a much more private matter.

But as the show went on, I did warm up to it. Sonja Pajunoja is a charismatic Jesus, kind and loving yet firm when the situation calls for it. The whole ensemble, from Tampere University of Applied Science's Music Academy, is bursting with talent and energy. Not to mention the super catchy music.

So, Godspell. A little awkward, but in a really cheerful way.

Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert, Åbo Svenska Teater

Please note: I was invited to see this production for free because we made a podcast episode partially about it.

Listen to Alexander Lycke sing Gethsemane.

Godspell might have been a bit too much for me, but for my tastes, Jesus Christ Superstar has just the right mix of religious themes and cynicism. It is one of my top five favourite musicals. The last time we had it in Finland, I saw it eight times in ten weeks and it was a cathartic experience every time.

I haven't seen JCS since those eight times... until this March, that is. A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing a touring concert production, performed by the Swedish rock band Astrakhan, helmed by Alexander Lycke as Jesus and featuring Mats Levén as Judas.

I just read an interesting analysis on Jesus Christ Superstar by a fellow blogger. It discusses how JCS feels stuck in the 90s because composer Andrew Lloyd Webber uses his veto power to stop major productions reinventing the material in any substantial way. Am I glad I live north enough that ALW doesn't seem to care what's going on here!

This concert had many of the elements the productions criticized in the analysis don't – namely, truely unique rock/progressive/whatever-you'd-call-that arrangements (here's how Astrakhan defines its music: "With love for hardrock and hatred of the genres conventions and standardization") and impressive, improvised solos (a full-blown drum solo in JCS, how about that). The production had a rather simple rock concert aesthetic with some striking projections, and despite being a concert first and a musical second, the story still snuck up on you.

Fully staged productions of JCS are their own thing, but when it comes to concert editions, this was as good as it gets. It's like the music was meant to be played like this, with a small band and a loud volume. It was mesmerizing.

Some of the news outlets that covered the concert mentioned that it could become an Easter tradition. I truely hope so. I would love to experience this again.

P.S. Listen to our podcast interview (in English) with the leads of Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar!

Closures

Tonight, three musical productions that mean a lot to me are closing.

Seeing the masterminds who plan the theatrical schedules around here have all decided May Day Eve is the perfect night for their show to close, I can only see one derniere in person... It's a shame. I would have loved to witness all of these final performances.

In any case, here are some thoughts about all three.

The first show closing tonight is Åbo Svenska Teater's Jesus Christ Superstar.

I saw this one eight times. And, for once, I feel that's a lot of times in the audience. I've gone more overboard with this show than with any other musical ever. Sure, it's only number three on my Most Watched list – but remembering it had a run of two and a half months... I definitely wouldn't have gone for eight times in ten weeks if the theatre had given Superstar a run of a sensible lenght. But the situation being as it is, it's been seeing it again now or never.

In any case, I went so overboard because this is truely one of the absolute best musicals I've ever seen. If not the absolute best?

I had impossibly high hopes for this production. Jesus Christ Superstar is a musical I've waited to see live for years. So when they announced this, my expectations went right through the roof. My favourite Jean Valjean, Alexander Lycke, back in Finland as Jesus, and the rest of the cast looking so good, too... Amazingly, reality managed to surpass all of my expectations. Every single aspect of the show worked for me. I've honestly at a loss of words to describe this production with. I can only say that, for me, it's one of the strongest theatrical experiences ever.

I've had other musical-related things to obsess about lately (see: the following entries on this list), so I haven't been actively mad about this production closing anymore... But just because I'm not shouting about it doesn't mean I'm okay with it. I'm still annoyed. To excitedly look forward to a show for a year only to have it for two months? I certainly didn't see that one coming!

I'm going to miss this production.

The second derniere is Turun kaupunginteatteri's Jekyll and Hyde.

I saw this show seven times in total, and fell deeper and deeper in love with it each time. At first, I was impressed, after two times I was infatuated, and now, after seven times – if you had asked me the day before I saw Superstar, I would've called this the best musical I've ever seen in Finland. Now, let's call it a tie! Jekyll and Hyde definitely stole my heart.

I mentioned it in my initial review that the plot of the show is very weak. Even though I've become an even bigger fan of the show after reviewing it, I still think so. There are major plotholes. But everything else here, from acting and singing to the most gorgeous sets and lights and costumes I've seen on any Finnish musical stage (they won a prize, so clearly others agree)... It was a fantastic production.

Maybe thanks to the weaknesses of the plot, the last few times I saw Jekyll and Hyde weren't really about observing the piece as a whole anymore. Instead, I decided to give my full attention to a couple of my favourite performances, even during the scenes that aren't really about those particular characters at all. Sometimes, it's a lot of fun to watch your favourite doing their thing in the background. That's the beauty of live theatre, and the point of seeing the same show multiple times, I guess. You get to decide which characters and subplots to follow.

This show fuels my imagination like no other. It has gotten me thinking about the characters and their lives before and after the events of the story, wondering about their fates, drawing little scenarios with them... Maybe it's just me subconsciously trying to patch the holes in the story, but nevertheless, it's great to see something that really gets my own imagination going. That way, I'll still be enjoying the show long after the production has closed.

I'm very glad Turun kaupunginteatteri decided to bring this show to Finland, and I'm so lucky to have been able to see it so many times. It has definitely earned its place on my list of favourites and I'll continue praising it long after tonight's derniere.

Tonight's third derniere is the one I'm actually seeing: Tampereen Teatteri's Les Misérables.

I saw this production nine times. In total, I've now seen Les Misérables 28 times. Seeing my track record, it'd be impossible to have a Finnish production of Les Mis close without me being there to witness it... Me and my friends booked our tickets to see this last show months ago.

Each one of my nine times in the TT Les Mis audience wasn't a success. Sometimes seeing the show was plain disappointing. I've discussed it previously that this production was pretty unbalanced: it had its good days and bad days, its strong performances and intolerable alternates, and you never quite knew what you were going to get.

Still, I'm sure tonight's final performance will be amazing. When this production has a good day, and luckily, majority of the performances I saw were of the better sort... I've seen a couple of the most moving, most amazing performances of Les Misérables I've ever witnessed in Tampereen Teatteri. I've no doubt the energy will be high during the last performance again, and I'm certain my favourite musical will make my heart beat faster once more.

I'm however not sad over this production closing. While it's good, it doesn't mean as much to me as Åbo Svenska Teater's Les Misérables meant, and I also feel it's had a good run. But suddenly not having a production of my favourite musical in Finland anymore, after over four years of either having one or knowing one is soon premiering..? That'll take some getting used to!

In any case, it's been one fantastic theatrical season around here, musical-wise. Many theatre fans around the world wish they could live closer to London or New York, but as a Finnish musical enthusiast, I have no reason to wish that. During the past few months, I've been spoiled by the theatrical scene of this country like never before.

And here's to hoping all my favourites will put on the derniere of a lifetime tonight.

Photos by Pette Rissanen, Robert Seger and Harri Hinkka (hover over them for specific info, as always).

Two Months

I'll keep this short and simple.

Åbo Svenska Teater's production of Jesus Christ Superstar...

1. is one of the top three best musicals I've ever seen
2. is loved by critics and bloggers and audiences alike
3. had sold over 10 000 tickets two weeks after the premiere already
4. is closing in April, after a run of only two and a half months???

I would shrug the Facebook post off as a cheap advertising trick (let's make the audience think the show is closing so they'll panic and buy a lot of tickets!) if I hadn't also heard the news in person from two different members of the theatre's box office personnel. Since they're all saying the same... It's starting to sound way too real.

For the life of me, I cannot understand what has motivated the theatre to make a decision such as this.

A musical that has been flashily advertised since the summer of 2013, a musical that's been called the theatre's 175th anniversary production and the big investment of the anniversary year... This is a fine anniversary if I've ever heard of one. Party hard for a whopping 20% of the anniversary year!!

Åbo Svenska Teater is known for their musicals – and said musicals have previously had rather reasonable runs. Evita (170th anniversary musical) ran from fall 2008 to spring 2009. Les Misérables was first scheduled to run from fall 2010 to spring 2011 but was extended all the way to winter 2012. Even Hair, with an ensemble that mostly consisted of theatre students, ran for about five months in fall 2012 and spring 2013. How does a run of two and a half months fit into this pattern? It doesn't.

What on earth went wrong? Was the budget completely messed up in the first place? Did some internal trouble within the theatre get ridiculously out of hand? I have no idea – but to be honest, it doesn't matter to me what the reason is, I'm still mad. From an audience member's perspective, this makes zero sense and seems both embarrassing and infuriating. You'd think that whatever the case, having a musical production running would beat not having a musical in the repertoire. Little do I understand, apparently.

I'm deeply upset. As said, ÅST's JCS is one of the best musicals I've ever seen. Of course I would've wanted to enjoy it for the full year! As anyone who reads my blog knows, I'm not one to see musicals only once. I would've wanted to see it again and again, watch the production develop and grow. Moreover, I'm also annoyed and upset for my friends' sake. Ever since the theatre started dropping hints that the production is closing, I've heard lots of fellow theatre fans lament they haven't the time to see the production in the spring. Silly us, counting on the show continuing in the fall!

I hope, with all my energy, that this turns out to be something of a bad joke and a fall season will still be announced – but that doesn't seem like a particularily realistic wish. At the moment, it looks like the theatre management has made up their minds to shut down one of the best musicals this country has ever seen.

Who Are You, What Have You Sacrificed

It's been hard getting this text started. Sometimes you're just so overwhelmed. You know, when you look forward to something for a year, are really excited, then finally get the thing and notice that it's not only as good as you imagined, but even better?

Such is the case with, as you may have guessed based on my previous two entries, Åbo Svenska Teater's Jesus Christ Superstar.

I saw the preview showing or, technically, the last dress rehearsal – so, technically, I'm still reviewing work in progress here. But given the quality of said work... If the premiere was half as good as what I saw on Wednesday, it was still a great show, so I think I can share my two cents about this!

First things first. Out of everything impressive in this production, I personally found the orchestrations by Jussi Vahvaselkä the most exciting thing (apart from the lead actor maybe, but we'll return to him...). I've never been this pumped about orchestrations, actually! There were so many exciting details I've never heard on any cast recording before, the music sounded unique and fresh and overall just so very good. Had the show just been the band playing instrumental versions of the songs for two hours, I would still have left the theatre feeling happy... I'll be eternally bitter that there won't be a cast recording of this.

The music had a fantastic flow. And Juha Hemánus's direction flowed just as beautifully. It's one of those (at least to me, surprisingly rare) musicals where the illusion works perfectly and naturally, where you honestly forget that people don't usually express their emotions through song and dance – the feelings and actions were so real. The Overture was amazing already, how the whole situation was introduced to the audience without anyone saying a word. And from there until the very end... I hardly had time to breathe, the flow of events was so intense all the way through. In the best way.

And then to the star of the night, Alexander Lycke.

Oh man. Oh man.

In ÅST's Les Misérables, Lycke was a great Jean Valjean already. I knew to expect something good. But his Jesus... It's as if the role was made for his voice, really. I truely and honestly feel like crying when I sit here just thinking about his Gethsemane. I'm getting chills. I've been getting chills for two days every time I've really thought about the song. I'm afraid I cannot talk about Lycke's performance in further detail right now. I'm still too amazed, way too amazed to actually process and analyze it yet.

I can, however, say a couple of words about some other performances... Chris Killik as Judas was a great opposing force to Lycke's Jesus, both vocally and acting-wise. The two performances had a good balance. It really felt like Jesus is the rock star here, and Judas the voice of reason – until the song Superstar, when tables are turned, Judas gets his moment (and what a moment!) in the shining spotlights and Jesus can't but watch and brace himself for what is about to happen.

Anna-Maria Hallgarn made a lovely Mary Magdalene. I Don't Know How to Love Him still doesn't rank among my favourite songs, but all her little moments with Jesus and her passive-aggressive attitude towards Judas... In the musical, we don't really get to know how Jesus feels about Mary – but as far as I'm concerned after seeing this performance, he has every reason to fall in love with her...

Waltteri Torikka as Pilate was rather great too. His take was really arrogant, all about showing off and letting everyone know who is the boss around here, and I quite liked that. Maybe I would've wished that he'd shown just a tiny bit more compassion towards Jesus, that there had been a slightly stronger sense of inner conflict within the character... But it was a solid, enjoyable performance already. And such a voice!

Somehow – though this sounds odd to mention, the thought kept returning to me all the way through the scene, so I feel I should discuss it – I wish this production would've cast a woman as King Herod. I have listened to one cast recording with a female Herod and I've been fascinated by the idea ever since. While it sure works to have Herod surrounded by stripper girls, and Dick Holmström's performance in the role was pretty delicious, King Herod's Song was still the most tired scene of the show. I think giving it a twist, like Lady Herod surrounded by her toyboys would've been, would've improved the scene. It's not bad as it is, not at all – just a tad less fresh, in my opinion, than the rest of the production.

It surprised me how strongly the story held my attention. At times, I nearly forgot I was watching the story of Jesus. For the most part, I was watching a tale about events that get horribly out of hand, a story of people who get trapped in a scary situation. A human story about human errors, not a divine story about a religious figure. And then, by the end and with the visual of the crucifixion, I was reminded that sometimes something a lot bigger can grow from situations and stories like that.

Overall, Jesus Christ Superstar is the closest I've ever gotten to having a true theatrical catharsis experience. Both the concert I saw some years ago and this production left me shaking by the end. It's so different from my other favourites. There are many musicals where a dark ending is turned into a vaguely happy one by finishing with an uplifting song, shows like Les Mis, Next to Normal, Doctor Zhivago... It's good to have a favourite that doesn't go there, a favourite that's actually not so easy to watch. The biblical version of the story ends well, of course, but here... To me, the ending is amazingly effective. I feel even having music played during the applause is somehow distracting. The events we've just witnessed have been so horrifying and the whole experience so huge, I still need time to process it.

It's a gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous production. If you want to see one musical in Finland, make it this one.

Photos by Pette Rissanen.

ÅST JCS: Preview Continuation

I already talked about Åbo Svenska Teater's upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar. But seeing I got the chance to visit the production's press info event today, here's a little update.

Firstly, I'll repeat what I've already been saying: I've a really good feeling about this. After this preview probably more than ever.

In the event, director Juha Hemánus talked about the vision behind the production a bit. The events will be set in the near future, in a post-apocalyptic society. The show will handle themes such as revolution (and it, at times, devouring its own children), mass media, and of course tragic human fates. Hemánus also made a point saying that, even though he can explain the thoughts behind the show, the audience should decide for themselves what they see in the production – that it's up to the watcher's own interpretation whether Jesus is a divine figure or not. It's not a question we can answer for sure, so the show is not going to offer definitive answers either.

So, I think I won't go deeper into any of the themes now but will return to this by sharing my own thoughts after I'll finally see the whole show next week.

Secondly... Even though I may be studying journalism, I admit that in this event, I was about five percent a member of the press and 95% a fan. It was just so nice seeing sneak peeks of the show and getting to say hi to some of the cast members! So, to share something of that feeling, here are said sneak peeks in audiovisual form:

A week and a day left to wait anymore.

Or Was That Just PR?

Last week, I saw an open rehearsal of Åbo Svenska Teater's upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

It was exciting.

I count JCS as one of my top five musicals, though I've never seen it performed in a theatre. I first saw the 1973 movie some years ago. I wasn't exactly thrilled, but the music stuck with me. I later bought some cast recordings, saw a fantastic concert version of the musical, ended up in love with it. And still, I've never really seen it live. While the concert was amazing, it of course wasn't the same experience as a traditional production with sets and full-blown acting would be.

I'm not a huge video bootleg person. I do think that, as long as the recorder keeps their business discreet and doesn't distract the performers or the rest of the audience, there's no harm in bootlegs. I doubt watching them has ever encouraged anyone to see less live theatre. But personally, if I encounter an interesting musical, I don't rush to find any videos. I rather live with the more or less futile hope that I'll see it live one day. I know I could watch all manner of Jesus Christ Superstars if I wanted to. But somehow, I prefer going to theatre to see something I have never seen before. That's something you can only experience once per musical, after all. So whenever possible, I'd rather that first experience to be a live one.

Since I don't really know how JCS would be like onstage, I've been coming up with some ideas while listening to the music. Even during that little sneak peek I got to see last week, it was so interesting comparing what was happening onstage to what I had imagined it would be like. Some bits made me go "wow, that's exactly how I'd like to see it!" – but I was going "wow, that's even better than anything I had imagined!" more often. We only saw two scenes, but even so, it was so much fun seeing the music I know by heart being illustrated.

And, to make it even better, the cast seems like something of a dream team. Alexander Lycke as Jesus? Anna-Maria Hallgarn as Mary Magdalene? Yes! I've seen the both perform before – Jean Valjean in ÅST's Les Misérables and Diana in Wasa Teater's Next to Normal, respectively – and am quite a fan. So to say I've been happy we're getting them back to Finland is an understatement. (But I won't go into my real feelings too much in this text. It's too embarrassing to admit it out loud how you've been rolling on the floor overcome with happiness. Oops.) I'm curious about Chris Killik as Judas. While I've never seen him perform before, some song clips I stumbled across have assured me that, at least voice-wise, this will be good. Waltteri Torikka as Pontius Pilate was also good news. What a voice!

So I'm practically counting hours to the premiere already. Of course, as always when being really excited about something beforehand, the chances that I'll be disappointed are high... But before proven otherwise, I'm going to imagine this'll be a perfect production.

For all I know now, it very well may be.

To end on a sour note, however... Last March, I wrote a post about being annoyed with the way Åbo Svenska Teater was giving out information about JSC. It would be nice if I could now write a sequel to that post titled "But Wait, Everything Went Okay After That".

I'm afraid that's not the case.

Back in April, I asked the theatre if the full JCS cast would be released soon. They answered that it "wouldn't take a long time anymore". Back then, they also mentioned in their Facebook that they're hoping to get the cast announced before Easter. Needless to say, apart from Alexander Lycke as the lead, the two other main roles were announced in September and the supporting cast in December. Though "announced" is a strong word. More like "were slipped into an obscure part of the theatre website and I found them by accident". The ensemble is still a mystery.

I understand it that, just like organizing any project with lots of people, casting a musical can be difficult. You think everything'll be in order by the next week and then someone decides they're not doing this after all. But I still think this whole thing has been handled badly.

While it's no matter of life and death, for a passionate fan, it's annoying when information doesn't travel from the theatre to the public. It'd be nice not to give us fans any false just-wait-until-Easter-and-then-we'll-tell hope unless the theatre is +110% certain they really can release the cast in the close future. And when the right people to play the roles have finally been found, how about some fanfare and Facebook posts instead of just hiding them into the "For Press" part of the theatre site?

Apparently I'm not the only one who's been annoyed at ÅST (link is Finnish only). For a theatre celebrating it's 175th anniversary... I think the best birthday celebration would be to get the information to flow a bit more smoothly. Here's to hoping the promo photos for Jesus Christ Superstar, the ones that were taken in December, will actually be seen before the premiere! (Edited to add: Wouldn't you know, they were. There's hope!)

Upcoming in Turku

My yesterday was all about Turku-based musicals. Besides hearing the first sneak peeks of Jekyll & Hyde the musical, I've found out about two other upcoming shows...

Jennie Storbacka and Anna Victoria Eriksson singing In His Eyes

First, I attended the press info and open house events for Turun kaupunginteatteri's spring 2013 season. (The press info was a rather exciting: there was a power outage during it.) Among the premieres is the first Finnish production of Jekyll & Hyde. 

I of course knew J&H is coming to town, but that's about it. I don't know much anything about the musical personally. Everyone knows the basics of the story, of course – but maybe, for the Finnish readers, Laura's article about the previous press info would be a good place to go if you want to learn about the musical adaptation in particular. I don't think it's useful to repeat Laura's text here – the info I attended didn't add much to her article. So maybe check it out first.

Riku Nieminen singing This Is the Moment

In the info, director Tuomas Parkkinen talked a bit about the theme of Jekyll & Hyde. He said it's been startling to work on the piece, remembering the inexplicably cruel crimes that have happened around the world lately. He mentioned how they decided to do the show years ago just because they had the right feeling about it, but how the musical, with its themes of good and evil, has started to feel very current to him now. He also said he thinks the piece handles its central theme of evil well.

Riku Nieminen, who plays the main role, was also present in the event. Parkkinen mentioned how he thinks Nieminen is one of the most talented actors of his generation and how he couldn't imagine anyone else in the role of Jekyll and Hyde. Nieminen himself said he feels his first lead role in a musical is, besides a huge challenge, a dream role.

Personally, I've been a bit wary of Nieminen as Jekyll/Hyde. Since I've only seen him do completely different sort of stuff before, I've had some doubts. But the press info calmed me down a bit: Nieminen also sung a bit from the show, and, in my opinion, he was rather good. You can decide for yourselves, though – here's my sad little recording of his rendition of Alkuun / The Way Back:

In the open house event in the evening, they sung more J&H songs. Besides This Is the Moment from Nieminen, I heard the female leads Jennie Storbacka and Anna Victoria Eriksson sung In His Eyes. I think they both sounded fantastic. The Finnish translation, then, seemed inoffensive – not especially good, but I don't feel like sending hate mail to everyone responsible, either. All in all, I'm getting excited about this!

---

But, as mentioned, Jekyll & Hyde wasn't the only big thing yesterday. Here are some pieces of news I also encountered, one after another:

• Jesus Christ Superstar is coming to Åbo Svenska Teater in February 2014 – at least if you believe this job advertisement.
• Rocky Horror Show is coming to Turun kaupunginteatteri in late 2013 – at least if you believe this file that looks like some sort of a city council document or similar.

Wow! I live in Turku at the moment, and it seems I'll be having fun in theatre for the next year or two!

 Firstly, Jesus Christ Superstar. In a Radio Vega's interview back in October, Les Misérables' director Georg Malvius mentioned Åbo Svenska Teater was considering doing JCS instead of Les Mis in 2010. So, I admit I've been wondering, ever since seeing the theatre's newest audition announcement, if it'll be JCS... I even admit I've been ranting to my friends about wanting ÅST to do this very show and who I'd like to see in the cast (let's be extra-honest: I admit these rants have been accompanied with a mad gleam in my eyes).

And yes! They'll really stage one of my favourite musicals! I love Jesus Christ Superstar. It's obvious the story is strong, and the score has some of my absolute favourite musical theatre songs. If I have to mention negatives, I don't like how it's such a sausage fest of a show, with a grand total of one female role – but remembering the source material, that can't really be helped. Well, I'd be more than okay with a female Herod, but I only know of one production where that has happened...

I've only seen the piece in concert form before. Since the brilliant Lahti concerts, I've been wishing to see a staged version of the show. It seems like an easy piece to do very wrong but an amazing one if done right.

So, my hopes are high and I'm feeling positive. I suppose the biggest problem, for me, is not going insane before the announce the cast. ÅST people, if you're reading this: this time, no hiding the cast until there's only a few months to go, like you did with Hair? Pretty please?

And must not forget Rocky Horror Show. I don't have much to say about that one – I've just been wanting to see it live for a while, so this is exciting news too. I doubt it'll become one of my absolute favourite musicals, it seems a bit too crazy for that, but I bet it'll be plenty of fun if watched in the right mood.

I can't but hope they'll go for a new translation, though. You can listen to a sample from the Finnish cast recording here – and if you're fortunate enough to understand Finnish, you'll soon understand why this translation won't do... It might be a crazy show, but the translation could still, ideally, make some slight amount of sense. (Can't help being quite pessimistic about anything happening to it, though.)

I'm actually surprised that three as interesting musicals as these are happening in one town almost at the same time. Sure, both Jesus Christ Superstar and Rocky Horror Show are nostalgia trips to some, but I think young people can also enjoy this repertoire. I'm glad no theatre in Turku is doing a classic in the vein of Fiddler on the Roof just to amuse the little old ladies. At least in the near future.  

Sources: Musikaalit-foorumi, MusikalNet at FB.

Superstar

Sorry about the delay with the last Three Days of West End story. For a reason or another, talking about The Phantom of the Opera doesn't inspire me, even though I adore the show. Maybe another time, maybe not, we'll see. But now...

Jesus Christ Superstar with Lahti Symphony Orchestra in Sibelius Hall, Lahti, 27.8.2011.

JCS is one of those shows I have wanted to see for ages.
The premise is so weird - a musical about the life and death of Jesus Christ? Wow. And I've loved the music ever since I first heard it, some of my favourite musical theatre songs of all time are from it. Of course I was excited when I heard it was being done and rushed to get the tickets.
Still, I didn't get my hopes really high when the day approached. I had read bad reviews about some of the actors, and, for a reason I can't really articulate, I just didn't feel all that extatic. Either school pressure or the bored pessimist in me taking charge, I guess. Or both.

So, I'm glad to tell you this concert surpassed the little expectations I had and ranked itself among my favourite productions of all time.

Sibelius Hall

I had never visited Sibelius Hall before, and I have to say, it's pretty fancy. It's, to all you non-Finnish readers out there, named after maybe the most appreciated Finnish composer and situated next to a lake, with lots of wooden details. I think "the epitome of all things Finnish" was the architect's inspiration...

Me and my friend had amazing seats: second row, right in the middle, and by a stroke of luck no one sat in front of us. At first, I was afraid it was too close, but actually, it was perfect. I've a somewhat eccentric Finnish teacher who once told us he likes to sit in the very front in theatre because "you'll get the best vibes there". I'm starting to agree.

The show sounded great with the whole symphony orchestra and a big choir. I'm afraid we were a little too close for perfect acoustics, since it sometimes felt the voices and sounds blurred into each other a bit (even though the hall's acoustics are sometimes mentioned among the world's best), but since we got to watch the performers so closely - and the blurring was still much milder than in many other shows I've seen - it didn't matter much at all.

As for the performances... 

The only disappointment of the night was Sami Hintsanen's Judas. His voice suited the part very well, but I didn't really get the feeling his character felt much anything. He more sung the part than acted it, and even though it's in a concert form, it's still a piece of theatre... Also, some of his mannerisms really started to bug me after a while.

But everyone else, in my opinion, did a beautiful job. Maria Ylipää was lovely - as always! - as Maria Magdalene, but it was Hannu Lepola's Jesus that really did it for me. He was perfect. His voice was gorgeous, and his expression was, indeed, of "the haunting, hunted kind". His was maybe the best Gethsemane I've ever heard, it was gorgeous and warranted a huge applause. A beautiful, strong performance.

Not to say the smaller parts were any worse! I really liked them all, they had huge energy and did justice to their roles, but my favourite was perhaps Anssi Valikainen's Pilate. You really felt for the character when watching him; you saw the character's inner struggle when he was facing the difficult decisions he has to face. Great, great job.

I think Jesus Christ Superstar is one of those shows that work with really little staging, so the concert setting didn't bother me at all. The piece is, without any doubt, strong enough to hold on its own without fancy sets or big dance scenes.

The weirdest fact of the night was that the whole piece was sung in English, since usually musicals are translated into Finnish around here. However, I understand their decision. Opera isn't translated either, and having a look at the Finnish lyrics that ran above the stage as subtitles confirmed what I've heard said before: the Finnish translation is a bad one. It had a couple of clever moments, but it also had at least five awkward wordings per every smart line. If you're translating Jesus Christ Superstar, I feel you should be extra careful with those bits that have biblical references. "It is finished" has a little different feeling than the translation's "It's over now!"...

The applause after the show was rather huge. For the first time, though, I realised what the person who once spoke about applause being distruptive here in my blog's comments meant. JCS is such a strong story - I think I would have needed a minute's silence before applause to get my train of thought back to everyday world again.

All in all, an amazing night.

The picture is not mine.