Finnish Musicals: Broadway for Finns

The Life and Times of Musical Theatre in Finland, part 3/4. Read this part in Finnish here.

Certain musicals are especially loved by younger theatregoers. Many generations of Finnish teenagers and young adults have enjoyed Broadway shows. In this part of the series, we’ll take a look at how Finnish audiences of both past and present have received hit musicals such as Hair, Rent and Wicked.

Adults don’t sing or dance on the west side of Manhattan. Or in Tampere, Finland, either.

West Side Story, the classic musical about gang wars and young love, premiered on Broadway in 1957. The groundbreaking musical showed fighting as dancing. The world West Side Story’s young characters live in is a dark one, but the musical also portrays adults’ society as distant and unfair.

The Romeo and Juliet remake arrived to Finland rather rapidly. West Side Story’s Nordic premiere took place in Tampereen Teatteri in 1963.

The production was a success and ran for three seasons. Both the audience and the critics fell in love, in Finland and elsewhere – when the production visited Vienna, the local audience applauded it for 18 minutes. In Finland, West Side Story was also quickly produced in many other theatres, including The Finnish National Opera.

“Yeah, it’s worth watching”, one of the teenagers who saw the musical in The National Opera commented (Helsingin Sanomat, 19.11.1965).

A couple of years after West Side Story, Tampere was again the Finnish capital for musicals aimed at young adults. Only two years after its 1967 Broadway premiere, in the summer of 1969, the hippie musical Hair was featured in Tampere Theatre Festival’s repertoire.

West Side Story is one of Finland's most popular Broadway musicals.
Here's how the show looked like in Lahden kaupunginteatteri in 2013.
Photo: Lauri Rotko.

Long, Beautiful Hair

Hair became a musical phenomenon.

The first theatre festival performances sold so well that more performances were scheduled and the ticket prices were raised. The production, featuring a cast of amateur actors, toured Finland for two years and also visited Sweden. The cast recording topped the charts.

Teen magazines wrote about Hair and tried to build a rivalry in between the touring production and a Swedish-speaking version that was staged in Helsinki’s Svenska Teatern at the same time. In real life, the two productions were on good terms.

The hippie musical formed bonds all over the globe, too. The Paris, San Fransisco, London and Australian productions of Hair all telegraphed their best wishes to the touring Finnish production’s premiere.

All feedback wasn’t quite as positive. The featured nudity and the musical’s general display of hippie lifestyle hurt some feelings along the way.

“What the theatre management was thinking, letting that porn theatre visit our city?” pen name “Appalled” wondered in the local newspaper Turun Sanomat when the Hair tour visited the city of Turku in late 1969.

“Please at least cancel the upcoming performances.”

The Tribe from Åbo Svenska Teater's 2012 production of Hair.
Photo: Robert Seger.

The Age of Aquarius, Continued

After the summer of ‘69, the hippie musical has had multiple new Finnish productions.

Nowadays, the show is associated with a fair amount of nostalgia. Turku, Finland’s medieval capital and nowadays the country’s 6th biggest city, was the European Capital of Culture in 2011. One of the year’s special events was a new production of Hair cast with middle-aged amateurs.

In 2012, Hair was produced professionally both in Turku’s Swedish-speaking Åbo Svenska Teater, and in Lahden kaupunginteatteri in southern Finland.

“The themes of Hair are still current”, director Maarit Pyökäri says. Pyökäri directed the show for Lahden kaupunginteatteri.

”Of course, some of the things have dated. Onstage nudity, for example, has lost its shock appeal. Other themes, however, are still as current as ever. The United States is still engaged in warfare on another continent, young people still use drugs...”

Pyökäri says that Hair isn’t an easy musical to stage. She describes the script that consists of a string of individual scenes instead of a traditional plot as chaotic, and mentions that translating the lyrics to Finnish also proved challenging. The musical’s music, then, was the reason to bring the show to Lahden kaupunginteatteri. The songs were performed on concert volume.

“Young people fell in love with the show, while their parents knew the songs by heart. The production reached all ages”, Pyökäri says.

The Lahti Tribe. Photo: Tarmo Valmela.

Arts and AIDS

Worldwide, Jonathan Larson’s Rent can be called one of the most important musicals of the 90s. After premiering in New York in 1994, international productions of the musical soon popped up all over the world, Finland included.

Adapted from Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème, Rent shows a year in life of a group of young artists. The setting has been changed from Paris to New York, and the tuberculosis that threatened the artists’ lives in the original opera has been updated to HIV.

Audiences, especially people in their twenties and thirties, fell in love with the musical. It ran on Broadway for 12 years and was adapted for film.

“When I saw Rent in New York for the second time, I hardly found my way out of the auditorium. I was crying so hard”, director Marco Bjurström tells. Bjurström directed the musical in Helsinki.

In Finland, Rent was first seen in Tampereen Teatteri in 1998. The Finnish interest towards the musical was strong before the premiere: some of Finland’s biggest theatres, such as the national Swedish-speaking scene Svenska Teatern and Helsinki’s big musical stage Helsingin kaupunginteatteri, also wanted to stage the Finnish premiere.

Despite the initial interest, there were no productions of Rent in Finland for over a decade after the 1998 production. But in the 2010s, the musical has returned on Finnish stages. It hasn’t been produced in government-supported municipal theatres, but amateurs and professional have both been staging their own, independent productions.

The latest professional Finnish Rent was produced in Helsinki in 2012. Marco Bjurström directed the musical and produced the show without financial help from outside backers. The director says he dreamed of producing the musical for years.

“As a portrait of its own time, Rent left a lasting impression on me. It tells stories of the world we really lived in during the time musical takes place”, Bjurström describes.

A scene from the Helsinki production. Photo: Lasse Lindqvist.

Taking Risks

When Tampereen Teatteri staged Rent’s Finnish premiere in 1998, a musical featuring sexual minorities, drug abuse and AIDS was seen as both a financial and an artistic risk for the theatre. It ran for one season.

The Helsinki production was also a risk for its producer. The proceeds weren’t enough to make up for the original investment.

“I understood that Rent would probably never return to the government-supported big theatres’ repertoires. Some theatre managers still think it’s too wild. So, I thought I have to take the risk and do it myself, no matter what’ll happen. Otherwise I’ll never forgive myself for not doing it!” Bjurström explains his decision to produce the show.

Bjurström says the musical, set in early 90s New York, still touches people. The Helsinki production’s audience consisted of people of all ages, from school kids to senior citizens.

“Rent tells a certain tale to those of us who have been young in the 80s and 90s. The story itself, however, has not dated in any way. It was fantastic to hear comments from the audience members. Whether they were pensioners or young students, the musical was a strong experience for all. Many got new hope, faith and power from watching it.”

A moment from Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble's 2011 production.
Photo: Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble ry.

A Journey to a Wonderful World

The fantasy musical Wicked premiered in Helsingin kaupunginteatteri in 2010, seven years after its Broadway premiere. The musical has plenty of young fans all over the world – also in Helsinki.

The story of Wicked is based on L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its classic movie adaptation. In Finland, the world of Oz isn’t nearly as well-known as in the USA.

Despite the relative obscurity of the source material, Helsingin kaupunginteatteri decided to stage the Wicked Witch of the West’s story. Theatre manager Asko Sarkola says that composer Stephen Schwartz was worried about Finns’ distant relationship with the original story.

“He often asked me if Finnish audiences know The Wizard of Oz. The musical after all features characters and plot points from the original story. I answered that not really, no, but the music is going to charm the audience in any case.”

Wicked is a story about being different, and about friendship. Riikka Kiviaho, the president of Wicked Fanclub Finland, says that knowing The Land of Oz gives Wicked’s world more depth. According to her, the show can nevertheless also be enjoyed without any prior knowledge of the story.

“Wicked’s music is so impressive, you can really feel it resonating through your body. My mouth fell open during the first song already”, Sofia Sarkava says. Sarkava, a member of Wicked Fanclub Finland, saw the show five times.

The composer’s worries were indeed lessened with time.

“In the end, Schwartz was very happy with the way Helsingin kaupunginteatteri told the story of the different girl seeking for acceptance”, Sarkola says.

A scene from Helsingin kaupunginteatteri's Wicked.
Photo: Tapio Vanhatalo.

Fanclub Still Going Strong

The witches of Oz enchanted the Finnish audience. The musical was seen by over 65 000 people, and many saw the production more than once.

“I could relate with the musical’s themes and the relationships featured in the story. My situation in life was just right for Wicked”, Riikka Kiviaho describes the musical’s charm. She saw the production 16 times.

During the production’s run, Kiviaho founded a club for the musical’s fans. Helsingin kaupunginteatteri also joined the club activities. While the musical was in the theatre’s repertoire, the club and theatre joined forces to arrange cast meetups for the fans.

“The club turned into something special. The cast and the fans interacted with each other, and the feeling was good all around”, Kiviaho says.

Wicked’s Finnish run ended over three years ago, but the musical is still important to many fans. The members of the fan club still meet each other.

“I’m maybe the most impressed by how many people have found new friends via the fan club. I didn’t expect that when I founded the club. It still makes me teary-eyed”, Kiviaho summarises her feelings.

Witches and fans. Photo: Riikka Kiviaho.

Sources used: Mikko-Olavi Seppälä & Katri Tanskanen: Suomen teatteri ja draama, Reijo Paukku: Hippimusikaali HAIR ja Tampereen Popteatterin tarina, Taloussanomat 19.9.1998: Menestys tai tappio.

Rent Scenarios

This post will be a bit different from my usual reviews and complaints. If you're not interested in Rent and what-if scenarios, skip this one! This is just my little analysis on some aspects of the show. Will contain spoilers.

Ever since I saw Rent in Alexander Theatre two weeks ago, I've been wondering: what's wrong with Rent's plot, actually? I like many shows that lack something when it comes to the story, shows that have a silly plot, shows that hardly have a plot at all. Why does Rent, with its story about love, annoy me so much?

Well, something about the naivete of the whole thing bugs me. As I've mentioned previously, I think the show gets better if the production kills Mimi in the end. I've had the luck of seeing a production that made that choice once, and it improved the whole thing. The no day but today message – that's usually chanted for two hours straight but doesn't really mean anything since returning from the dead is apparently possible – gained an actual meaning for once.

But I guess that's not all that could be fixed.
I wonder if Rent would be better if either Roger or Collins didn't have HIV/AIDS.

Petrus Kähkönen as Roger in Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble's production.

Let's discuss Roger first.
He has a song – one of the best musical songs of all times, if you ask me – about how the disease has destroyed his dreams. He has a scenes with other characters where they discuss his illness. He takes his medicine, he has that little moment when he sings along the Life Support group...
But still, not once have I felt he's really suffering from something severe and incurable.

Maybe this has to do with people responsible for the productions I've seen. Maybe they didn't know how to make it work. But a part of it, I think, lies within the script. It never shows him suffering. It's Mimi who's getting pale and thin, Roger's still healthy. Even though that's completely possible when it comes to real HIV-posive people, it's not very effective in a story.
The song Another Day is problematic. What does Roger mean by it? I'm under the impression that Roger pushes Mimi away because of his HIV, since he doesn't know she has it too. Maybe he's afraid of relationships and doesn't want that Mimi destroys him inside like April did. But he also doesn't want Mimi to get the disease, he doesn't want that Mimi breaks her heart when he dies. Or that's how I see it.
So, how does an another day fit to this? With an incurable disease, there won't be a day when those things aren't relevant anymore. Is Roger lying to himself and trying to assure himself that his nightmare will end one day? Or is this just bad thinking on the composer's part?

One thing would be changing the plot so Roger's disease is more visible. But what would happen if he didn't have it at all?

It'd add a whole new layer of problems to the plot, which could be interesting. How could Roger and Mimi be together if only one of them had a sexually transmitted, fatal disease? It's a difficult scenario, but it could add some realism to the show.
It should be noted Mimi already doesn't care. In her song Out Tonight, she tries to seduce Roger, unaware of him having the disease too. The show doesn't bluntly state Mimi's goal is to sleep with Roger, but one could pretty easily interpret the scene like that. What's more, dating an HIV-positive person course doesn't mean you'll automatically become HIV-positive yourself. Copypasting from fda.gov: Condoms are not 100% safe, but if used properly, will reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. The audience knows this, and maybe the characters also do: Benny isn't HIV-positive (or at least it's not mentioned) but the show still implies he and Mimi have been together. It's almost as if the show doesn't care either...
If Roger didn't have the illness, it'd add an element of but-what-if-he-gets-it-too to his relationship with Mimi – would that make it unrealistic? Or more interesting?

In short, I feel it could be more realistic and closer to the source material (Puccini's La bohème) to have Roger not have HIV. It'd add more reason to him avoiding Mimi during the course of the show. He knows she will, eventually, break his heart like April did, he's afraid he will catch the disease too... It'd make Roger's selfishness more real and his motivations clearer.

Of course, curing Roger would change his character, and that's quite problematic.
It might be I've never felt he's dying, but that's still important in the script. One Song Glory, Another Day... You'd need a new way to justify these songs. Maybe only April got the disease, and her death alone impacted him so much he became severely depressed and started shielding himself from the world? That might justify Another Day but doesn't work with One Song Glory. I don't know if I'd be okay with my favourite song being removed from the show, even if it was for the greater good...
More importantly, the show would need a new way to get Mimi and Roger together, to show their love is stronger than his fear of the disease. Might add to the naivete part of things.

Maybe the disease is too important to Roger's character to have him cured.

Jyri Numminen as Angel and Mikael Haavisto as Collins
in Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble's production.

But let's not forget Collins.

Collins and Angel are a bit more minor characters. Both get solos, but where One Song Glory, Out Tonight, Another Day and other Mimi and Roger songs tell about their feelings and characters, Collins's and Angel's songs are a bit more vague. We don't know as much about their lives, other than what they feel for each other. Therefore, with them, maybe it wouldn't be necessary to go too deep into the what-if-he-gets-it-too element of the thing. That's their problem, our problem is Collins's pain when he loses Angel. Besides, do we ever worry about Rodolfo from La bohème or Christian from Moulin Rouge! catching tuberculosis, even though they're very likely to?
In a nutshell, I feel Collins's disease is nothing more than a plot device to remove the problems of him and Angel getting together. He refers to having it once, and that's the end of that. Unlike Roger, curing Collins wouldn't change his character.

I think making Collins HIV-negative would make his and Angel's story even more effective. Now, when they enter each other's lives, either of them could die first. Basically, just like any other relationship, though dying is closer to them than average young couples. Making Collins healthy would mean he knows Angel will die first, and soon. Unlike Roger, who would be afraid for his own safety and his own heart, Collins would go into the relationship nevertheless. Sugary and romantic, sure, but it'd also add a heartbreaking undertone to their story from the first minute. Even though theirs is the happiest of them all in the whole show.
Seriously, why isn't this a thing?

Do you have any thoughts about these scenarios? I'm curious to hear other opinions!

Photos from Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble ry's production.

Not Gonna Pay

I've talked about my relationship with Rent before. In a nutshell: when I think about the show with sense and logic, I hate it like burning. But when I see the show live, there's usually something that lifts me up. My brain says it's bad, but I tend to end up having a good time nevertheless.
However, seeing the production directed by Marco Bjurström that premiered in Alexander Theatre last week... I'm afraid I've reached a magical point (of no return?): I didn't enjoy myself like before anymore. I felt, mostly, nothing.

Maybe I'm just fed up. Or maybe it's my I dislike towards the material speaking. I adore how clever an adaptation of La bohème Rent is, and the songs are mostly great, but some parts of the story don't fly with me. After my last rant, I've realised I side with the wrong character: Benny. I don't really see what's so evil about his studio plans. Frankly, I'd like to work there.
But disagreeing with the characters doesn't automatically mean anything. I think I would have liked this production a lot better if it had been more innovative. The direction resembled the Broadway production. That's good if you love that production. I don't. And since we can all buy the DVD of the final performance, what's the point of showing us the same thing? Last year in Lahti, Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble ry changed the ending a notch darker, removed the song that grates the most, switched scenes around a little bit, and boom, twice better than the Broadway DVD. This production, then, went through the whole Broadway routine – and felt like something I've already seen.

As is, I feel the show only reached its full potential during the last fifteen minutes. What You Own, sung by Heikki Mäkäräinen (Mark, reprising his role from the aforementioned Musiikkiteatteriensemble production, great job again) and Raine Heiskanen (Roger) was the turning point for me: they sung with huge energy, I suddenly felt the show is amazing. Too bad the moment came an act too late.
Nevertheless, I thought the actors did a good job overall. Apart from Mäkäräinen, I liked Ilari Hämäläinen as Benny and Sanna Parviainen as Maureen the most. The former avoided the trap of portraying the character as a jerk and did a great job with his few sung bits. The latter sparkled with energy and attitude, just like Maureen should.
When it comes to character chemistry, I think there was some in between Maureen and Joanne and maybe also Angel and Collins, but not too much in between Mimi and Roger. While Mira Luoti was a cute, vulnerable Mimi, I don't think she and Roger seemed too infatuated with each other. Another Day seemed angry on everybody's part.

Not amused by your accusations of lacking character chemistry.

The production looked, set-wise, just like every other Rent I've seen.
The scaffoldings and industrial tables on wheels aren't pretty, but they do what they're supposed to and give the events a backdrop. Maybe you shouldn't fix what's broken. They're one of musical theatre's omnipresent things: Phantom and the chandelier, Les Mis and the barricade, Rent and the scaffoldings. But why are they so holy they never seem to get replaced? It'd be refreshing to see something different. The sets were designed by Bjurström and Heiskanen, the director and one of the leads. Maybe they had too much else on their minds to start reinventing.

The costumes by Jarkko Valtee, then, had undergone some chances from the traditional. Mostly, it was okay – losing the most stereotypical 90s costumes might not be period-accurate, but 90s fashion also looks pretty silly, so...
There was one costume change above the others: they had completely redone Angel's wardrobe. An artistic drag queen, you can do lots with her, so I tip my hat to this production completely changing things. Too bad I also hated said changes. Little panties, crop tops, a green mohawk... She looked less like a drag queen, more like the guys from Blades of Glory. Except for way more naked. I think it's easier to see Angel as the heart of the story she's supposed to be if her outfits don't make me gape for all the wrong reasons (though what do I know – maybe I'm alone and everyone else found her gorgeous).
To nitpick further, it bothered me that some characters were wearing such skimpy clothing, tiny tops and fishnet stockings, without a jacket. The show takes place on Christmas Eve, for heaven's sake!

Then there's the case of Sami Parkkinen's translation.
I stand in awe.
I don't remember hearing a Finnish translation that fails at resembling the original text and rhyming and rythm. Glad life's full of surprises and I got to experience this. If I was rolling my eyes in my seat, which I know I was – actors, please don't think it was because I thought you were so bad. You weren't, it was the words you sung... Ilona Kangas of Turun Sanomat says, in her review, that "Sami Parkkinen has made a new Finnish translation and done it well." I guess you can have many different opinions about this translation, then, but I'm afraid I can't understand Kangas's. Sure, the translation had a couple of good moments, but I don't think that's enough to make up for the major clumsiness.
It annoys me to no end how they didn't use the translation from Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble's production. Jyri Numminen's version compromised a couple of rhymes too, I seem to recall, but it did that so much better. It got rid of American terms Finns might find hard to understand (for example, changed Labor Day to vappu/May Day), it flowed, it didn't make me cringe once. Why on earth use a new translation when it can't hold a candle to the previous one?

Oddly enough, even after all this, I can't call this a bad production of Rent. Everything but the translation worked okay, even if nothing was especially exciting. All the scenes were there, looking and sounding like you'd expect. The actors were good fits for their roles. I should mention that the rest of the audience, in the half-full auditorium, loved the show: the applause went on and on, culminating in a standing ovation.
In my opinion, this production simply lacked the creativity and heart to really lift it off the ground.

Photos by Lasse Lindqvist.

RENT and Why I Love It

During the last twelve months, I've seen three productions of RENT.
They've ranged from weird and messing with the original piece - the one I saw in Athens - to energetic and enthusiastic and still messing with the original piece - the one I saw in Lahti, Finland - to kind of nice and yet again messing with the original piece, Musik- och kulturskolan Sandels' student production I saw this week in Helsinki. What's more, there'll be a new professional RENT in Helsinki later this year - a big must-see for me.
However, despite seeing it practically all the time and often listing it as one of my favourite musicals.... I sometimes catch myself thinking about how much I dislike RENT.

I think my friend put it the best:
"Just close your eyes and enjoy it. Don't think. Whatever you do, don't think. It can't take being thought about."
I find that statement painfully accurate.

In my opinion, RENT has great music. Sadly, to counteract that, it's filled with pretentious characters and implausibilities - for example, are we really supposed to believe the whole first act happens during one single night? It can of course be seen as unfair, criticising the flaws in RENT's plot. Many musicals are still rewritten after the premiere, but, due to the writer and composer Jonathan Larson's untimely passing away, that couldn't happen here. Still... One can't deny RENT has its fair share of plotholes.
To me, though, the show's biggest problem is being unbearably preachy. No day but today! And if the message isn't clear to you by now, no worries, we'll repeat it for you about five hundred times before the curtain falls! Actually, the show's moral reads like a selection of The Beatles classics - love me do, she loves you, all you need is love-yeah-yeah-yeah!
I think the problems with RENT's moral largely stem from slapping a message of love conquering all on La bohème, the opera RENT is based on, and calling it a day. That hardly makes sense. In the opera, no one has a happy relationship. No one comes back from the grave to the arms of their love. The characters are quite miserable and realise how close they were to happiness only when it's too late. But RENT... It doesn't question the power of love. The final scene leaves the cast belting about its glory, though judging by all we've seen, the couples are probably going to break up the next morning. Yet again.

I think the simple decision of letting Mimi die for real would improve RENT by heaps. I've seen one production do that so far, and I applaud the decision. Seeing the amount of meddling the directors do with RENT in general, I'm surprised every production I've seen didn't kill Mimi off...
As the story is, Angel's death doesn't wake the characters up. Angel helped us believe in love. I can't believe you disagree. But the characters continue quarreling as if nothing had happened. Maybe it's because, in a way, Angel's is not a cautionary tale. Although her life was cut short, she had the time to be happy - someone stayed beside her until the last moment. I'd be happy to die for a taste of what Angel had. 
But if Mimi dies... Due to them both being proud and stubborn, she didn't have the time to be happy with Roger. No day but today - and those two failed it quite spectacularily. Mimi dying changes the tone of the show, makes it darker and more thought-provoking. It hammers in the live each day as it were your last ideology in so much more powerfully than repeating the lyric an innumerable number of times ever can.

So, as I mentioned, I saw Musik- och kulturskolan Sandels' student production this week. It wasn't bad, I give it that. Most of the young stars did a good job in their roles. I was especially impressed by Filip Rosengren as Roger - I just loved his take of the character -, and Cassandra af Hällström's Maureen was a lot of fun to follow, too.
But, as so often happens with RENT is, the piece was changed, at some points in ways that made no sense. Even though, as you now know, I'm all for changing certain details in the piece... Cutting stuff for no reason just makes me angry. I admit I like it when Contact is gone, I find that painfully awkward. But otherwise, I think the songs should stay intact. In this production, many little scenes and moments had disappeared - parts of One Song Glory, La Vie Bohème, Goodbye Love, just to name a few - and then there were two encores. What sense does that make? Use the time you have productively, do the whole piece. Cut the unnecessary reprises if you have to.
What's worse, I think Ylva Edlund's direction had a severe case of ADHD. During duets, there always seemed to be something unrelated going on in the background, dancing and comedic routines and whatnot... I'm sure the audience won't implode of boredom, even if you give them a quiet moment or two every now and then.

But even with this all, I enjoyed myself a lot.

Next time, though, let her stay like this.

You see... Even when the piece has been cut, even when the ending hasn't been changed and Mimi wakes up... I can't help loving RENT. I can't help feeling gleeful whenever I find out I can see it live again. Back in the days of the Lahti RENT, I couldn't help rushing to see it twice in two weeks' time.
The feeling of seeing RENT live is something the movie or the Filmed Live on Broadway DVD can never give me. If you're lucky and your cast is full of energy, you're going to leave the theatre feeling ecstatic. The magic is all about feeling the cast believes what they have to say. The piece is wildly flawed, but if the actors manage to portray it with sincerity... It becomes something more than a sum of its parts. It's easy to forgive the silliness and preachiness and enjoy the ride.

RENT. A guilty pleasure, for sure.
But also, at its best, an uplifting experience.

Pictures are by Vladimir Pohtokari, from Musik- och kulturskolan Sandels' website.
More about the Athens and Lahti RENTs at this entry if you're interested.

My Finnish Musical Year 2010-11

A Retrospect of Musical Theatre in Finland, 2010-2011

The first musical I saw the last fall - or actually, summer, it was still August - was Titanic in Ypäjä Music Theatre, an amateur theatre company that puts up plays with music. It was also my first closing night, even though I didn't know that at the time. I saw the show with my ever-so-loyal theatre-going friend Sara and her mother.
The musical Titanic isn't great material to work with, I think. I'm endlessly fascinated by the ship, its passengers and the disaster, and I love the movie - it captures the panic onboard very well. Sadly, this musical doesn't. The composer, Maury Yeston, had the chance to make all the noisy, epic tunes he wanted, but he wasted that opportunity. The music is, in my opinion, a bit too calm and pretty.
Luckily the plot only twists a couple historical facts, most notably by making Bruce Ismay a speed-obsessed jerk... But what I think is the story's greatest fault is having no clear main characters. In some instances that works, but not here, I'm afraid. It's hard to feel bad for a collection of characters you know hardly anything about.
All that said, the production was still great. You wouldn't have believed it's an amateur theatre! Most of the actors did great job with their roles, the set was really inventive and even the costumes were beautiful. A huge thumbs up to Ypäjä Music Theatre! When you guys do your next show, I'll try my best to be there!

In August it was also time for Wicked's Finnish premiere in Helsinki City Theatre, a premiere which I attended with my friend Tiia. (Such sneaky birthday gift to give to your friend, musical tickets! That's practically forcing her to keep you company in theatre!) I've talked about Wicked here a couple times already, most notably at here, at my response to one especially sour critic. I don't claim Wicked is a perfect musical by any means, but it has good tunes and will surely entertain you - so I still think badmouthing everything it has to offer is a bit of an overkill.
I don't have much to add to what's been said before, but Wicked, besides being my first premiere, also marks my first time seeing a musical composer, this time Stephen Schwartz, live. Too bad they kept him hidden during the intermission, I'd have loved to shake hands with him!

In September I saw Chicago in Tampereen Työväen Teatteri with Sara.
I like Chicago a lot, but as I've said before, this production was a disappointment. I've talked about it here, and while I've learned to see good in it in retrospect and don't dislike it particularly strongly anymore, I don't really like it either. I can't bring myself to like stealing ideas from movies, and even though the leads did, mostly, an amazing job, I think the show would've needed more ensemble members and even more glitz and glamour to really take flight.

In October I had my first chance to see my favourite musical, Les Misérables, in Finland. Oddly enough, the first time visiting Åbo Svenska Teater - again with Sara - didn't really feel that epic. It was great, but I didn't feel as extatic as you'd suspect. It felt just great. Little did I know how epic my feelings would become later on...

In October I also saw Rebecca in Kouvola Theatre, once again with Sara.
The more I think about Rebecca, the more I dislike it, surprisingly. Maybe some of that's to do with the CD I bought, which has the whole show, dialogue included, in German - it's annoying to listen to, not understanding the language. But I also find the music a little bit underwhelming at parts, and the whole story, while it was really interesting to see it unfold, doesn't really fit well for repeated viewings in my opinion. I thought it was great when I left the theatre, now I mainly think "meh" when it comes to my mind. But maybe seeing it again would change my mind, after all...
However, as with Titanic, the production was surprisingly superb. Kouvola Theatre is a small one, and therefore I was amazed at the quality of their cast. Some of the sets were a little set-looking as opposed to realistic, and the big scene in the end could've been grander, but for the theatre's size and my expectations, I was positively surprised.
Bonus points to the lovely ladies of The Senior Teacher Club of Kouvola for making me smile with their wisdom, heard in the theatre foyer: "I really disliked the play. It should've been two or three hours shorter."

I saw Les Mis again in November, with my dad and a couple of my family's Åbo-based friends, and this time the epicness really got me. The next day I wrote one of the hugest rambles of the history of all my blogs - and, suprisingly, also my blog's most popular text -, a review at here. As I wrote back then: "I had seen the show once before this. I had a really good time back then and thought it was an awesome production. But for some reason just after this time it hit me how great this production of Les Misérables actually is."
I had found a new favourite musical production. Cats, Lahti City Theatre 2008-2009, you were amazing, but sorry...

I saw nothing in December, but 2011 started nicely with Next to Normal in Helsinki City Theatre.
I had managed to get a bunch of friends to come along: Sara, as usual, but also Tiia (a Christmas gift this time), Ulla and Mimmi. We had a blast, I don't remember ever laughing so much during an intermission!
And the show was amazing. I think it's one of the best scores I've ever heard in theatre, and the subject matter is very touching. When the big twist happened my jaw really dropped, extremely clever!
This was also a great time for me and Tiia to fangirl over our favourite actor, Tuukka Leppänen. I had been a fan ever since the aforementioned Cats, and Tiia, being introduced to him as Wicked's Fiyero, quickly developed a fangirl crush on him, too. I think Mimmi, Ulla and Sara were quite embarrassed of us two the way home, when we couldn't stop gushing and giggling in the train station... If you, for a reason or another, are interested in my Tuukka Leppänen fangirling, do see this link.

I and Sara saw West Side Story in Tampere in February. It was a student production, and Sara wasn't exactly excited about it, but I really liked it. The actors, still studying to be trained singers and actors, weren't always perfect of course, and the director had made some bad choices (why no male ensemble in Tonight Quintet, just Riff and Bernardo? Why?), but the production had a huge orchestra and sounded as good as it gets.
Here I found out that I actually love West Side Story. I had seen it on Broadway, and, while I dislike the movie, had liked it, but here I started to love the show. It's a compact package of strong emotions, great tunes, serious issues and, to put it bluntly, shit hitting the fan. There's nothing to add and nothing to take away, it has all the elements you need for a good musical. 
If some Finnish theatre decides to do West Side Story again, though, I've a word of advice: get a new translation. The current one, from the 60's or so, is the most horrible one I've ever had to listen to. Using lots and lots of bad puns doesn't equal Sondheim in any way.

In February I also left for Athens with my dad, and we had the chance to see a Greek production of RENT - but that's besides the point here. So, jumping to March, and to Les Mis once again, and again with my dad (he's becoming quite a fan, I believe). It felt even epic-er, and I was really amused to notice my dad's an Eponine fanboy: "I think that Cosette was a bit of a jerk, Marius should've gone with Eponine instead. She was a nice girl."

March continued with Wicked again, and boy, was that one of the most exciting nights of my life.
As I've told you before, I and Tiia, who had become a fan of the show since the premiere, had decided to make little plushies for the three main actors of Wicked. I admit my motivations had a little bit more to do with meeting a certain actor than complimenting the leading ladies for their good work (not that I wouldn't have honestly wanted to do that too, though!)...
Our friend Mimmi joined us to see the show, and I'm glad she was there - we were so nervous, Tiia and I, that it was good to have someone in her right mind around... We almost fainted just because we were so nervous before meeting the actors to give them our gifts. Luckily they turned out to be lovely people and everything went as well as it could, after all. It was great meeting all three, and, after two years of fangirling, I could check "hug Tuukka Leppänen" off my to do list! As I figured at here back then, I smile because it happened, still. So much that my face hurts.

March was a good month for seeing shows. We celebrated Sara's birthday by going to see RENT's Finnish premiere. Sara, Ulla and Mimmi all enjoyed the show greatly, only Suski thought Wicked was better... To each her own. I'm more with Sara's team here - I thought Suomen Musiikkiteatteriensemble ry, a newly-found group composed of young actors, did an amazing job with one of my favourite shows of all time.
I've talked a lot about this, and the Greek RENT, at here - I might just add that Sara and I loved the show so much we, besides giggling, screaming and making a general scene of ourselves in the night of Lahti after the show, rushed to see the closing night two weeks later. It's very sad the show's run was so minimal, but I've heard the cast didn't get paid, and the show didn't have a huge budget to begin with, so I can understand their decision. Still wishing for a quick revival, though!

In April we saw A Little Night Music in Turku City Theatre with Sara. She didn't like it, I loved it. Pretty much all has been said at my extensive review at here already, moving on...

The last day of April was also the last day of Les Mis for this spring, and I had to see it. I know this blog seems to be mainly about the aforementioned show already, but maybe I could add a couple of words...
This was the best time I've ever had in a theatre. I went alone, but had a truely amazing time. And not just me, the whole audience's mood was fantastic! It was May Day, so I don't know if everyone had already drank their first glass of champagne before entering the theatre or if it was just general party mood... But it was fantastic nevertheless.
Hearing the cast rehearsing One Day More before the show begun... Alexander Lycke, ÅST's Valjean, staring me directly in the eyes during one of his songs (or so it seemed to me. He probably just wondered why I was smiling so widely at his character's pain)... The longest applause I've ever heard, the most enthusiastic standing ovation... The party blowers and streamers the cast had at the curtain call... The "We will Mis you, Marius" sign some fellow fans waved at Glenn Nilsson since it was his last night in the role (I agree with them - Nilsson's Marius had the perfect mix of emotion, good looks and social awkwardness for two women to be fighting over his heart)... The director Georg Malvius coming onstage to take his bow... Me explaining Javert's motivations to an English-speaking couple in the foyer...
It was perfect. I felt like home there. The best May Day I could imagine.

The year's last show for me was Helsinki City Theatre's Next to Normal again, and again with Sara and her mother. Right after seeing it I was quite sure twice is enough, but now I don't know anymore... Maybe third time tells the truth next fall after all?

I of course didn't see every show in Finland, not at all. Some are too far for my time and funds, and some I skipped because I know I don't like them, or, as with Helsinki Svenska Teatern's Cabaret, because I know a Finnish production is coming up soon and would see that rather than the Swedish one. But what I saw didn't disappoint me - I'm constantly amazed at the quality of this country's theatres!

The next season holds a lot of goodies in store, too. Jesus Christ Superstar in concert, Tanz der Vampire, a new Finnish musical called Anna Liisa (about a young lady in the 19th century who is forced to kill her baby), the closing night of Les Mis, Kristina från Duvemåla, and lots of others...
I can't wait for the 2011-12 season to get started!

Pictures from the theatres' websites.

About Applause

As weird as it may sound, my favourite part of any theatre performance is the curtain call.

Don't get me wrong. Usually I love the stuff before the final bows and wouldn't want it to end so soon.
However, despite that, that I find curtain calls magical. Just the thought of not saying goodbye just yet when the curtain closes excites me. To see the actors once more, the most evil of villains smiling happily and blowing a kiss towards the audience, the stars of the piece joking with each other and me trying to guess what they're saying, all the flowers and gifts people have sent to the cast... The excitement and decibel levels rising and rising when getting nearer and nearer to the biggest role's bow.
To me, curtain calls are beautiful.

I remember the curtain call back when I saw Mamma Mia!, my first musical, in 2007.
I don't know where I'd gotten the idea - probably from TV, since the tour had a lot of media coverage when it first arrived to Finland - but I was absolutely certain it was a crucial part of the etiquette to stand up when they do the encores by the end of the show. And so I did. I seem to recall a lot of people raising with me, so I didn't have to stand there alone, wobbling along the music. A good start for anyone's theatre-going career.
I raised to dance a little when I saw the tour the second time in 2008, too - I was still convinced you simply have to do that if you see Mamma Mia! - but some maniac had just shot students in a Finnish school a couple of days ago, so the feeling in the theatre (or actually, ice hockey rink transformed into an auditorium) was less than enthusiastic. Still, I wasn't alone. Maybe the kind people around me thought they can't let the silly-looking girl in a Mamma Mia! t-shirt completely embarrass herself.

Despite doing a standing ovation the first two times I saw a musical I was well aware it was not an usual custom in this part of the world. And when I saw my first non-jukebox musical, the one that made me a Broadway fan for life, the thought of rising from my seat never occurred to me. Never, even though I loved Cats almost more than my own mother. I clapped my hands sore and felt my heart leap when my recently found favourite actor came back onstage, but that was it.

A little later I left for my first trip to West End.
I was having a horrible day when I saw Wicked since we had just heard bad news from home. Maybe due to that, I didn't see anything special in the show. I was very bemused when everyone in the audience, even in the way back where I sat, jumped up from their seats the moment the final note of the show had stopped playing. I had seen The Phantom of the Opera just a day before and found it a lot better, but no one had stood up in the Dress Circle then. I, however, followed the current and rose on my feet. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
The next day it was Les Misérables's turn. The effect of the bad news had vanished a little, and I was actually able to enjoy the show. When people in Stalls, where I happened to sit with my dad, started rising up and my dad whispered "should we stand up too?" to me, I was quick to say yes. It still felt very weird to me, since I had never seen that happen in Finland, but I was starting to like the custom.

Back home, I had time to see almost two dozen musicals before encountering my first Finnish standing ovation. I was absolutely certain Finns would never do it. We are famously shy, famously introverted... How could one of us ever make himself to stand up in a huge auditorium?

But in Wicked's premiere, the moment the final note had finished - again - two girls next to me and my friend stood up. Random thoughts of solidarity between musical fans shot through my brain and I knew I had to follow them. Maybe the rest of the audience would join us? It was the premiere, after all, and the show hadn't been half bad.
But nope. Me, my friend and the two girls to our left were the only ones standing during the curtain call in the great big theatre. It was only after Stephen Schwarz himself joined the cast onstage the rest of the audience felt it necessary to show some enthusiasm.
I felt kind of embarrassed. But maybe the actors appreciated our gesture. At least the girls next to us did, that's what I'm sure of.

Cue many less-than-excited curtain calls. Cue many shows I liked, cue many audiences that couldn't bring themselves to show that with me. Cue many hands clapped sore but no feet tired from standing.

Cue Les Misérables.

I went to see my favourite musical in in Turku, Finland, in Swedish. For the second time. Strangely enough, I hadn't thought that much of it the first time. It was good, that I was certain of. But brilliant? Well... Meh. It was a kind of a cloud between my ears. I know I had been there, but it still felt very unreal and I didn't remember a lot of it. Luckily I had gotten more tickets as a gift. Maybe second time would tell the truth?
It did.
By the very end, when everyone had taken their individual bow, I saw someone rising up in front of me. I jumped up the very second - and soon so did the entire audience. The miracle had happened. A Finnish (though, if you think with stereotypes, Fennoswedes may have a little less inhibitions on average than us Finnish-speaking Finns) audience had overcome their shyness. All thanks to my favourite musical - and a production of it that now, with no doubt, was my favourite too.
Ever since that I've seen two more standing ovations in Les Mis and one in RENT's Finnish premiere. Every time in Les Mis the standing ovation seems to occur earlier. The last one happened in between the actors leaving the stage and the extras coming to take the first bow! If we want to make it even better, I guess we have to rise at about when the final reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing begins...

I love standing ovations maybe more than anything else in theatre.
I love getting to show the actors how much I appreciate their job. I love for once being able to cheer, scream and clap all I want without getting one of those "shh, shuttup, we're in public and people are looking and you're sooo embarrassing, act your age" looks I know all too well. I love showing positive feelings without disdain, I love forgetting all worries and just feeling happy for a moment.

But it doesn't always work.
I saw Next to Normal the last Wednesday again. It was the last night of the spring. With Les Mis, the spring's last night was completely crazy - people actually banged their feet on the floor in the manner you do in concerts when you demand an encore. I know people in Helsinki sometimes think themselves a little cooler than people in the rest of Finland, but this cool...
It started like standing ovations do. Few people popped up, and so did I - solidarity between musical fans was again in my mind, not to mention I had truly liked the piece.
But in a few moments they started to sit back down again. Not even my friends, with whom I was in the theatre, rose up to support me. Suddenly I noticed I was one of the three people standing in the whole auditorium. And the two others were way nearer to the stage than me. I stuck out like a sore thumb and felt embarrassment creep down my spine.
But I didn't sit down. How could I? It's like saying to the cast that I suddenly stopped liking them. I hate when that happens, being in a space full of others and still being very, very alone, but I knew I was going to stand there for the rest of the night and even completely alone if I had to.

Despite some weird experiences, I always look forward to curtain calls, even though they mean the musical is over and my favourite tunes have been sung for that night.
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

P.S. I apologise calling Next to Normal's Finnish translation tired earlier on. Hearing it again, I can say I've heard way more tired. N2N actually had a couple of very inventive moments.

Video Spam

I'm usually not one to tolerate video spam. When someone posts more than one, less-than-three-minutes video per day, I'll usually switch to the "too long, didn't watch" set of mind.
But today I'm going to break my own rules and share some of the musical videos I love the best. My reason for this is that I may never find a way to post these in any less annoying way...

First, there's the trailer to the recently closed Finnish RENT.

I'm sharing this even though you can't see the show anymore to get the chance to reminisce the day I went to see the show's closing night a little.
I wrote about the time I saw the opening night at here, and I don't have a huge lot to add. If possible, the show had gotten even finer. Sadly, the audience was not quite as enthusiastic anymore, there was hardly any screaming and no standing ovation. Maybe, one day, I'll be brave enough to start one myself, but currently my inner inhibitions stop me...
Anyway, I think this cast would've had what it takes for many times longer run, and whatever Suomen Musiikkiteatteri Ensemble ry decides to do next, I'll be there to see it.

Now some more Finnish goodness: my favourite Les Misérables cast of all times (more here) performs Än En Dag (One Day More) in Thalia-gaala:

I'm sharing this because, well, they're so awesome (too bad there's audio problems, though. This song definitely needs some Enjolras!).
And because I like talking about myself way too much, I could mention I uploaded the video to YouTube myself. I know Javert would disapprove such blatant breaking the law, but I disagree here. In this case, no one loses, but everybody wins - the theatre gets a free ad, Les Mis fans get more Les Mis videos to watch. It's not like piracy, which I really dislike. Piracy, no matter what everybody says, isn't a win-win situation. The only winner is the one who downloads the song, but everybody involved in making it, including the artists, are the losers.
I'm becoming better and better with these digressions. With a couple of years of practice I'll be on the level of Victor Hugo when it comes to talking about unrelated things.

The third video I'd like to share today is a Les Misérables One Day More flash mob in Warsaw that someone linked to me today in deviantART .

I think this is hilarious - and I'm very much planning to buy the cast recording they're advertising with this!
Casts of musicals everywhere, in every country, please let us see more of this sort of fun!

Stopping here.
I know I should continue the Les Mis album comparison... Let's see if I can make that happen during the Easter holiday!
And even if I don't, I've something to look forwards to (well, other than seeing musicals): I'll be giving a presentation of musical movies in school's movie course. Technically, it's teamwork, but my team has agreed it's better I do all the speaking... I'm afraid 75 minutes isn't enough for me!

RENT Athens vs. RENT Lahti

The last month I've seen two productions of Jonathan Larson's musical RENT.
One in Athens, Greece, and other in Lahti, Finland.
I thought it would be fun comparing the two, so let's see!

Expectations
Athens: After the ticket buying ordeal I described in my previous post I guess I kind of expected to get something in return... And besides, my online friend told me the show had gotten good reviews. However, she had also told me there are hardly any musicals in Greece. So, my expectations were somewhat medium - I was quite sure I was not going to see any West End level performances because of the lack of musical experienced actors, but then again I supposed it was going to be pretty good at least.
Lahti: My expectations were all over the map. On one hand, judging by all they had said on their website, I was certain this group of people is really, really into making RENT and everyone of them is a fan of the show. On the other, Suomen musiikkiteatteriensemble ry is a newly-formed musical theatre troupe, and RENT is their first show. I was really excited about getting to see RENT in Finland, but I also reminded myself not to get too upset if it's not that great.

Before the Show
Athens: Me and my dad walked to the theatre through a pretty creepy neighbourhood and still arrived there about an hour too early, which messed with my mood a little. The theatre was one of those really miniature places - no place to leave your clothes in, no benches to sit on while waiting the auditorium doors to open, a lobby so small it feels packed with fifteen people. Things didn't get much better after the auditorium doors opening: the floor was almost flat, the seats weren't really comfortable and there was some totally un-RENT-like soft rock music playing in the background. And yeah, the show begun half an hour too late.
Lahti: The theatre wasn't really big or fancy neither, and, due to the sponsors financing the show, there were leaflets all over the place - Stop Homophobia, Get Help to Kick Your Drug Habit, that sort of thing. Nothing offending or unrelated, but not quite what you suppose to see in a theatre. Anyway, I loved to hear the final rehearsal The Finale playing through the wall. And the auditorium actually looked like a real theatre auditorium this time!

The Changes They Made
Athens: Talk about non-replica! Even though some of the costumes were like on Broadway, this was so unlike the original it's questionable if it can even be called RENT anymore or if it should be deemed an adaptation... They had, like the movie, cut all the little tunes like Tune Ups and Voice Mails. Contact was gone. Over the Moon had no music. La Vie Bohéme was partially cut. And then they had added stuff - Angel getting harassed by a skinhead, Mark introducing all principal characters of the show, Mark's mother making him marathon phone calls... Quite a mess, actually.
Lahti: The show, like the movie, begun with Seasons of Love, but returned to the familiar Broadway track right after that. Only two major changes were made after that: Contact was gone and - this is a shocker! - in the end, Mimi died. That's a pretty huge change if you think about it, but I liked that they had done it. I've always thought the ending is a little bit too happy for the "no day but today" message.

What I Liked?
Athens: I loved the actor playing Roger, he had a gorgeous voice and sung One Day Glory to perfection. I loved how they had, during Without You, Joanne and Maureen onstage too - the latter leaving their house and the former hugging the teddybear her girlfirend had left behind, and the latter then coming back at the end of the song. I loved Mark hugging Collins and not letting go when they think Mimi has died. And this Mark was exactly like my mental image of the character! Also, Angel coming back to sing The Finale, interacting a little with everyone in the ensemble, was really touching.
Lahti: I loved how Angel wore stuff a normal woman would wear - no skimpy little miniskirt like in Athens, not the kind of weird combo of the original Broadway show, but actual, pretty normal clothing of a lady who's proud of her looks. I actually liked Contact getting removed - to me the number has always been disorienting at best and a total awkward-fest at worst. I loved how they changed the ending - as I mentioned, to me Mimi living has always seemed a bit of a stretch, a little too Hollywood. I loved the translation. Usually Finnish translations are quite literal and stick to the rhymes, sometimes on expence of the meaning of the line. But here they had put the meaning first. I don't care if a couple of rhymes are gone if the message, for once, is clear.

What I Disliked?
Athens: The cuts. Most of them made no sense. Why remove the little songs and replace them with scenes that felt twice as long as the songs would've been? Even cutting Contact didn't work since they had left Angel's part - and the direction made it seem like he returned to sing beyond the grave. Creepy. Some of the cuts seemed conservative. If you can't take the sight of women kissing, don't do RENT. Also, the volume was just too loud. I get the rock musical part, but that doesn't mean the audience has to be deaf by the end. Still, some little directional things, like putting dancers in the background during Today 4 U. They had also made both Angel and Joanne mental blondes, the both of them being kind of ditzy and silly. Angel shouldn't be played as a comic relief!
Lahti: The Angel here, Jyri Numminen, wasn't much of a dancer - but I can forgive that since he's responsible for the great translation. Then again, Mimi, Sonja Sorvola, was a good dancer but not such a great singer. I did like her more and more towards the end, though. I didn't like how they pointed spotlight right at the audience during some parts, and I'm not sure if I hate or love adding, in the style of the movie, Maureen dancing the tango in the background with a man and a woman during Tango: Maureen. Again, at some points the volume was a little too much (too quiet to use the ear plugs they gave but a little too loud to feel really comfortable), but it was not as bad as in Athens.

The Mood
Athens: My own mood: okay. The songs were good, as were the actors, but I hated to see the show butchered like that. Still, I felt quite emotional by the end and shed a little tear when Angel joined the final chorus. The audience's: not much. Everyone mooed politely during Maureen's performance, but claps after the songs weren't that big.
Lahti: My own mood: great. I was so positively surprised - the show was much better than I had expected. Anyway, I didn't really cry this time. I guess I was just so sweeped by the generally cheery mood of the audience that I couldn't all of a sudden feel that sad. My jaw did drop open when Mimi died, though! The audience's: great. Maureen didn't ask the audience to moo, which is good. Us Finns are famously shy, so audience participation things can get somewhat awkward... But the cheers after every song were huge! There were screams when the lights dimmed for the second act and even after Voice Mails. I don't know how much of this had to do with it being the premiere and how much purely with the show's quality. But for example Wicked's premiere was, mood-wise, like watching a dead fish compared to this!

Curtain Call
Athens: A mildly enthusicastic applause in the end. They still did Seasons of Love as an encore. Is that an usual practice in RENTs around the wolrd? Seemed a little forced to me because the audience really didn't cheer that much. 
Lahti: The audience practically exploded. Loud screaming, clapping, banging feet on the floor, and a standing ovation (even though it apparently does happen in Les Mis all the time, still a rarity in Finland) after just a little while! I've never screamed that loudly at theatre. Then, after a while, Heikki Mäkäräinen, our Mark, signaled us to calm down and told us how the cast and crew love all of us and how they'd wish we'd tell about RENT to our friends if we were touched by it (which is of course what I'm trying to do here). It was really adorable. Then, more screaming... And the band starting Seasons of Love once again! I don't know if they'll do it every time too, but at least this time the audience had shown some real enthusiasm to get rewarded with an encore!

The Impact
Athens: "It was nice, but it would've been so much nicer without the weird cuts. Why did they have to do the weird cuts? Why?"
Lahti: "That was great! Was that even real? Because it was too awesome to be real!"

Pictures from the Finnish RENT's website.

Post Scriptum

Hey, by the way, remember the time I complained how messy most of the Finnish theatre websites are?
Well, I've reconsidered.

When I went to see RENT in Athens, only the following was needed to see the show:
- heard from an online friend there is RENT playing in Athens
- found, through googling, several pages of Greek but no address or anything relatively useful
- the friend told me "the number of the theatre"
- googled with the number, nothing
- found address and phone number by finding the theatre name on YouTube, felt happy
- went to Athens
- the phone number didn't exist
- tried to find a tourist info, succeeded on the second try
- met a very friendly tourist info lady ("This is not a ticket office, this is a tourist information!") who then proceeded to tell me where the theatre is on the map, which I already knew. Hardly a word of how to buy the tickets, which was what I had asked
- found out I had called the wrong number
- called the number, this time remembering to put all zeros in
- the number was for a wrong theatre
- the wrong theatre gave me the right number
- someone actually answered to me and told me about the performance times in good English
- turned out the address I have is wrong, but I forgot to ask for the right one
- went to hotel reception to ask for help, the lady didn't speak English
- the lady put me on phone with someone who asked me if I have the number of the theatre or if I want them to call it. I said I'll call myself
- went to the hotel reception next morning and talked to the man there. He could speak English, and, through complex googling, he found the theatre's new address and helped us to locate it on the map
- stumbled upon a ticket office by accident
- actually found the theatre and saw the show

Yeah, maybe I have to think about complaining of slightly confusing websites once more.
More about the production itself maybe later.

Shared Joy is Bigger Joy

I know this is quite silly, being silent for weeks and then suddenly having so much to talk about there are two new posts per day...
But today I've found some lovely, lovely musical things that I just have to share with so many people as possible.


First, this. It will be the best 2 minutes 26 seconds you'll spend on the net today. I guarantee it! "You stole four minutes of my life and I want them back! ...Oh, I'd only waste them anyway."
Defying Gravity from Wicked, gorgeously storyboarded by Heidi Jo Gilbert:

Edited to add: Thanks, NBC Universal, for taking the video down. It was really violating your rights to the material, what with all that promoting the musical free-of-charge and getting the hype about the movie up. You did the right thing removing it.
However, the video might still be available at Gilbert's blog, check it out.

As everybody keeps saying in the comments: this needs to get done.
I think animation is the right medium to do Wicked The Movie. With live-action all the flying around and monkeys and whatnot is very likely going to look cheesy - it's not 1939 anymore... But with animation - hand-drawn or CGI, doesn't really matter to me - it will look perfect. So many things that look great onstage but would look plain silly in live action could maintain the awesomeness in animation. Besides, there has never been an animated adaptation of a stage musical before, it'd be very unique!
And Defying Gravity just has to look like depicted above. It's perfection and deserves every praising comment it gets.


Second, this:

The first glimpse of the upcoming Finnish production of RENT.
It just might be that I'm going to love this when it premieres...

Or actually, I love it already. For two things: one is that they're gone outside to take these awesome pictures in costume. It shows some dedication!
The second is their website. For once, is one Finnish theatre company who knows how to handle the internet. The site can be found here, and is it nice already! Pictures, info on the actors, very well organised and looking good! It's a small, new company, but if the quality of their web page is anything to judge by, they've the energy and commitment to do some great musical theatre too!
You see, the websites of Finnish theatres are not that great on average.

Let's compare this to Helsinki City Theatre for example.
HKT has stuff. You can comment (oh, the numbers of caps locked exclamation points there...), you can see the pictures of their actors with info about which shows they are in, you can watch trailers for their plays (which I might talk about later, I've something to say about them)...
But the problem is that the whole place is a huge mess. Moving around the site to find what you want to see can be a big pain.
You won't find the actor's face even accidentally if you just keep surfing the HKT site - you have to get there through Google. Info about the play introductions they hold before every premiere can maybe be found if you dig around the site with a shovel, but even then it requires good luck. And even though there is a huge pile of pictures of nearly all their plays from the last ten years you can't see them: you can't get password to them unless you're a journalist (but then again, those with sharp eyes will find this super-secret password floating on their site too, so no panic).

And then there's RENT by Suomen Musiikkiteatteri Ensemble ry. A little group that has just been founded.
All the info on their site is in logical order, us un-journalist people can see and copy the pictures too, there will be videos in the future, share buttons to every website imaginable are readily available... This is what every big theatre in this country should look up to. This is how it's done today.
Well, there's something I'd still like to see: some sort of send feedback page. But since the premiere's still two months away, they'll have lots of time to put it in!

And of course I'm very much looking forwards the actual show too!