Mini Review: Avenue Q

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, I spent the last two weeks of summer 2013 in the United States of America! To make it even more exciting, my American trip included a little visit to Canada. Apart from all my belongings being investigated by the border control, I had a very nice day in Vancouver, British Columbia.

And what trip to Canada is complete without seeing some musical theatre? Not mine. I got to see Avenue Q, performed by Arts Club Theatre Company at Granville Island Stage.

It's a shame Canada is so far away from Finland. Based on this sneak peek of the Canadian musical theatre scene, I fell in love already!

I wonder if it makes much sense for me to review Avenue Q performances. It seems the character voices and performances always follow certain patterns, no matter which production. Being a new fan of the musical, however, I'm afraid I can't really compare this cast to any others. But even so, I can safely to say the Canadian cast was all-around brilliant, all seven cast members were such talented singers and performers! I especially admired Scott Bellis, who played Nicky, Trekkie Monster and one of the Bad Idea Bears. How is it even possible he can change his voice completely like that when changing characters?

As for the musical itself – the first act was some of the best musical theatre I've ever seen, really. I had of course heard many of the songs before, so it was great seeing them in context. And all the scenes were so funny! I don't think I stopped smiling for a second during the first half, it was that much fun.

The second half, then, disappointed me. I don't remember seeing a script run out of steam during the second act as badly as Avenue Q's did. The second act felt almost like an unnecessary add. I felt the charity drive subplot and the ending wasn't in line with the mood of the first half, and most of the songs weren't as memorable either.

My gripes about the script, or course, nothing to do with the brilliant cast, nor does the second act diminish the funny moments of the first one. I would see this again just for the first act – if I were Canadian, that is. Even though the second half drags, the first one is clever and funny enough to lift the whole thing well above average. Not to mention the all-around enjoyable performances!

This production is still playing for four nights. If you're in Vancouver at the moment: go go go!

Avenue Q has also been done in Finland, but it seems no material of that production has survived. But here's something that happened quite close, geographically, and amuses me quite a lot... Avenue Q's Swedish cast performs Om du var gay:

Helsinki Season Starters

I attended two theatrical season opening events this week: Helsingin kaupunginteatteri and Svenska Teatern. They're two of the biggest theatres in the Finnish capital, one Finnish and the other Swedish-speaking.

Let's start with a video clip from the season opening:

The feeling persists that Tuukka Leppänen will be quite something as the title character of Helsingin kaupunginteatteri's upcoming production of Doctor Zhivago the musical.

Doctor Zhivago, a musical by Lucy Simon, Michael Korie, Amy Powers and Michael Weller, has only been produced three times before: a test run in a Californian theatre in 2006, then a revised production premiering in Australia in 2011 and a run in Korea in 2012. So, Helsingin kaupunginteatteri's production will not only be the Nordic premiere, it'll be the first production of the musical in the whole Europe!

After last year's Fiddler on the Roof, the king of all overdone classics, I'm glad Helsingin kaupunginteatteri is taking a chance with an unknown musical. Though, from what I saw and heard in the season opening, I feel a strange familiarity... The musical is based on Boris Pasternak's classic novel where the events are tied to a revolutionary movement. The director Hans Berndtsson told that the piece's central themes are love and pain. It was mentioned the musical is sung-through.

"Doctor Zhivago is a story is about love in all of its most difficult forms, but it's also describes the suffering of the Russian people in the beginning of the 20th century", Berndtsson described the musical's plot. "The original novel is one of the darkest in history, but the theme of love draws people to it."

Sounds rather familiar, right? The original Les Misérables premieres in Tampere this fall, so Finnish audiences can compare the two themselves. Or maybe Zhivago is Helsingin kaupunginteatteri's late answer to Svenska Teatern's Kristina från Duvemåla – yet another spectacle that strongly resembles Les Mis?

In any case, dramatic and pain-filled musicals are my favourites, so I'm excited! I like the songs already. And, as mentioned earlier, I don't think you can go wrong with Tuukka Leppänen... No complaints about the other leads, such as Anna-Maija Tuokko, Marika Westerling, Esko Roine and Antti Timonen, either.

The theatre also presented their other 13 premieres for the fall. Sadly, I don't think anyone over ten but under 40 years old would find the selection too interesting. Children's plays, parenting troubles, the struggles of the elderly... It was briefly mentioned how the theatre wants to work with young people and help them find an interest in theatre. More productions with themes people under forty can relate to could be one way to go.

More from the season opening

I visited Svenska Teatern's season opening event this week too, and just like with HKT, I was mainly interested in the new musical of the season. HKT is not the only theatre in Helsinki premiering an unknown musical this fall.

Svenska Teatern, Finland's biggest Swedish-speaking theatre, is premiering Djungelboken. Originally called A dzsungel könyve, it's a Hungarian family musical by László Dés, Péter Geszti and Pál Békés that's never been seen in Finland before. The Svenska Teatern production will be directed by Hungarian director György Böhm. Patrick Henriksen, Birthe Wingren (who stole my heart as Kristina från Duvemåla's Ulrika) and Arne Nylander, among others, will be playing the leads.

Maybe the theatre felt that after last year's no doubt expensive Kristina från Duvemåla (and possibly before next year's Mamma Mia!..?), something a little smaller on scale and for a different audience was needed for this season. This seems like quite a nice choice to fill that void. From the little previews we saw in the season opening, it seems Djungelboken is going to be a colourful and energetic musical.

Djungelboken is called a family show, so I might not be a part of its intended audience, exactly. Still, I'm thinking of taking a trip to Svenskan – if for nothing else, at least to see Simon Häger as the snake Kaa. Or what do you say about the following sneak peek from their season opening:

Still want to see more? Bonus videos: Doctor Zhivago, Djungelboken.

I'd love to write about other Finnish theatre season opening events too, but sadly,  I can't make it this year... For the next two weeks, I'll be visiting Washington, USA, you see! Talk to you when I'm back in Finland again!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Last spring, I saw Turun kaupunginteatteri's production of Jekyll & Hyde twice. After the first time, I felt I need a second viewing before I can write a review. The feeling persisted after the second time. However, seeing how I've had the whole summer to ponder about this, I guess it's no use procrastinating about this longer.

Usually, the more you think about something, the more sense it starts to make. But when it comes to Jekyll & Hyde's plot, I have opposing feelings: here, a little thinking just makes everything worse. The characters' motivations aren't explained, you don't really know why they do what they do... All in all, I feel the musical would need some rewriting, and I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks so. Add some dull songs and odd lyrics and you have a mess any theatre lover would have a reason to criticise.

However, for once, I don't even care. This production has stolen my heart. It's maybe the best musical I saw during the 2012–2013 season.

Sometimes, pure glitter and glamour is all you need. Turun kaupunginteatteri's Jekyll & Hyde delivers that. It's one of the prettiest productions I've ever seen in Finland and firmly in my top five of prettiest productions anywhere ever.

I love it when things are done big. There are times and places for simple and minimalistic, but I adore a full-blown period-costumed spectacle spiced with some flames and bulletwounds. Jekyll & Hyde has it all. The set is big and beautiful. From leads to every member of ensemble hidden in the shadows of the set, every costume is lovely to look at. And the special effects, blood and pyrotechnics! They all left me staring at the stage with my mouth open. This production is absolutely beautiful.

Teemu Loikas's sets, Pirjo Liiri-Majava's costumes, Janne Teivainen's lights, the work of everyone involved with the visuals of this production – my applause.

Luckily, the acting and singing are just as good as the visuals.

I guess everyone was a bit surprised when first hearing Riku Nieminen would be cast in the titular role. He is famous in Finland for many things, but not for starring roles in musical theatre – before now. Based on the little I knew about the show beforehand, I thought Nieminen seemed quite different from the other actors famous for the role and wondered if he's really the best one for the part or if it's just a case of stunt casting... After seeing the show twice, I can safely say he's a great pick.

Especially when remembering this is his first leading role in a musical, I think Nieminen's singing was impressive. Some strained notes here and there, but as a whole, I loved listening to his voice. I also admired his physicality. How is it even possible he can do a backflip and sing at the same time..?

Nieminen's acting was also impressive, he did a good job portraying the main character's both sides. Reading the book the musical is based on, I was disappointed that Henry Jekyll's looks changed when he took the potion that transformed him into Edward Hyde. It was also underwhelming to find out that many productions of the musical do something similar, with tricks such as different hairstyles for Jekyll and Hyde. I feel it's much more fascinating if the transformation makes Jekyll's personality and mannerisms, instead of his looks, so different that even his friends can't recognise him. Though it demands some suspension of disbelief, I'm glad the Finnish production took the latter route instead of messing around with hairdos.

The leading ladies, Jennie Storbacka as Emma and Anna Victoria Eriksson as Lucy, were talented too. It'd be interesting to see their characters explored further, it's a shame the script doesn't allow them to do much else than pine about a guy – but they at least delivered said pining beautifully! Special nod to Severi Saarinen as Jekyll's friend Utterson. His performance ensured that Utterson became my number one favourite character in a matter of minutes.

Even though everything else is pure goodness, I have to return to the plot for a minute. I feel it's a shame the musical doesn't delve deeper into a certain theme: is the main character Henry Jekyll hooked on being Edward Hyde and seeks the transformation voluntarily, or is it an experiment that's gotten out of hand? The director Tuomas Parkkinen mentioned addiction many times before the musical's premiere. I feel the theme could have been explored more thoroughly in the actual show. As it is, the issue is just briefly touched upon. This musical is a treat for those who enjoy coming up with their own backstories and solutions – the plot and direction don't offer many unambiguous answers.

I could go on about the plot and its faults for longer, but ultimately, I don't truly care. Sitting in the audience (which I no doubt will be doing in the fall again), the holes in the plot don't bother me. I just enjoy the beautiful spectacle.

Photos by Robert Seger.

Favourite Actor

To break the summer silence, here's something that got buried in my blog's drafts folder last winter: a little ode to my favourite musical actor.

Let's start with a quote Kaisa wrote at Being Alive last February (my translation):

How can it be that Tuukka Leppänen still hasn't risen to greater fame? Leppänen has loads of charisma, sexiness, looks and singing skills, and he knows exactly how to use all that onstage.

I couldn't agree more. Tuukka Leppänen has been my favourite actor from the day I fell in love with musical theatre.

That backflip alone convinced me
that this is an actor I should like.

I was 15 years old when I saw my first Finnish live musical, Cats in Lahden kaupunginteatteri. The whole first act, I felt like flying. I loved everything I saw and heard. The Jellicle Ball transported me from my seat to some other universe. It was one of the rare occasions I completely forgot where I am and just enjoyed everything. But during the second act, one cat especially started to catch my attention...

When I saw Cats, I didn't quite understand you can see the same show more than once. Apparently, I also thought actors vanish from the face of earth after doing one role. The day after turning into a musical fan, I remember feeling devastated. Heartbroken. I was so sure I was never going to see either Cats or that one especially amazing actor again. The former was bad enough, but the latter... I was close to tears.

In less than a month's time, I sat in Lahden kaupunginteatteri's auditorium again, and knew exactly which cat to keep my eyes on for the whole performance.

It seems Tuukka Leppänen can do anything: act, sing, dance... But most of all, does he have some charisma. No other actor I've seen has the stage presence that Tuukka has. Some come close, but to me, Tuukka's the ultimate I-could-watch-him-read-from-the-phone-book-and-still-be-entertained actor. Even though, in my opinion, some the characters he's played lately have been on the boring side – his performance never is. No matter who he plays, I feel for the character. I fall a little in love every time I see him onstage and regret each chance to see him I've missed (oh, Spring Awakening, you and your treacherous double casting!).

However. Returning to Kaisa's words I quoted in the beginning...

How can it be that Tuukka Leppänen still hasn't risen to greater fame?

Exactly.

Maybe I've just been hanging in the wrong circles and reading the wrong things... But I can't help wondering along with Kaisa: how come there hasn't been an article about Tuukka Leppänen in every Finnish women's magazine already? There's hope in the horizon, though. Tuukka has been cast in the title role of Helsingin kaupunginteatteri's upcoming, much-advertised production of Doctor Zhivago the Musical.

If the whole Finland isn't fawning over my favourite next fall, I don't know what has went wrong.

Some define being a fan not as being there from the beginning but staying there until the end. I think there's a point in that. As for us, who've been fans ever since we first fell in love with musical theatre... As long as your musical has Tuukka Leppänen in it, I'll be there.

Eek!

Photo credits: first photo unknown / Lahden kaupunginteatteri, second photo Maari Järvinen / Helsingin kaupunginteatteri.
I've been waiting for an interview with Tuukka Leppänen I could fangirl over for five years soon. If I'm mistaken and one has been released somewhere, please let me know...

Five Things Challenge

I guess it's time for personal talk again – Mizzie-Me from Music & My Mind tagged me to reveal some things about myself! So, here are some obscure facts...

5 things I need daily

• Toothbrush
• Chewing gum (it seems I'm addicted to dental hygiene)
• My cellphone (got to know what time it is)
• My calendar (got to know which date it is and what's going on)
• Something to read (or I'll go insane)

5 books I recommend

• Ensemble, c'est tout by Anna Gavalda
• Utvandrarserien by Vilhelm Moberg (I dare you to read this without crying)
• The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa (I dare you to read this without crying)
• Perhe on paras by Elina Karjalainen (for all Finns in the audience: if you ever run across this in a flea market, do not hesitate)
• Anything illustrated by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen

5 materialistic gift wishes

• A new backbag
• Some fun simulation/strategy PC game
• One of those fancy smartphones (to replace my 6-year-old Nokia)
• Colourful sweaters
• A print of my favourite Kate Beaton / Hark, a vagrant comic

5 places I'd like to visit

• Prince Edward's Island, Canada (and Canada in general, actually)
• Australia
• Denmark (as always)
• Iceland
• UK beyond London

5 adjectives that describe me

• Smart
• Creative
• Meticulous
• Worried
• Introverted

5 maxims to give to others

• Photoshop will fix it.
• Never say never.
• The front row equals the best vibes.
• Don't panic.
• Do to others as you would have them do to you.

I will pass the torch to an old pal, Reta at Todella vaiheessa. If you speak Finnish and love books, you will love her blog (and I bet she will come up with a nice list for the Five books I recommend question)!

Bullying Tourists: The West End Way of Booking Tickets

This October, I'll be visiting London for the sixth time.

As always, I'm going to see a musical or two, and I like buying my tickets in advance. I know some swear by whichever last-minute discounts may be available – but I find buying tickets in advance saves lots of time and hassle, so it's often worth the extra price. I enjoy planning my schedules beforehand. I don't even rush to Finnish shows on last-minute discounts, so I think doing that during a vacation would just add to the inevitable holiday stress.

When it comes to London, however, buying theatre tickets adds to your stress levels, no matter how they're being bought.

How, situated in one of the most visited cities in the world, can the West End theatres have such a medieval ticket booking system?

In Finland, you go to a theatre's website, pick the show and the date, pick your seat, pay with your credit or debit card, print your ticket, and you're done. If you decide you'd rather pick up the ticket from the theatre, just purchase it via the box office and pick it up whichever day you please!

When buying tickets to West End musicals... Where do I begin? Well, first, you find a show you'd like to see and a date that suits you.

Then the downhill begins.

You might run across a site that sells you musical tickets in Finnish. You soon leave the site, though, when you notice they seem to add ludicrous amounts of fees on top of the ticket prices, sometimes 30 or 40 € worth of extra on a single ticket.

You might then think Ticketmaster is the site to go. But don't be fooled by the fact that when you buy tickets from the Finnish version, you can print them right away with your own printer, for a small extra charge. Instead, prepare for large fees, a ticking clock that gives you a minute and a half to fill out eighteen different information fields, and the tickets being sent to you by traditional mail two days before the show, quaranteed.

If it happens you'd like the tickets to your home adress a week before the show already, again quaranteed, shell out some ten pounds more and move to the checkout. Printing the ticket, you ask? Unheard of!

Scrap Ticketmaster, we're going to book the tickets directly from the theatre.

At first glance, buying from the theatre is easier and cheaper. You book the ticket and pay with a credit card. But when you arrive at London, remember to have the credit card you used with with you. It wasn't your credit card? Someone bought the ticket for you? Quite impossible!

It seems each West End theatre has a small print somewhere on their website that says the person who bought the tickets, and the card they were bought with, must be present at the box office when picking the tickets up. If it happens that someone in their teens or early twenties would want to see a musical... Someone who's old enough to travel alone but too young to get their own credit card yet, so they'd have to ask a family member to pay their tickets... Don't even think about it!

I've been in this situation countless times. My parents usually travel with me, but they aren't into musicals – so I don't think it's the high point of their holiday to be dragged to five different box offices to pick up my tickets. I've cheated the rules sometimes and picked the tickets up alone, since some box offices are sensible enough not to check every credit card. But some do, so going alone is terrifying. What shall I say if they ask for the card? Some theatres' rules generously state that if the card owner signs a permission for another person to pick up their ticket, it will be fine – but some don't, so it's always an unpleasant adventure.

There's an extra twist of excitement in all of this: in most cases, the tickets you booked aren't available until one hour before the night's performance. If it happens you're that late-teens-to-early-twenties person who cannot yet get their own credit card, with parents who'd much prefer a pint at a pub or a walk by the river to visiting box offices night after night... Too bad for them, they'll have to come to the theatre with you every night anyway.

This all makes me see red.

How can a simple thing be made so infuriatingly difficult?

What is the purpose of a system like this? Bullying tourists who enjoy a night out at the theatre? Why isn't a printed receipt from the online store enough to convince certain box offices that the tickets can be given to someone, why do they demand seeing the credit card? Why can't the tickets that have already been paid for be picked up earlier than an hour before the performance? Why on earth printing your own ticket isn't possible even for the most popular West End musicals?

I'd love to see the West End box offices wake up and notice they're in the 21st century. Stressing foreign visitors out like this has to stop. People actually own printers nowadays. And even in here, the far-away, cold, tiny country of Finland, you can pick up the tickets you've bought on whichever day you choose, not just an hour before the performance. So why can't London's famous West End figure that out? What purpose does it serve to make ticket purchases this difficult for tourists – especially seeing how the income from tourists helps to keep the West End musicals alive?

I'm hoping that when I one day plan my seventh London adventure, I can finally print all my tickets at home and just enjoy the shows.

Enjolras

For your information: this text is mostly about the musical character. I don't know the book inside out enough to really discuss the book character in depth.

As long as I've been a Les Mis fan (what, four years now?) I've been slightly obsessed with the character of Enjolras.

A task: identify all the Enjolrati pictured. A hint: the first one's never played the role.

Enjolras in the musical, at the first glance, is hardly a character – he's a symbol. If you want to perform a Les Mis medley in a concert, you just need to have a guy walk onstage with a big red flag and everybody knows what they're going to hear, even before a single note is played. In the West End version of the musical especially, it's almost as if the character exists to be a memorable visual. The image of Enjolras with the flag is so striking that Queen's Theatre in London even has a three-story-high billboard with it on the outside, right next to the Cosette logo.

Still, the character could just as well be called Joe; his name is never mentioned in the show's libretto. (I've heard people call him, among others, "the one in the red coat", "the soldier boy", "the ponytail guy" and "what, there was a character like that?") He has some big notes and the fanciest vest in the whole cast, but no proper solo and little stage time.

Still, I have the slight obsession. Whenever I see Les Mis live, I pay special attention to Enjolras. Having so few definitive characteristics in the musical script, he's maybe the character that differs the most from production to production. Kind and friendly, cold and distant, jumpy and stressed out, confident and charming... I don't like all the interpretations, but I love the fact that there are so many different takes. (I've written about this previously.)

Enjolras is of course the leader of Les Amis de l'ABC, a group of rebellious students. They all have distinct personalities in the book, so many people enjoy observing whether the actors bring that across in their performance. I, however, don't much like Les Amis. It took me two years to learn the difference in between Combeferre and Courfeyrac (and to this day, I keep confusing the two). I can see why people love the characters, but I don't love them myself.

More surprisingly, when I think about him, I don't like the character of Enjolras either. I've never been too interested in real-life wars or insurrections, and the barricade parts of Les Mis aren't on top of my list of favourite scenes. Many people say they can relate with Enjolras because of his passion or involvement in politics – I can't. I certainly don't approve of everything he does, especially in the book. Actually, I probably couldn't stand him around if he was real and I knew him. But on theatre stage, he's endlessly fascinating...

I'm of course not alone in this. Enjolras, judging by the amount of fan discussion centered around him, just might be the most popular character out of the whole show.

During these four years, I've witnessed more fandom fights about Enjolras than I can remember. There's something about the character that makes fans very passionate, and very defensive. There are people who have deleted their blogs after an especially nasty Enjolras fight. And, even though I've never felt upset enough to take such drastic measures, I have to admit I've lost my cool, expressed unfinished opinions and behaved immaturely in multiple Enjolras fights. Don't feed the troll, they say – but if said troll doesn't agree with me about everything Enjolras-related... (This piece of fanart, created after an especially heated argument last summer, puts it more perfectly than I ever could.)

There's of course a lot of positive fan activity around the character too, not just bickering. Enjolras is one of the most popular subjects in Les Mis fanart. He's a lot of fun to draw. No matter which production, his costume always pops, with its reds and tricolours. And who wouldn't enjoy drawing the glorious hair mentioned in the novel!

Still, when it comes to fanworks centered around Enjolras, I think the my favourite part is how easy he's to make fun of. I know that if you look at the book closely, there's a wonderful three-dimensional character in there – and many fanartists show just that. But oh, the humorous possibilities in turning him into an barricade-building obsessed maniac!

In a way, creating fanworks resembles acting a little bit: you decide how to portray a character. The Enjolras in my comics, for example, is constantly a little annoyed by everything. He either has the driest sense of humor out there or is completely humorless, I'm not quite sure. But on the other side, he values friendship greatly and has a clear sense of duty and justice. The Enjolras I draw, however, isn't the one I imagine in my mind when I read the book, nor the one I'd like the best to see onstage. I just happen to find him funny and think others might, too – my favourite thing about Les Misérables fanworks in general is poking fun at the misery-drenched story, after all...

As for the musical, I'm still looking for the ultimate stage Enjolras. I've seen some good and even downright amazing ones, but I've yet to see the one I think is 100% perfect, one that doesn't play the character but is the character, like I feel about Earl Carpenter as Javert. These are huge expectations, though, and I wonder if the perfect Enjolras can exist at all. Maybe he'll only ever live in between my own two ears. The likelihood that any actor or director would think exactly like I do on everything Enjolras-related is pretty slight.

Still, I'll keep wishing to see that happen one day. On the meanwhile, I'll keep enjoying the different portrayals. Maybe I'll even take part in a fandom discussion or two. Just for good measure.

The illustrations in this blog entry are by me. See more Enjolras art in my Les Misérables fanart gallery!