Secrecy

I've followed the international musical fandom long enough to know that fans around the globe get annoyed when theatres handle their PR less than perfectly. From inaccurate cast lists to social media responsibles who get outsmarted by fans... Mistakes happen, but they – or, in some unfortunate cases, sheer laziness – can be very irritating from a fan's perspective. We just want to know who is cast and if there are any understudies on!

Some recent events have made me think about good and bad musical PR in general, and Finnish musical PR especially. Here come my two cents on that, concentrating on a certain recent issue...

In Finland, the average musical is kept a secret as long as possible. It's always a nice day in spring when Helsingin kaupunginteatteri, the home of some of our biggest musical productions, releases their musical of the fall. There are never any teasers beforehand. But when the announcement comes, it comes with a bang, with a press release and promo photos. Same with many other theatres: the upcoming productions are shrouded in secrecy until the big day when all the info is out at once.

Usually, the mysteries annoy me. Would there be some harm in announcing the upcoming productions a bit earlier? The theatres know, so why can't the fans? It's almost painful to wait and speculate!

Strangely enough, watching Åbo Svenska Teater releasing info about their upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar, I've started to appreciate the usual customs more.

I love Åbo Svenska Teater. It's Finland's oldest theatre, a lovely place full of athmosphere. I also love the musicals they do. Everything I've seen there so far has been great. What's more, the people working at ÅST have been complete sweethearts towards me and my friends, and I'm grateful for that.

However, I've developed a strong dislike towards the way they handle their PR.

There have been some mishaps of the most annoying sort during the time I've known the theatre. When Les Misérables was still playing, ÅST made an announcement: the production would be extended once more. They added that all the leads would stay in their roles. A good day for a fan! But a bit of a punch in the stomach when I later found out the actor playing Enjolras would change. Tears in my eyes and all. Not a main role enough, apparently – the actor change was notified on the theatre's website only a week before the production closed. What's more, waiting for the cast of Hair last year was slightly nervewracking. They started selling the tickets in March but released the cast a while later. In August.

And now there's Jesus Christ Superstar. We found out about JCS because the name of the musical was mentioned in a job advertisement someone found by accident. That was two months ago. To this day, there hasn't been a press release. We don't know the director or the premiere date. No idea when tickets will be available for purchase. Instead, we've been served a weird string of little updates, culminating this week in a local newspaper announcing the lead – Alexander Lycke – and the theatre not answering any questions about the rest of the cast.

I know Finland is a small country and the number of devoted theatre fans is tiny. But the little group there is would appreciate precise information.

I suspect there are theatregoes who don't care about casting. Some just want to have a good night at the theatre and don't remember the name of the lead the next day. But for the fans, like me and my friends, the casting news are important. We have our favourite actors and we are dying to hear what they're up to. We've been refreshing the ÅST Facebook again and again ever since they said they'd release the JCS cast before Easter.

Sure, partially, they did. But it's not nice to leave things hanging halfway, like announcing a Jesus but not a Judas. It's even worse when our questions aren't answered, not even with a "we can't tell yet." I'm sure the people who take care of the social media are busy, and it must feel like there are more important things to do than to answer some crazed fans' questions. But, on the other hand, the crazed fans are the people who won't shut up about the shows around the internet and in their everyday lives...

It's sometimes weird how little fuss theatres make about their musical actors. In many cases only the cast members famous for something else than doing musicals get hyped about. Maybe a musical actor could also be a star around here, like Peter Jöback is in Sweden. Where is our Finnish household name? Maria Ylipää comes the closest. But why, for example, isn't Helsingin kaupunginteatteri advertising Tuukka Leppänen (just cast as the lead in their production of Doctor Zhivago) as the supernova of stage charisma he is? Or, again, ÅST. Why aren't they making a big deal of bringing Alexander Lycke back, why have they drowned that piece of news in unrelated FB updates? Even the saleswoman at a local convenience store fangirled Alex with me back when Les Mis was playing. No grounds for any hype there?

I don't mean to say all Finnish theatre and musical PR is awful. Most of it is not. Tampereen Teatteri, for example, especially with their upcoming production of Les Misérables, has been doing a good job. I disagree with most of the things they're doing with the production... Which means they've released enough precise info for me to be able to disagree!

I just wish every Finnish theatre would understand that enthusiastic theatre fans actually exist. And that we want to know what's going on.

Link tip: this blog is for reviews and musings. For anyone interested in news about Finnish musical theatre, I try my best to update the news tag at my side blog, Fuck Yeah, Finnish Musical Theatre!. Maybe give it a follow.

The Wretched of the Earth

I don't think I'll be writing a Les Misérables movie review.

I’ve seen the movie in cinemas three times now. Though the stage show remains my true love, I think the film's good. But who needs another voice in the choir praising Anne Hathaway’s Fantine or criticising Hugh Jackman's Bring Him Home anymore? It's all been said already.

Instead, let's talk a bit about being a Les Misérables fan. 

Les Misérables has a lot of flaws. Despite them, it's been my favourite musical for four years. Every now and then, I think I'm now fed up with the whole thing, and then catch myself listening to some cast recording two days afterwards. I can't stop loving Les Mis.

For most of my time as a Les Mis fan, I’ve been publishing related news in LesMisClub, a community for Les Mis fanartists. Two and a half years ago, rumors about the movie started popping up. I did some quick research, listed the facts, and added my own opinion:

"I'd like to recommend not getting too excited about this. 

With little googling I already found out he [Cameron Mackintosh] has announced a Les Mis movie in 2009 (with Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman in the main roles, apparently) and in 2005, and there even was a mention of a Les Mis movie ad campaign in 1991."

Little did I know this was finally the one that would come true.

Us fans of the stage show have always known Les Misérables is the planet’s most popular musical. But now, after the movie has premiered, we can suddenly see it. All of a sudden, everyone's friends, classmates and relatives know Les Mis the musical. The size of the Les Misérables fandom has exploded. Before, it was a neat acchievement if twenty people aknowledged your Les Mis fanwork existing. Nowadays, the average Les Mis film gifset gets a thousand notes in Tumblr. 

Before the movie came out, there was a lot of talk about new fans ruining the fandom. Sure, whenever a huge number of new people join any group, there will be some troublemakers – but I still feel that's a silly attitude. The fandom for Les Misérables is 150 years old. There have been stage versions, screen adaptations, radio plays, an anime series, a Donald Duck crossover and a fighting game, and each adaptation has brought in new fans – and now this new movie and the people who love it have supposedly ruined something? I don't think so. I'm just glad we got an adaptation that presents Victor Hugo's original story at least somewhat accurately for a chance...

Apart from introducing the story to new people, it seems the movie actually brought the fandom closer to each other. Speculating together about every new paparazzi photo and promotional image was plenty of fun. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as close to my fellow Les Mis fans around the globe than when we watched the livestream from the London premiere red carpet and liveblogged the experience together. For me, that was honestly better than watching the actual movie. Seeing things like the original cast Marius interviewing the movie Marius, and getting to scream about that with other fans in real time... The movie itself was worth the wait, but the waiting was worth a lot more on its own.

If I'm completely honest, I didn't feel much anything when I finally sat in the cinema and waited for the film to begin. I didn't feel particularily excited during the movie itself either (apart from Stars, which I found so good it reduced me to a sobbing mess). Maybe I was actually a bit sad that the wait was over. Or maybe I just had used all my excitement up months before already.

I don't mean all fun ended after we couldn't speculate anymore, though. The pictures featured in this blog entry are parts of the LesMisExtended Visual Petition. It's visible proof of the movie bringing the Les Mis fans together, and a project I'm very proud of.

Les Mis is one of the longest musicals out there, so the movie made many cuts. They were well done, you only noticed something's missing once or twice. But, since we know many things were cut only after filming... Of course people are curious to see how the movie actors handled the missing bits. When Tom Hooper hinted that if the fans are interested, he might consider releasing an extended cut of the movie, me and one of my online friends decided to do something. We started a visual petition. Anyone could show they want to see all that was filmed by drawing their favourite character.

143 people did.

I was floored by the number of characters people sent in (and so was my Photoshop and deviantART's file size limit). We've now sent prints of the whole thing to Tom Hooper and can't but hope they reach him. But even if they don't, the project still looks amazing and shows how much talent there is in the fandom. Just look at all the different ways the same characters are portrayed there!

And honestly, this is what being a fan is all about, to me at least. Taking something amazing and using it for inspiration. It was nice to see the Les Mis movie on a big screen, but it was way better to discuss it with my friends afterwards. Just as it's amazing to see the show live, but at least just as good to review the performances, to draw fanart based on it, to share the experience.

Les Misérables the musical takes itself completely seriously. So much so that I doubt I would find it enjoyable anymore without the fanart, the discussion, the jokes... I love the songs and the characters, and whenever I see the show live, I enjoy it so much I can hardly sit still – but even then, it feels a bit heavy sometimes. Drawing a comic where Enjolras has superpowers or just giggling about some miserable pun balances the pathos out nicely.

It's weird how much a single musical can give to a person. Without Les Mis, I wouldn't know some – if not the majority! – of my good friends. Without that sorrow-drenched story of a bunch of French people dying, I would have a lot less fun in my everyday life.

I'm glad I got to be there while the movie was made, from the first announcement onwards. Getting a good film out of that was a nice bonus.

Hair That's a Fright

What is the deal with the musical Hair? I've now seen two productions of it. Based on my limited knowledge, I don't think I've ever encountered a show that varies this much from theatre to theatre. Does the same character ever sing the same song in two different productions?

After falling in love with the Åbo Svenska Teater production (read my review) and hearing lots of praise for the other current Finnish production, directed by Maarit Pyökäri, I went to Lahden kaupunginteatteri with great expectations. While ÅST has reconstructed the whole show to follow the movie and the director's own ideas, the Lahti Hair resembles the original Broadway production. I was excited to see what the original was like.

Such useless excitement.

The positives first: the cast was energetic and seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. There were some beautiful singing performances, I especially enjoyed Elsa Saisio's Easy to Be Hard. Timo Välisaari gave a good performance as Claude.

Then the negatives.

The worst thing was how emotionally empty the production felt. It didn't bore me, but I felt no emotional highs or lows. Some of the songs were a little touching on their own, but the piece as a whole didn't make me feel anything. The ending medley didn't cheer me up when I never felt the down in the first place.

The emotion in the story is strongly tied with the character of Claude. Here, despite the actor being talented, I didn't feel sad about Claude's ultimate fate. The going to war part was too brief. Before that, the characters didn't really feel like an intimate group – would they really miss Claude? I didn't feel a true sense of friendship or love in between any of the characters.

Partially, the space and choreography are to blame for the show feeling distant. Lahden kaupunginteatteri has an unfortunately big stage. Sitting in the third row, the actors still seemed far away. To fill the stage, Hair was thoroughly choreographed, which left little possibilities for natural-like action in between the Tribe members. The dancing did look nice, though.

I felt uncomfortable about the production using face paint to create the black Tribe members. Sadly there aren't many non-white actors in Finland – but after seeing how they managed to find an ethnically diverse cast in ÅST, I have to wonder: would it have been impossible here? Painting people black probably wasn't frowned upon in 1960s' Finland, but it feels like something that shouldn't be done in 2013.

Some might oppose moving the songs around like they did in Turku, but I think a complete restructuring did a great deal of good there. ÅST's piece sure doesn't much resemble the original Broadway Hair, but it doesn't feel jarringly dated, either. The Lahti one, with nearly all of the scenes intact and in the original order, does. The bits relating to US history, seen via the eyes of the 60s, felt very distant from my young Finnish perspective.

I almost missed the old Finnish translation, the revised one sounded too modern at times when the production felt so stuck in the 60s otherwise. Weirdly enough, reading a description about the 1969 Finnish Hair, I get the feeling the 2013 Lahti Hair actually toned down the scenes dealing with homosexuality and sexuality in general. The scenes dealing with racial inequality, which sadly still aren't irrelevant, turned into a joke when performed by white actors in black masks.

The production did try bringing in something new: the whole show being a blind Vietnam veteran's, played by Heikki Harma a.k.a Hector, flashback. I liked the idea, but it would've still needed some fleshing out and refining. As it was, I couldn't properly connect the veteran with the events. But thumbs up for the idea!

All in all, I have to ask one thing: which message did the Lahti Hair try to convey? I only saw two hours of hippies taking drugs and singing, with no story, no message, no feeling. Maybe catchy tunes and energetic choreography are enough for someone looking for a nostalgia trip. I, however, got nothing out of it.

It's possible Hair isn't my cup of tea in general and I only liked the ÅST Hair because it's so different from the original, almost a different show. But even so, I'll say that if you want to see Hair in Finland, skip this one and catch Åbo Svenska Teater's production while it's still playing.

Photos by Tarmo Valmela.
Reijo Paukku's book Hippimusikaali HAIR ja Tampereen Popteatterin tarina used as a source.

Two Short Reviews: Scandinavian Trip

Last December, I left for a short trip to Copenhagen and Malmö to enjoy some musical theatre. At long long last, it's review time...

You wouldn't think I'd travel to see this one. I once listed all the problems in Love Never Dies and wrote a short story to contradict the newspaper critic who dared to call it good. If you ask me how I ended up sitting in the front row of Det Ny Teater's auditorium with my friend, waiting for the Phantom sequel to begin... I still don't know, and I've had some months to think about it.

But I do know that I haven't regretted the trip for a second.

If you've read my thoughts on the West End version, you know I think LND's music is okay but the story is beyond stupid. But when you mix it with talented actors, absolutely gorgeous visuals, plus a language I don't understand so I can't be bothered about the lyrics... It took me by surprise how much I enjoyed the show. I was pulled into its world and felt invested in the characters' journeys instead of internally mocking them.

The cast was good. Christian Berg as the always drunk and brooding Comte de Chagny was my favourite, Bo Kristian Jensen as the Phantom made his character quite believable, and Louise Fribo's rendition of the title song (that I usually find boring) was gorgeous. A shoutout to Carl-Emil Lohmann as Gustave, such a beautiful voice!

But for me, what made the Copenhagen Love Never Dies so enjoyable were the visuals. The show looked much better than how I remember the West End production. Here's a production that doesn't pale in comparison to the original Phantom! The sets, the costumes, the acrobatics and pyrotechnics, the subtle nods towards the original's designs, all seen in great detail from the front row... I don't remember when I last was so amazed by the sheer beauty of a theatrical production.

Love Never Dies has been rewritten since the release of the London cast recording. The chances are for the better. Too bad nothing's been done to make the last fifteen minutes of the show more sensible. The last scene was like a slap in the face: I awoke from the dream and realised I'm watching a silly story with a stupid ending. No matter how talented the cast, no matter how pretty the sets, I wish the show would've ended after the title song. (In Phantom III, I wish to see Raoul and the Phantom raising Gustave together, while still hating each others' guts.)

Overall – I still think Phantom fans have every right to be upset about Love Never Dies and its sad excuse of a plot, but I'm glad I saw this. I recommend it for all in need of some eye and ear candy!

Next day, it was time for a trip that's becoming an annual tradition, seeing Malmö Opera's musical of the fall. This time, it was something I've been wanting to see live for a while: Evita. Musical theatre is a funny hobby. I've actually learned something about the life and times of the spiritual leader of Argentina, just because I once thought Don't Cry for Me, Argentina was kind of pretty and wanted to hear more...

Having seen the movie and listened to a couple of CDs, I looked forward seeing Lindy Larsson as Che the most. Well, I knew nothing of Larsson himself beforehand, but I love Che's songs and character. My expectations were through the roof. Even then, Larsson blew me away. He sung the part perfectly, I liked him better than anyone I've heard in the role so far. And his sarcasm, his stage presence... Ugh, I'm risking having a complete fangirl meltdown here. Moving on.

I wasn't quite so into Charlotte Perrelli in the title role. Her vocals were quite strong and her tone vaguely reminded me of Patti LuPone's and Elena Roger's powerhouse portrayals, but I'm afraid the charisma necessary for the part was missing. Probably thanks to Linus Tunström's direction, it seemed the character was never on the top of her game. Eva was always unsure, always frightened. Even Don't Cry for Me, Argentina seemed less than confident. Evita's downfall didn't have much of an effect when she never seemed to be rainbow high at all.

Fred Johanson, then, did a good job in all those two scenes where the character of Perón has some emotion to display. Johanson has a wonderful voice, and seeing him as Javert in 2011 convinced me that he can also act, but this is not a show where he can prove it. Perón simply doesn't have much material to work with. Oh well, I was glad to see Johanson nevertheless.

The staging in this production was quite plain and the lights were harsh. The focus was mostly on the acrobat onstage, Christel Elisabeth Stjernebjerg. Dressed identically to Eva, the acrobat shadowed what the title character was going through: climbing the social ladder, flying, falling. I like the idea, and during some scenes, I understood exactly what the director was going for – but during other scenes, I had no idea what the acrobat was supposed to signify.

Actually, that applies to the whole show. Some scenes worked perfectly, but during some, it seemed the director didn't understand the source material at all. Eva felt quite lost in her own story, even during the moments where extreme confidence is written in the script.

But thanks to Lindy Larsson, I'm happy I saw this.

Love Never Dies photo by Miklos Szabo.
Evita photo by Malin Arnesson.

Laulu mielet kiihdyttää

Dear international readers: my apologies for writing this blog entry only in Finnish. This won't become a habit, I will still write mainly in English – but today's subject, the Finnish translation of Les Misérables, is very hard to discuss in any other language than Finnish. I'll return to English texts soon!

Les Misérables, ennakkonäytös. Pimenevä sali. Elokuvayhtiöiden logot valkokankaalla. Mahtipontiset ensimmäiset nuotit, kameran laajat kaaret. Ensimmäiset lauletut säkeet, silmien eteen lävähtävät suomenkieliset tekstit.

"Oot näin, oot näin

sä lopun elämää"

Jukka Virtanen vääntää kerran Les Misérablesiin täysin tolkuttoman, läpikotaisin epäonnistuneen suomennoksen. Eikä siitä päästä eroon ikinä.

Käännös tehtiin Helsingin kaupunginteatterin vuosien 1999–2000 tuotantoon. Sen jälkeen se on nähty tekstityksenä Åbo Svenska Teaterissa, 25-vuotiskonsertin dvd:llä – ja nyt vuosikausia odotetussa, laajasti mainostetussa elokuvassa. Pian se kuullaan myös Tampereen Teatterissa, laulettuna.

Aloitan sanomalla, että en ymmärrä, miksi musikaalielokuvan tekstityksen täytyy istua musiikkiin. Elokuvateatterissa ei ole sopivaa laulaa karaokea. Miksi siis riimit ja rytmit teksteissä? Seuraisin paljon mieluummin tekstityksiä, jotka tiivistävät selkeästi alkuperäisten säkeiden ajatuksen, mutta eivät sovi tavun tarkkuudella musiikkiin. Eriäviä mielipiteitä saa esittää. Ehkäpä leffatekstit voisivat myös rimmata, kunhan riimeistä ymmärtäisi alkutekstin ytimen.

Virtasen teksteistä ei ymmärrä.

En tunne kääntämistä tieteenlajina. En myöskään muista Virtasen käännöstä ulkoa – yritänhän parhaani mukaan katsoa pois, kun se häälyy lavan yllä tai ruudun alalaidassa. Mutta sen perusteella, mitä siitä on jäänyt mieleen, ja arkijärjellä arvostellen... Käännös on täysin käsittämätön, siinä ei ole sen enempää jatkumoa kuin tyylitajuakaan. Maailman suosituin musikaali on mukiloitu suomennettaessa sellaiseen muotoon, että sitä tuskin tunnistaa.

Tuntuu, kuin Virtanen ei ymmärtäisi hahmojen luonteita ollenkaan. Musikaalissa sanatarkka käännös on mahdoton, kyse on vahvasti tulkinnasta. Siksi hahmojen luonteenpiirteisiin soisi kiinnitettävän kääntäessä erityistä huomiota. Sanat muuttuvat mutta persoona jää – teatterin ystävien unelmissa. Virtasen hahmot eivät ole Victor Hugon, Alain Boublilin tai Herbert Kretzmerin hahmojen kaltaisia. Virtasen Fantine puhuu suorin sanoin neitsyytensä menettämisestä ja hurmion hetkistä. Virtasen Grantairen suurin huolenaihe on se, että hänet unohdetaan hänen kuolemansa jälkeen. Virtasen Jean Valjean komentaa Jumalaa.

Virtasen käännös ei ymmärrä myöskään teoksen perusluonnetta. Les Misérables -musikaali ottaa itsensä täysin vakavasti. Ohjaaja voi halutessaan nauraa musikaalin paatokselle hitusen, ja kyyninen katsoja saattaa pyöritellä silmiään hahmojen kaatuessa oikealla ja vasemmalla, mutta musikaali itse suhtautuu itseensä täysin vailla pilkettä silmäkulmassa. Virtasen käännös ei ymmärrä tätä. Huumoria on käytetty sopimattomissa kohdissa. Paatokselliset säkeet kääntyvät toisinaan puhtaaksi parodiaksi: "Surun sielustani löydän / tuska mieltä ahdistaa."

Virtasen suomennos ei tunnu kokonaisuudelta. Kuunnelkaa esimerkiksi Javertin soolo Tähdet. Mistä laulu kertoo? Joidenkin laulujen aikana vaikuttaa siltä, että Virtanen on kääntänyt ne säe kerrallaan, kiinnittämättä huomiota kokonaisuuteen ja kontekstiin. Monissa kohtauksissa, joissa hyödynnetään toistoa, Virtanen tarjoaa yhdelle fraasille puolen tusinaa eri käännöstä. Sanajärjestykset heittävät toisinaan villiä kuperkeikkaa.

Virtasen käyttämä sanasto ei sovi yhteen alkuperäisen sanoituksen kanssa. Les Misérablesissa käytetään usein melko yksinkertaisia sanoja. Tarina sijoittuu 1800-luvulle, joten loogista olisi, ettei suomennoksessa käytettäisi kovin uusia lainasanoja. Ajaton, yksinkertainen, selkeä kieli sopisi teokseen hyvin. Tässä esimerkki Virtaselta: "Vuosikaudet tulee samat / protestoinnit prosessiin". Sanat eivät myöskään sovi tilanteisiin, joissa hahmot ovat. Käyttäisikö kuolemaansa silmiin katsova mies termiä "hirmuinen"? Entä haaveilisiko 1800-luvun yläluokkainen mies "yhteen muuttamisesta" sydämensä valitun kanssa?

Ihmettelen suuresti, miten jättimäisin julistein mainostettua elokuvaa ei ole tekstitetty ymmärrettävästi. Tajusiko kukaan Finnkinolla edes, että useiden laulujen lyriikoita on muutettu filmiä varten? Eniten harmittaa niiden katsojien puolesta, joiden on vaikea ymmärtää laulettua englantia ja jotka eivät tunne Kurjien tarinaa. He poistunevat teatterista vielä hämmentyneempinä kuin muut Les Mis -ensikertalaiset. Onneksi kielitaitoisten ei ole pakko katsoa tekstejä, ja dvd:llä ne voi napsauttaa kokonaan pois päältä.

Ikävä kyllä kuultua suomen kieltä on täysin mahdotonta lakata ymmärtämästä, kun sen taidon on kerran oppinut. Virtasen tuotannon kruununjalokivi päästään taas kuulemaan laulettuna Tampereen Teatterin syksyllä ensi-iltansa saavassa Les Misérables-tuotannossa.

Elokuvassa alkuperäisteksti on koko ajan katsojan kuultavissa. Sen sijaan suomeksi käännetyssä teatterisovituksessa yleisön on voitava luottaa kääntäjän kykyyn tulkita tekstin kirjoittajan viesti.

En voi ymmärtää, miten Tampereen Teatteri kehtaa käyttää Virtasen käännöstä.

Kaikesta etukäteisrummutuksesta päätellen TT on puuhaamassa Les Misistään jymymenestystä. Miten on mahdollista, että teatteri ei kuitenkaan arvosta yleisöään sen vertaa, että tarjoilisi heille ymmärrettävää suomen kieltä? Kehdattaisiinko samalle yleisölle esittää tunnettu puhenäytelmä, jonka hahmojen repliikit muistuttavat alkuperäistekstiä vain etäisesti ja vääristävät heidän luonteitaan? Miten ihmeessä tällainen käännös on yhtäkkiä hyväksyttävä, kun se on sovitettu musiikkiin?

Miten Tampereen Teatteri saattaa aliarvioida katsojia näin? Miten Suomessa kehdataan jo toista kertaa esittää yleisölle suomennos, joka tekee maailman tunnetuimman musikaalin alkuperäisestä sanoituksesta huonoa pilkkaa?

Milloin tässä maassa opitaan antamaan musikaalikäännöksille niiden ansaitsema arvo?

Kuuntele Jean Valjeanin rukous

Helan går och heja Sverige!

Please note: I saw this play for free on the courtesy of Tampereen Teatteri.

This is one of the moments when writing a blog mostly about Finnish theatre in English feels especially silly. How do I even begin explaining this one to non-Finns?

The stereotypical Finn is jealous of the stereotypical Swede. They have everything better than us. They are happier, they always win the Eurovision song contest, they're not shy and depressed like we are. Unlike us, they discuss their feelings. Their summers are longer and sunnier than ours. We laugh at the Swedish, we tell mean jokes about them, we celebrate in the streets whenever we beat them in ice hockey – and we wish we were them. They even have that nice royal family instead of boring presidents!

In Miikka Nousiainen's book Vadelmavenepakolainen, and now in Tampereen Teatteri's play of the same name, Mikko Virtanen has a problem. On the outside, he is like any other Finnish man, born and raised in the Finnish town of Kouvola. But on the inside, he doesn't just wish he was Swedish. He is Swedish. Virtanen feels he's born to the wrong nationality and is willing to go to desperate measures to reach his impossible goal: to become a native Swede. Soon enough the lines between legal and illegal, moral and inmoral, mean nothing anymore...

An example of an idyllic Swedish family.

The play, directed by Pentti Kotkaniemi, obviously poked fun at the stereotypes we Finns have of Swedes, but also the stereotypes we have of ourselves, and the differences (both imagined and real) of the two nations. It's also a story of a person trying to be something he can't be. What's more, it's hilarious. I mostly watch musicals, the type where you wallow in tears. So, I don't even remember laughing this hard while watching theatre...

Having read Nousiainen's book, I was interested to see how it'd work onstage – and happy to see it worked well. I actually liked the play a bit better than the book.

I thought the book's pace was too slow, but the stage version fixed that. What's more, the main character's creepy and sympathetic sides were balanced better than in the book, the extreme lenghts he went to make his Swedish dream come true felt somewhat more effective onstage. I also liked the vague onstage ending slightly better than the book's more in-your-face grass is always greener elsewhere lesson. The play was, overall, a bit lighter than the book. Since the subject matter is so ridiculous, I think it was a good direction to go.

However, the play had a few moments where it tried too hard to make the audience laugh. I admit, I laughed at some of those bits anyway. But maybe giving the audience some time to breathe with a quiet moment or two wouldn't have felt out of place, even if it's a comedy. Or maybe a two-hour-long joke about Swedes is simply too long to be genuinely funny all the time, no matter how Finnish you are? But for the most part, the outrageous comedy worked. You can't be too serious about a story like this.

The play had around 60 characters and six actors portraying them.  

Miska Kaukonen played the central character of Mikko Virtanen. Since the story is so strongly about this one character and consists largely of his monologues, it's important he's performed well. Luckily, Kaukonen portrayed the part pretty perfectly. You never lost interest in Virtanen's story and even symphatised with and rooted for him – even though his creepy side was also evident... I especially enjoyed the bits during the second act where Virtanen's Finnish background started to show through the Swedish facade.

The rest of the cast (Linda Wiklund, Risto Korhonen, Ville Majamaa, Elisa Piispanen, Kai Bäckström, accompanied by musician Jukka Hänninen / Arto Piispanen) did a good job, too, quickly switching in between dozens of characters. Risto Korhonen was especially memorable in his parts. No matter if he played a Christmas elf or a cat, he never failed to make me laugh. Judging by the audience reactions, I wasn't the only fan of his performances.

All in all... A couple of days after seeing Vadelmavenepakolainen, I burst out laughing while brushing my teeth just because I remembered one of the jokes. So, if you're in need of some laughter, maybe consider seeing this one. Worked for me!

Photos by Harri Hinkka / Tampereen Teatteri.
Joskus sitä ihan tosissaan miettii, että pitäisi vaihtaa kieltä... No, saavatpa ainakin blogiin mahdollisesti eksyvät ruotsalaiset tietää, mille Suomessa nauretaan.

Upcoming in Turku

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

Jennie Storbacka and Anna Victoria Eriksson singing In His Eyes

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

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

Riku Nieminen singing This Is the Moment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources: Musikaalit-foorumi, MusikalNet at FB.