Review: Kaunotar ja Hirviö

A TEARFULLY ADORABLE BEAUTY AND A MONSTER

There’s nothing you can do about it, but Helsinki City Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast musical makes you chew your cheeks so that tears don’t flow in droves.
The old story of the enchanted prince has been repeated so many times that you would think the story had already become wooden, but it wasn’t. The charm of the stage sucks you in without resistance, and the chattering teacup, the French-style candle and the tight-lipped closet clock don’t feel strange at all.
The stage adaptation of the Disney film is so professionally executed that you can’t really turn your nose at anything.

Liisa Ryömä’s Finnish translation is mischievously fresh, Katariina Kirjavainen’s set design is fairytale-like and Sari Salmela’s costumes are respectably insightful, right down to the dancing dinner dishes.
Director Hans Berndtsson is working on the same musical for the second time, and the end result is carefully thought-out, finely tinted theatre down to the smallest detail.
Musical skills have been checked, there are no weak links. The dancers are the villagers, the monsters lurking in the forest, and finally the dizzying tableware that serves Beauty dinner in the monster’s castle.
Of course, it’s all calculated American dreams and fairy tales’ escape from reality, but it works.

Complete type gallery in good hands

The story can be linked to everyday fears and overcoming them, for which the girl Belle acts as a mannequin. There is a lot of intrigue around, but with common sense and listening to your heart, this will pass the pitfalls.
Today, the story is bolstered by intertextual references to familiar songs, names and sayings. Risto Kaskilahti , who is the acting Lumiére candle, in particular, has a lot of today’s text in his mouth.
The dialogue between Lumière and the closet clock Gogsworth (Eero Saarinen) is the most comical part of the performance throughout, and the audience certainly rewards them.

Marika Westerling sings intoxicatingly beautifully in the role of Belle. Freshness and kindness are evident in both voice and movement.
At the premiere, the role of the monster was played by Kari Arffman. Despite its horrible appearance, a humiliated creature could be heard.

Mikko Vihma turns Gaston, a bundle of muscles courting Belle, into a clean-lined fool who lives off his puffiness. Vihma interprets nicely and sings handsomely.
Gaston’s servant is the coward LeFou, played by Pertti Koivula , who is destined to be the clown of life.
All in all, the crew is successful and the type gallery is perfect. Beauty and the Beast sink into both parents and offspring.