Review: Lainahöyhenissä

In borrowed feathers

There was no applause on the cards!

The “vice” that in the 1970s certainly attracted people to the Parisian theatre to see Jean Poiret’s drag club play – La cage aux folles – has in a few decades transformed into a mere attraction of a good story and music. If the worlds can become wiser, then at least that has happened in this matter. And it has not happened at the expense of losing the illusion. Many kinds of stars still shine in the night and funny dreams bloom. Entertaining is also important in exploring human nature and the human part. It doesn’t matter if we are the same; What is important and comforting is what is common in us.

Even the successful Broadway musical is almost thirty years old. The performances have been given feathers – or was it feathers – in the hat, and now it is repeated in Helsinki. The City Theatre’s Arena stage is full of delight. When it is mixed with a touch of melancholy, the balance of the drama is maintained.

Rarely do the palms get sore in the theatre. Applause was not on the cards at the premiere.

Neil Hardwick is a skilled, creative director whose strengths are humor and music. In order for them to be fully realised, good staffing is needed. Luckily there was something to take from.

Musical theatre is known to be a demanding sport. Santeri Kinnunen and Pertti Koivula in the lead roles are multi-skilled, respond expressively, sing well and move on stage sovereignly. In this story, they are a couple whose mutual affection must be genuine and strong. The external aspects are just a trick, albeit a rather viewer-friendly one, in the nightclub world of men who are perceived as women. There is no lack of charisma in either actor, and a particularly great balancing act is needed so that throwing oneself into it does not mean a leap of death. Overshooting would be bad.

Kinnunen is the drag queen Zaza, whose excellence in her genre the audience is convinced, but off stage she is Albin’s, kind and emotional, and on top of that, the substitute mother of her life partner Georges’ son. A large arsenal of adaptability is needed, full-time mastery of gestures and facial expressions is needed to maintain the illusion of authenticity. Kinnunen takes care of the task and also gets strong support from his opponents. Above all, from Koivula, whose style is restrained and appreciative of the character.

Antti Timonen plays an endearing young Jean-Michel who loves his extraordinary parents but doesn’t shout too much about them to his friends. The real test – and the climax of the story – comes when he has to invite the parents of his fiancée Anne, an anti-gay senator and his wife, to visit his home. On the surface, the situation is impossible, so it is excellently comedic. There are exciting episodes and heartfelt caring for each other. The young man grows up mentally, and his loved ones have to check their own attitudes and readiness for sacrifices. A happy ending is very much to be expected.

Even though the orchestra, which has played with great charges, is led by a woman, Kaisa Kulmala, the “quota” as a whole leans towards the men’s side. The stage is full of them, dressed in party make-up and dresses, and not standing around, but unabashedly and enjoyably in their roles as dancing girls, i.e. boys. Happy going, horribly wild can-can and acrobatic prowess, even fearless falling and falling off the stage if necessary! A dance group is a must. And feasting on costumes, stage design and details is an important part of the festive menu.

And of course, there are female roles as well. Riitta Havukainen is the beautiful and cinematic businesswoman Jacqueline, Marika Westerling is a bright-voiced senator’s girl and Leena Rapola as her mother scurries from the table so high and abruptly that even her father – Eero Saarinen – is about to get a heartbeat.

And more praise for the girls. The editors of the script, Tiina Björn and Katiana Chatta, have rarely presented the cast in such a cheerful way.

There is something in the songs and melodies that sinks into the receiver, you and me. When you are by your side, Happiness is now.., concentration and a brilliantly sounding interpretation go hand in hand.
And what is it that is still humming the next day? Of course, the one with warmth and sun and tenderness: On the sandy beach it rings.