Review: Vampyyrien tanssi

Danger always seduces

Known for its cult reputation, the Dance of the Vampires grand musical at the Helsinki City Theatre is magnificent! It took a dangerous love trip, entertained and refreshed!

Like Professor Abronsius (Antti Timonen/Tuukka Leppänen), who is dedicated to the musical’s vampire research, and his young assistant Alfred (Petrus Kähkönen/Miiko Toiviainen), who arrive in a Transylvanian village in search of vampires, many of us are looking for a certain kind of excitement in our lives. Excitement can also be associated with dangers, and that’s what attracts us humans!

Whether it’s surpassing oneself, hiding a secret lover or some other “temptation” – humans are masters at justifying to themselves why they should act this way, and often even the shortcomings of the matter are gilded in ecstasy.

The musical featured the “usual love story”: the decent Alfred falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter Sarah (Raili Raitala/Anna Victoria Eriksson), but as you might expect, the girl has also caught the eye of the dangerously seductive vampire count von Krolock (Mikko Vihma/Jonas Saari). By the way, I was nervous about the poor girl. When will the vampire count sink his teeth into the carotid artery of a young and innocent…

The triangle drama of these is followed with very dramatic music. My leg flicked at familiar songs. So the music hit and sank. Among other things, Jim Steinman’s hits and the “evergreens” of Bonnie Tyler, Meat Loaf and Pandora’s Box, if you can say so.

I was really tired of hard work when I walked through the door of Peacock. 2 hours and 40 minutes later, the tiredness had been replaced by alertness (with the result that I rolled around in the bunker until the early hours of the morning). This is probably the purpose of culture; gives energy. Refreshing. To give new ideas to life.

If you got any thoughts from this musical, there was plenty to watch. The magnificent set design of the Vampire Dance and 200 different, more spectacular costumes captured the audience in their seats. The make-up and hairstyles made me gasp. I’d like to have that kind of look at the next Halloween party!

No wonder, then, that the musical, which premiered in Vienna in 1997, has already attracted 7.4 million viewers around the world. And in terms of plot, I was particularly attracted by the storytelling that combines horror elements and complex comedy, which flowed smoothly between the music. I can recommend! Not for the youngest members of the family, but maybe from the age of 12 and up. I didn’t notice the age recommendation on the City Theatre’s website, but this is not a children’s play.

Have a blood-curdling day for you too!