Review: Vampyyrien tanssi

The vampires of the cult film and their killers go on a rampage on stage

Roman Polanski’s horror comedy classic The Fearless Vampire Killers turns 50 next year. Helsinki City Theatre will start the festivities a little early, as the musical based on the film kicked off at the Peacock Theatre at the beginning of February.

The musical is called Dance of the Vampires (the original film was also known as Dance of the Vampires) and it is based on Tanz der Vampire, which premiered in Austria in 1997 based on Polanski’s film. The music is by American composer and producer Jim Steinman, who has composed music for many artists, from Meat Loaf to Bonnie Tyler to Celine Dion. Fans of these artists and fans of cassette movie music in general will probably appreciate the music of Tanssi as well.

The original lyrics were written by Michael Kunze, whose lyrics are based on the musical Rebecca, which has also been seen in Finland. The fun and inventive Finnish translation of Dance of the Vampires is written by Marika Hakola.

The story is familiar from the film: a professor convinced of the existence of vampires and his clumsy assistant wander in the 1800s in the Carpathian Mountains in search of evidence. Before long, they are closer to the truth than they would have liked, and the young helper must become a hero to save the woman he loves.

The biggest change is related to the role of the female lead, Sarah (Raili Raitala in the premiere, alternating with Anna Victoria Eriksson). In the musical, it has been expanded to be bigger and more aware of its choices. In the film, Sharon Tate, who soon ended up as Polanski’s wife, was mainly a beautiful woman in trouble. In addition, the story of the musical continues a bit from the last picture of the Vampire Slayers.

Finnish theatre actors are immensely talented; They act, dance and sing – often at the same time – in a beautiful and effortless way. In Dance of the Vampires, in addition to good acting, you can enjoy both the humour of the story and its patinated cheese – only to find that it also manages to create suspense. The lush but streamlined costumes and make-up are also worth seeing, as is Peacock’s spectacular and adaptable set that utilizes the cramped stage.