Review: Kirka – Surun pyyhit silmistäni

The musical Kirka takes you on a nostalgia journey to past decades

Helsinki City Theatre’s new musical Kirka – Sorrow Wipes My Eyes is loaded with wonderful singing, fast-paced, skilful dancing and tears of sadness and joy.

The premiere of the musical Kirka at the Peacock Theatre on 2 February took place ten years to the day after Kirill, “Kirka” Babitzin was buried next to his brother Aleksandr, “Sammy” Babitzin in the Orthodox cemetery in Helsinki.

Written by Matti Laine and directed by Kari Rentola, the musical is above all a smoothly flowing collection of well-known hit songs, with slightly detached scenes from Kirka’s life in between. In addition to success, Kirka’s life included a lot of sadness, the biggest of which was the death of her brother Sammy in a car accident in 1973.

The musical’s Kirka is a sensitive and emotional character who threatens to be left in the role of a bystander in her own life.  Heikki Ranta, who was seen in the role of Kirka in the premiere, gives a touching performance in his role and, at his best, reaches an interpretation in his song that makes the viewer wonder whether he is an actor on stage on stage or the artist himself who has descended to the stage from another dimension.

There is no weak link in the casting of the musical. Based on the musical productions of the Helsinki City Theatre in recent years, expectations are high. The two-and-a-half-hour fast-paced performance spiced with humour manages to exceed expectations. Special thanks are again due to the brilliant dancers. Mindy Lindblom, who was responsible for the choreography, has charged the performers with a flame that glows all the way to the last rows of the Peacock auditorium.

The musical Kirka is an entertaining and funny performance that also includes topical themes, such as the status of immigrants.  Kirka and her family lived in Helsinki in the 1950s and experienced the same kind of Russification in her childhood and youth that many children of Russian origin living in Helsinki today are subjected to.

Kirka’s father, Leo Babitzin, was only three years old when his family fled Russia to Finland in 1917 to escape the October coup d’état carried out by the Bolsheviks. Kirka’s mother Elisabeth was born in 1917 in a part of Karelia that Finland later ceded.

Kirka started her singing career in the wake of Sammy, who was two years older, but soon surpassed her brother in popularity. In the musical, more experienced stars such as Remu, brilliantly interpreted by Petrus Kähkönen, and Jon-Jon Keitel’s confidently charming Danny, are like straight out of the Voice of Finland coaching staff, luring the young promising player to his own stable.

At the beginning of the musical, Kirka and Sammy look at the stars twinkling over the rooftops of Helsinki at night and dream of the stardom they both achieve at a young age. I wonder if they would have lived or chosen differently if they had known that they would die young; Sammy at just 24 and Kirka at 56.

Many of Kirka’s and Sammy’s most popular hit songs, such as Sammy’s 1972 Autumn Tune victory Daa-da daa-da and Kirka’s breakthrough hit, Pertti Reponen’s Hetki Lyö (Beat the Clock), have already made representatives of several generations dance on tables and sing along.

You can also sing along to Peacock’s sing-along performance on February 22.
More information: www.hkt.fi