Review: Kirka – Surun pyyhit silmistäni
Sing Kirka, sing!
Helsinki City Theatre’s new musical KIRKA – Sorrow Wipes My Eyes tells the story of Finland’s first rock star. Its lights and shadows. Matti Laine’s script brings to the stage Kirill, Kirka, Babitzin’s rise to a young singing star. On stage, we will see the highlights of his career and moments of success, as well as relationship problems and financial difficulties. It is precisely that humanity that makes Kirka a touching story. The musical also has many scenes that tickle the nerves of laughter, and when the music also swings, Kirka is built into an excellent work. The performance is directed by Kari Rentola and its conductor is also Risto Kupiainen, who has arranged the songs.
The main roles in the musical are double-cast. At the premiere, the role of Kirka was played by Heikki Ranta. Ranta performed a demanding role and made many familiar songs sound effortless. Her performance also found suitably more delicate nuances as the work depicts the hardships of Kirka’s life. Ranta managed to poignantly interpret the darker tones brought to light later in the life of both the young, life-thirsty Kirka and the protagonist. It is precisely these themes that build human warmth into the musical.
Kirka’s older brother, Sammy Babitz. (premiered by Sami Hokkanen) plays an important role in the first half of the play, supporting his brother’s career in its early stages. Hokkanen succeeds excellently in interpreting Sammy, who boldly supports his brother. The musical Kirka depicts the life of Babitz’s immigrant family, which was certainly not always easy in the 50s. Petrus Kähkönen’s Remu and Kari Mattila’s Vexi Salmi On stage, they say words true to their style. Laine’s script also works linguistically well for Helsinki slang.
The performance is at its best in the second half, where we see a number of functional scenes one after the other. Right at the beginning of the second half, laughter is tickled by a hilarious scene from the Sopot Song Festival in 1977, where Kirka performs the song Neidonryöstö. Heikki Ranta interprets the song beautifully and sensitively, but the main role is stolen by a string orchestra formed by dancers and its unruly conductor (Unto Nuora). In the auditorium, there is tearing.
Choreographer Mindy Lindblom has done a steady job. My own favourite is the scene of lawyers and lawyer dancers. Especially in the past, it was common for record companies to wrap a large part of the performers’ gig fees into their own pockets. The scene captures the spirit of greed perfectly and the choreography is insightful.
William Iles , who designed the lighting, has created a functional lighting world for the Peacock stage with disco balls and dance lights on the stages. Elina Kolehmainen’s costumes manage to breathe the image of the times perfectly, and it is easy to see whether we are in the 60s, 70s or 80s.
Kirka is a functional musical that, in addition to its main character’s hit songs, offers a journey back in time to the world of popular music makers of past decades. At least for me, Kirka’s music stayed in my mind for several days and my mind returned to the atmosphere of the musical.