Review: Hairspray
Welcome back to the 60s!
Nostalgia and retro spirit shine through in the new mammoth musical.
Musicals have established their position in the Helsinki City Theatre’s
in the repertoire of the big stage in recent years. In most cases, the performance is
have been of a really high standard and there has been plenty of spectators.
The previous musical, Miss Saigon, was already such a spectacle that
Inevitably, he wondered what would be spectacular next.
Hairspray dives into the early 1960s and the youth culture of the time and
he does it especially in his musical numbers with such insanely energy and
spectacularly that my head is dizzy. The excellence of the presentation
You have to humble yourself in front of you.
Diversity
and tolerance
Glory
The musical is based on John Waters’ 1988 film of the same name.
Its events take place in Waters’ hometown of Baltimore and in
1962. Appearance, race and skin colour are serious themes in the story, but since
musical, despite the difficult themes, the approach is
comedic and the performance starts with music and dance.
The main character of the story is 16-year-old Tracy, who is plump, cheerful and loves
dancing. She quickly gets involved in the local TV station’s
the most popular teen show. Mothers and teenage daughters are solving the problem again
between them, people of different races fall in love with each other, the so-called. Black music is gaining ground
and equality between races is demanded. Tracy grows all this
a kind of champion of these values, and at the end of the performance there is a
Everything is fine in the city, at least for a while to come.
In form, Hairspray is a very traditional musical. There are both solos
and group numbers (suitably) grandiosely implemented,
Smaller-scale numbers are in the minority. Not all music is quite
period, but without containing any really big hits
However, it is really swinging and engaging.
I have always considered the viewer’s desire to be the most important sign of a good musical
to get on stage to join in the merriment, and in this performance it is difficult for the audience to
to stay still when there is such an impossibly nice atmosphere on stage all the time.
The cheerful energy of the performers inevitably infects the audience.
The Estonian Jüri Nael has done simply brilliant things as a choreographer
work and the set and costumes of the Scotsman Ellen Cairns are full of eye-catching
delightful and witty details. After all, they worked together very well
director Georg Malvius already in Miss Saigon.
Composer,
lyricist and Tracy
straight from Broadway
I don’t think this page would be enough if I praised everyone
but I’ll try to pick a few. Katja Aakkula is
absolutely charming Tracy and her performance in particular
In the song numbers, you get better like wine as you get older, the further the performance
progresses. Mikko Leppilampi as her love interest once again shows
versatile talents and shines as a dancer along with everything else. His
his stage charisma is unique and will probably melt most people’s
the hearts of female viewers.
Katja Sirkiä as the blonde bimbo Amber is despite her cliché
virtuoso performance and as Little Inez, Alexandra captivates and charms
Alexis. Gary Revel Jr. and Gary Revel Jr.
Hanna-Liina Vösa became the audience’s big performers in their joint numbers
and no wonder, as their performances combined handsomely
the means of expression of both the singer, the dancer and the actor.
Mikko Kivinen Tracy’s mother (yes!) is a bombproof laughter and
his duet with Pertti Koivula (Sä oot iätön) is simultaneously
Tearfully sensitive and insanely funny. From other musical numbers to mothers’
and Mother, I’m an Adult and interpreted by women in prison
The brick heads are guaranteed to be remembered.
The applause, bravoo shouts and
There was no end to the whistles. Especially not after
the composer of the musical, Marc Shaiman, his
his co-lyricist Scott Wittman and in the original
Marissa, who played Tracy in a Broadway production worthy of a Tony Award
Jaret Winokur.
At the event held before the performance, the guests already praised the previous
the preview they had seen in the evening and stated that the performance was
more Broadway-like than an actual Broadway show. They were
“blown away” due to the brilliance of the performance, and Marissa said
that he will take many tips from the performance for his own performance, if he
would play Tracy in the future.
Even though they didn’t understand much Finnish, they all enjoyed it very much
also at the premiere, as I noticed out of the corner of my eye. They do not
wanted to stay still in the face of the irresistible swing of the performance.
And no wonder, I didn’t want to either.