Review: Niin kuin taivaassa
The Swedish hit musical As It Is in Heaven now at the Helsinki City Theatre
We went to the theatre on Friday. Yes, we sat down in real theatre seats for the first time in a long time and let the Helsinki City Theatre take us to another world for one evening. What a joy it was!
This time, we were entertained by the musical As It Is in Heaven, which had just premiered at the City Theatre.
The musical tells the story of the successful conductor Daniel Daréus’ return to his childhood homeland in a small village in northern Sweden. The top musician, who has suffered from health problems, would like to live a quiet life, but soon finds himself conducting the villagers’ church choir, and in the middle of a colorful and vibrant community. Among the diverse country choir, there are not only friends, but also old wounds and, finally, true love. Source: hkt.fi
The main role of the musical as a conductor suffering from heart problems is played by Tuukka Leppänen, who already delighted us last winter in the musical Once. Leppänen, who is known as an excellent singer, slips effortlessly into the role of a stylish and charming conductor. It is a pleasure to follow the growth story of the understated and insecure character.
As a curiosity, Once is still in Lilla Teatern’s repertoire. Leppänen is currently playing two main roles in completely different musicals. And in two different languages. I think that such an achievement would not be done by quite a few people.
The female lead in the musical is played by Oona Airola, who works at the store cashier. This was the first time I saw Airola on the stage of a theatre and I was delighted. I got my first contact with Airola a few years ago when I saw him on the big screen in the great film The Smiling Man. In my opinion, the role performance in the musical had the same freshness and courage that I fell in love with when I saw Airola for the first time.
In addition to the main couple, the entire musical was full of amazing performances (e.g. Stig (Antti Timonen), who struggles with his faith) and enormous musical expertise. The choir scenes sometimes caused a full-body chill, sometimes tears ran down my cheeks.
Although the main tone of the musical was to be positive and vital, it also dealt with important themes from bullying to domestic violence. The story of Gabriella (Emilia Nyman) made the biggest impression on me. The chemistry between Nyman and Olli Rahkonen, who plays her violent husband, brought their story to life.
Another story that I want to highlight in particular is Tore’s story. The role of an intellectually disabled person written in the musical was played at the City Theatre by an actor who actually has an intellectual disability. Jaakko Lahtinen, who played a great role, was wonderful! We are already in 2021, but such casting is still a rarity. I hope that this well-functioning casting would serve as an opening and enabler for many other projects in the future.
On stage, we saw the joy and power of music, as well as diversity and important social themes. In addition, it was noted that coffee and buns are also important.
For me, the best parts of the new musical were the powerful choir scenes, stylish set design and sleek costumes designed by Samu-Jussi Koski. From the very first entrance, you could see who had designed the costumes. All colors and shapes were guaranteed to be Koski. At times, I even stopped to think that I must be wearing the same Samuji sweater that I see on stage right now. It was funny!
The eye really rested when the musical’s set design was also close to perfection. Less is more and simple is stylish. The shadow worlds of the stage were really skilfully constructed and impressive. It was also a great insight to merge the actors and the set design into mutually supportive entities. And the way the spaces, sounds and moods changed with the actors’ movements was thrilling.
The big stage of the Helsinki City Theatre is such an amazing place in terms of technology and possibilities that just because of the visual pleasures that come from technology, I recommend a theatre evening there to everyone!
To be honest, I was more moved by the impact of the visual elements and the wonderful musical numbers than by the plot of the musical, but all the emotions and vibrations of the soul count. Besides, I started to cry with happiness and emotion already when we sat down on the theatre bench. How good culture and experiences feel in this day and age!
By the way, from this week onwards, the occupancy rate of theatres may be 50%. What luck! So now everyone should enjoy the theatre in large numbers, when it is finally possible.
Even though last Friday the performance was still drawn to a remarkably spacious hall, luckily we as an audience made a nice noise. The resounding applause certainly told every theatre maker in the hall of our gratitude and appreciation. No matter what happens in the world, luckily we always have art!