Review: Pieni merenneito

In the theatre: The Little Mermaid

Often, after an impressive theatrical performance, you sigh that you should see this again. In practice, however, that dream usually remains just a daydream after the final applause, because there are so few free evenings and so many interesting theatre performances in life that there is no time for repeat rounds. Except once in a while.

I went to see The Little Mermaid at the Helsinki City Theatre a year ago after it premiered. You can read my thoughts from a year ago here. Since this Disney classic is one of my favorite movies of all time and its music is especially dear to me, I ended up getting new tickets for the musical in the spring when its screening season was stretched until the fall due to the coronavirus lockdown.

It was actually really interesting to be able to compare my feelings from the first and second viewing. The last time I’ve probably seen the same performance several times was in 2008, when the musical Altar Boyz was performed at the Alexander Theatre.

Well, back to the waves. The first time, the performance with all its colors, tails and magical accessories seemed to roll off the stage onto me with force. My eyes scooped up the view in front of me for my brain to process, but I still had the feeling all the time that I could not see anything. On the second viewing, the extreme abundance had decreased slightly, although the underwater world created on the stage was still insane.

Last year I saw Sonja Pajunoja in the role of Ariel, this time it was Ingrid Gräsbeck’s turn to perform. The role of the Little Mermaid was very strongly marked in my head by Pajunoja, after all, I have been watching the commercials starring her for at least a year now. At first, it took a while to get used to Ariel’s new face. Once it was taken care of, I could focus on enjoying myself. Although both actors do an excellent job, in the end, perhaps Gräsbeck’s interpretation suited me better. Pajunoja’s empathy was so enthusiastic at times that the song even became a little breathtaking. But it was really wonderful to be able to follow the work of both Ariels!

I loved the tap-dancing seagulls, the joking mermaid sisters, the abundant shoals of fish and the splash this time as well, although I would still leave out the embarrassing infatuation pattern. I still haven’t gotten over the fact that Ariel’s seagull friend has been renamed Skuutti!

However, the biggest impression on me this time was Martti Manninen, who shone in the role of Prince Erik. His singing voice is a textbook example of the sound of a fairytale prince and woe to those moments when a beautiful vibrato crowns a long and emotional tune. A full ten performance!

And since someone is thinking about it, yes, I cried during the performance. Among other things, every time Part of Your World started playing.