Review: Prinsessa Ruusunen – Paluu tulevaisuuteen

In the musical version of Sleeping Beauty, children and young people get to shine on stage

In the musical Sleeping Beauty – Back to the Future, which will be performed at Studio Pasila, the team is full of top professionals.
The director and one of the choreographers is Marco Bjuström. The conductor of the orchestra is Tuomas “Tumppu” Kesälä, known from the old BumtsiBum, and the costumes are by Jarkko Valtee.

However, there are not many professional actors on stage, but mostly children and young people. To be exact, almost 150 of them participate in the theatre production. They can’t all fit on stage at the same time, but the musical has a double crew.

The musical is produced by the ShedHelsinki Foundation, which organises an opportunity for children and young people to be seen. There are immigrants and children with special needs on the stage, among others.

According to the foundation, the journey to the theatre stage is more important than the outcome. Still, the resulting musical is also handsome to watch.

Time travel to the 1970s

Sleeping Beauty, played by children and young people, differs slightly from the familiar story of the Brothers Grimm. Instead of a kind princess, the queen and king get a feisty and temperamental teenager.

16-year-old Josefiina Valamo, who plays the princess, does a great job as a rebellious young person. The princess she portrays is very reminiscent of the stereotype painted in public about today’s young people.

He gets to experience in a harsh way what kind of consequences rebellion can have. Her good and bad conscience arrange a time travel for the princess to the 1970s. At the time, his parents were teenagers.

Naturally, the musical features hippies and punks. The actors’ trousers have wide legs and huge buns in their hair.

Underneath the stylish exterior, there is also a clear message. The great insight of the play is that the parents have also been children at one time.

A group of teachers to support the children

Children and young people do not have to cope with all the scenes alone on stage. They will be joined on stage by a group of professionals and semi-professionals.

Sleeping Beauty, of course, has six good elven godparents. They promise him leadership, language skills – and the skills of a plumber. As usual, the seventh godparent has not been invited.

Most of the actors in Elves are ShedHelsinki teachers. For example, Pauliina Kiuru, who plays the evil elf godmother, is a singing director in more everyday life.

All in all, the musical Sleeping Beauty is a pleasure to watch. Children and young people are bursting with energy. I’m sure we’ll hear from them again!