Review: Pieni merenneito
The Little Mermaid (Helsinki City Theatre)
Helsinki City Theatre presents the musical The Little Mermaid, which is originally based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. The musical is composed by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and written by Doug Wright. The text has been translated by Reita Lounatvuori and the songs by Hanna Kaila. The Finnish premiere was in August 2019, but “for some accidental reasons” the performance season was interrupted at that time. The re-premiere was in August this year.
The Little Mermaid has been directed by Samuel Harjanne, who has recently gained a huge reputation among musicals. Solid expertise really shows in the end result! The story progresses smoothly, the whole thing is controlled in every way and absolutely entertaining. It is easy to immerse yourself in the story and forget about everyday life.
In the performance we saw, the role of Ariel was played by the understudy Eleonoora Martikainen. He made his mermaid in just the right way sincerely childlike, joyful and bubbly. Of course, even a little gullible, as the story goes. Martikainen also moves and sings quite skillfully.
Another character that definitely needs to be highlighted is the sea witch Ursula, played by Sanna Saarijärvi. The character of Ursula is dizzyingly successful in every way. Outwardly, Ursula is probably the best I’ve ever seen – oh those tentacles! With his speech and facial expressions, Saarijärvi also makes Ursula’s inner essence very alive. For the man in my relationship who was with me, Ursula was the best thing in the theater line-up of this entire trip.
There are a huge number of characters in The Little Mermaid . Martti Manninen’s Prince Erik is a suitably boyish, charming Disney prince. Mikko Vihman Triton is a spectacular king of the sea and a loving father. Samuli Kakko As Sebastian, he both moves by himself like a crab and puppets a crab doll – which, at least for me, inevitably reminded me of the red, earless Yoda! Ariel’s friend Splash – Aleksi Johansson in the performance we saw – is a funny character who is perfectly suited to child casting.
One of the handsome features of The Little Mermaid is the multitude of performers, which adds spectacle to the scenes that take place both under and above the surface. Whether it’s a gathering of seafood, the merriment of sea sisters, the antics of the chefs or the crew of a ship. The activities are great to watch and the choirs sound powerful.
Perhaps the strongest aspect of The Little Mermaid for me was its breathtakingly gorgeous visuals. Costume designer Pirjo Liiri-Majava, mask and hairstyle designer Milja Mensonen and doll designers Paul Vincett and Becky Johnson definitely deserve praise. The result of all of their work is a dazzling cast of characters! There are many different types of fish, octopuses, seahorses, mermaids… Anything – not forgetting the already mentioned Ursula! The terrestrial characters – including the seagulls – are also spectacular, but the people of the sea win here in all their imagination. There are delightful insights in the execution of the characters, such as the characters of Liero and Kiero in the arms of the actors.
The carefully made sets brought to life the court of the sea king, Ursula’s chamber, the above-ground castle and many other locations. The versatile, beautiful and functional set design was designed by Peter Ahlqvist.
This musical is also characterized by flying – that is, swimming through the eyes of the viewer. The buoyancy and resistance of the water, the weightlessness of the characters and the movement in the water are almost magical to watch!
Of course, the lighting designed by William Iles and the video design by Toni Haaranen also play a role in the visual spectacle. Lights and videos bring the scenery to life and highlight the characters and events. There is moonlight, flocks of jellyfish, the soft twilight of the night…
When we talk about musicals, of course, music also plays an essential role. The musical numbers are a very natural part of the narrative. They sound beautiful for both the singers and the orchestra. The conductor is Risto Kupiainen. The choreographies made by Gunilla Olsson-Karlsson are also closely related to the musical numbers. The choreographies have both spectacle and speed – especially in the sea – and a more familiar atmosphere – such as dancing in Erik’s castle. My favorite musical number was the carnival-themed Under the Sea, which features a lot of different seafood. Of course, there is much more to this musical than just the dances of the musical numbers; For example, the swimming movements of different people and creatures on the stage.
The Little Mermaid is excellently successful theatre for the whole family. It has a lot of a sense of wonder for both children and adults. Especially the children seemed to be very amused, for example, by the scene of the chefs’ courtship. Some of the jokes, on the other hand, were such that children may not understand them – but humor aimed at adults is also cool and suitable for children in that sense.
At the weekday evening show, the audience was full of adult victories, but there were also some child spectators. The children behaved well in the stands; A little tension-heavy movement, yes, but not disturbingly. Instead, I wondered about the adults, such as the two sitting next to me; During the performance, they sometimes talked half-aloud, not even in a whisper. Or the person sitting diagonally in front of me, who towards the end of the performance was messaging on their phone with the screen shining brightly. There is never too much enchantment in life, so please don’t bother breaking it. I wonder if there is time for those messages and discussions before and after the performance and during the intermission?
The Little Mermaid is an absolutely radiant spectacle that is really worth seeing. If you are going to see this – which I highly recommend – you should get your act together to get your tickets; Tickets sell very well and the performance season will not go on forever…!