Helsinki City Theatre will have 318,000 spectators in 2025
In 2025, the Helsinki City Theatre had a staggering 318,471 spectators (2024: 278,309*). The occupancy rate of the proposals was 84 per cent. The most viewers during the year were once again the hugely successful Moulin Rouge! A musical that was also number one in the 2024 viewing statistics. The spring 2026 programme has also been of interest to theatre audiences.
“After years, we reached over 300,000 viewers. The last time we exceeded 310,000 viewers was in 2012. In the customer satisfaction survey conducted in the autumn, we received a staggering NPS score of 73 and an overall score of 6.3 on a scale of 1 to 7. The fantastic viewership and the excellent results of our customer survey show that we have really succeeded. The audience trusts the Helsinki City Theatre, our professionalism and our high-quality and diverse repertoire. Our new customer loyalty club, which was opened in October, has already been joined by 18,000 theatre loyal friends. In general, it is great to read that other theatres have also increased their audience numbers. The audience feels that theatre is important,” says theatre director Kari Arffman.
In 2025, a total of 35 different productions were seen on HKT’s five stages, of which 18 were premieres. A total of 808 performances were seen. In addition, various audience outreach events and public events attracted 18,661 participants during the year.
The Moulin Rouge, which premiered in August 2024 and continued in the 2025 programme, received the most viewers during the year! The musical (101,942), which also received the most viewers in 2024. The musical received a total of 187 performances and 169,320 spectators in 2024–2025.
On the Arena stage, the Agatha Christie classic And None Was Saved received the most viewers (31,694), and on the small stage, the audience was particularly interested in Jenny Hill, a dramatisation of Minna Rytisalo’s novel (6,230). Studio Pasila’s most watched performance, the children’s musical play Who Captured the Sun (6,605), will continue in the spring season as well. On the Swedish-language stage of Lilla Teatern, the audience’s favourite was Skymning 41 – berättelsen om Molly och Henry (5,166), based on the novel by Kjell Westö, and DREAMER (2,437), choreographed by Annamari Keskinen and Ryan Mason, received the most viewers from the theatre’s own dance group, Helsinki Dance Company. During the year, the stage of the current performance attracted a total of 2,229 spectators to Studio Pasila, and the most popular performance was the early 2000s internet-based little_star94 – ooksä online? (1,623 spectators).
Ticket sales for 2026 have started well – the audience is interested in the new arrivals of the spring and HKT’s diverse programme
The 2026 programme will also attract audiences. Nearly 70,000 tickets have been sold for the spring performances, and the current occupancy rate of all stages is 41 per cent.
In January and February, Satu Rasila’s new dramatisation based on the first part of Satu Rämö’s popular book series will premiere on the Hildur Arena stage, the warm-hearted comedy Kurtturuusut on a small stage, Samuel Harjanne’s Comedy about a bank robbery on the big stage, and Lilla Tearn’s Status Quo, an absurd work-life comedy about when a woman is replaced by a man. The premieres in March and April are Brazilian top choreographer Frenando Melo’s Out of Order and the Theatre Academy’s collaboration Antigone on a small stage, as well as the Contemporary Performance stage novelty Somatic Sitcom at studio Pasila.
In the repertoire, Let’s Play Business, Veljeni Leijonamieli, Aleksi Suomesta, Who Captured the Sun, The History of Violence, Stones in Your Pocket, Club Act!one, Mollin iltahepuli and Kahvilla kirjailijan kanssa (Coffee with a Writer) will continue in the repertoire.
During the spring, there will also be interesting guest performances: Minna Kivelä’s and Ria Kataja’s Tuula and Pirkko – We Always Have Toro, André Wickström’s and Janne Grönroos‘ Hurri ja tosi hurri, Wickström’s jubilee performance André Wickström 30 years on stage – And there is no end in sight!/ André Wickström – 30 years on stage and no end in sight! and Ali Jahangir’s, Roosa Maskonen’s and Aatu Raitala’s Three Comedy Bundle.
The autumn 2026 musical & Julia has also received an enthusiastic reception, with almost 20,000 tickets sold.
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*For comparison, the viewership figures of previous years: 2024: 278,309, 2023: 280,136, 2022: 176,030, 2021: 104,117, 2020: 106,906, 2019: 305,568.
Press release photo Moulin Rouge! Musical. Photographer: Otto-Ville Väätäinen
Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests:
Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Manager, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788
Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki