HKT’s The Little Mermaid showcases rising stars and a world-class artistic design team
The artistic planning team and performers of Helsinki City Theatre’s largest musical production of all time, The Little Mermaid musical, which premieres in August 2019, include familiar names from the super-popular Kinky Boots, but also new rising stars. The international design team for the large-scale production comes from the top of the musical theatre world.
The role of Princess Ariel will be played by Sonja Pajunoja, who is playing her first leading role in HKT, and her Prince Erik will also be played by her real-life lover, who is making his HKT debut and has acted at the Tampere Theatre. Other roles include Tero Koponen (Sebastian), Sanna Saarijärvi (Ursula), Mikko Vihma (King Triton), Paavo Kääriäinen (Kiero), Antti Timonen (Liero), Tuukka Leppänen (Scoot), Tuomas Uusitalo (Chef Louis) and Matti Olavi Ranin (Yrjö). The role of Ariel’s fishing friend Pärsky is alternated by Valo Eklund, Lenni Kallela, Alek Perez-Lahtinen and Samuel Vihma.
The magnificent undersea world with its fascinating creatures is brought to the stage by director Samuel Harjanne, the man behind the hugely successful Kinky Boots musical. The conductor of the 13-piece orchestra is Risto Kupiainen. The Finnish translation is by Reita Lounatvuori and Hanna Kaila. The set design, which draws inspiration from the 18th century Rococo style, was designed by Peter Ahlqvist. The costumes for the ensemble of more than 30 people of The Little Mermaid are designed by Pirjo Liiri-Majava and the choreography is by Gunilla Olsson-Karlsson. The video design is by Toni Haaranen. The lighting designer is William Iles , known from many HKT musicals, and the sound designer is Kai Poutanen. The camouflage and hairstyles are designed by Milja Mensonen.
HKT’s own, solid musical expertise has been strengthened with world-class professionals familiar from Broadway and West End theatres and the film world. The designers of the flights needed to photograph the underwater world are James Veitch and Nick Porter, experts from the renowned Flying by Foy. The dolls related to the characters of the underwater world are designed by Becky and Paul Vincett, a top professional duo from the British company Stitches and Glue, who have been responsible for the design of Star Wars movie characters, among other things.
“Disney’s The Little Mermaid premiered exactly 30 years ago, and I’ve grown up with it. Directing it to the stage has been a big dream of mine for many years. Creating an undersea world on stage is a big challenge for our entire artistic design team, and a great experience. I’ve never seen such passionate work in any theatre before as I do here now. The costumes, the set design, all the different departments, the entire theatre work together perfectly,” says director Samuel Harjanne, who has an international musical theatre career and currently lives in H. C. Andersen’s home country of Denmark.
Based on Andersen’s classic fairy tale (1837) and the beloved Disney animation (1989), the Disney musical The Little Mermaid (2008) is written by Doug Wright, composed by Alan Menkel, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater.
The musical tells the story of a young mermaid named Ariel, who wants to leave the maritime kingdom and live in a human world. Ariel falls in love with the prince and makes a pact with the sea witch Ursula in order to live with her beloved. The touching story of the Little Mermaid about the pursuit of dreams and the power of love and its magically beautiful music has charmed musical audiences around the world and is now finally coming to Helsinki.
“The story of The Little Mermaid touches on many pain points of humanity and identity. Ariel feels that she does not belong in the world she lives in, and she feels that she is in the wrong body. The father, King Triton, strongly condemns any kind of contact with the human world, and the father-daughter theme is one of the most important and recognizable themes in the musical. The work deals with the encounter of different worlds, and adapting to their customs and peculiarities. These themes echo brightly in today’s world, and in every person’s growth story,” says Samuel Harjanne.
Alan Menken’s enchanting music made this film one of the biggest successes in the world. For the musical, he has composed more than 10 new songs, and of course the hits Part Of Your World and the Oscar-winning Under the Sea are included.
Premiere of The Little Mermaid musical 29.8.2019 on the big stage of the Helsinki City Theatre
31 € – 88 € (includes PM)
Helsinki City Theatre ticket office, First Line 2, Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Eläintarhantie 5 Sat 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and one hour before the performance and Lippupiste Mon-Sat 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sun 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge)
www.hkt.fi
Press photos can be found in the image bank and press releases in the newsroom.
Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests: Helsinki City Theatre, Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Officer , kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788
Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki