Review: Pieni merenneito
The Little Mermaid returned to the Helsinki City Theatre even more magnificent than before
Summer is coming to an end, but that just means it’s time to open a wonderful cultural autumn! And it couldn’t have started more magnificently, as this week we got to see the re-premiere of The Little Mermaid at the Helsinki City Theatre.
The grand musical, directed by Samuel Harjanne, had its first premiere already in 2019. At the time, the performance received a lot of praise and excellent reviews, but the performance season was cut short due to the coronavirus. The following autumn, the performances could not continue as planned, so many people did not see the entire musical. That’s why it was a pleasure to hear last spring that HKT was bringing The Little Mermaid back to the repertoire! So we also had the opportunity to see the performance with the whole family, because last time our son was still too small.
The performance was already dazzlingly magnificent four years ago. Now it felt like it was even better, somehow developed and matured, even though there have been actor changes.
The role of Ariel is played by Yasmine Yamajako, who has previously done several roles as a voice actress (e.g. the title role in Disney’s Moana and Ariel in The Little Mermaid, released this year). Yamajako is the perfect choice for the role of Ariel, not only in terms of her voice, but also in terms of appearance, as Ariel is also played by a dark-skinned actress in Disney’s latest mermaid movie.
Sanna Saarijärvi reprises her role as Ursula, and is just as charmingly horrible and perfect in every way as before.
Samuli Kakko will be seen as Sebastian, who will also have the honor of performing two iconic songs from the original film (Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl). Martti Manninen will continue as Erik, Tuukka Leppänen as Skuutti the seagull and Mikko Vihma as King Triton.
This time, the show will be hosted by Pärsky, and its 10-year-old performer Aleksi Johansson. What a young talent this is! Johansson leads his roles with such naturalness, expressiveness, timing and singing skills that I think we will hear more about this young actor. Johansson alternates in the role with two other boys.
It would be funny to repeat the same things here as in my review from four years ago, but the production is the same, so I’ll just sum up my mood briefly: The Little Mermaid is perfect in every way. It is wonderfully executed, staged, lit and costumed. The execution is colorful, fast-paced and magical. The story is funny and touching.
This time, too, I wiped away tears from the beginning to the end of the performance. Not a single droplet, but a constant stream flowing out of the corner of your eye.
Many have asked about the age limit of the performance. The recommended age is 7 years, but I could have taken my own children to see the performance when they were younger. Ursula is more sarcastically evil than scary.
A show of this magnitude has never been seen in Finland before, and it is difficult to imagine seeing anything like it again right away. That’s why I strongly recommend getting tickets to the performance as soon as possible, so that you don’t have to regret that you didn’t see it. Personally, I’m seriously considering going to see the musical for a third time.