Review: Pieni merenneito

A dazzling fairy tale

The largest musical production ever seen in Finland. As an instructor
Samuel Harjanne, who is especially known for the hit musical Kinky Boots. Expectations
The premiere of the highly marketed The Little Mermaid was high.

There was plenty of greatness. The set design, costumes, choreography, everything was top-notch.

A colourful underwater world opened up on stage, where a young mermaid Ariel (Sonja Pajunoja) swam towards the ceiling, i.e. the surface of the water, wagging her tail.

Not only does The Little Mermaid have the same sparkle and sparkle as Kinky Boots, but the theme is also the same: self-discovery and acceptance.

The main character of Kinky Boots is drag artist Lola, originally Simon. Ariel also feels like
in the wrong body. He wants to be a human being.

In addition to Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale from 1837, the musical is based on the Disney animated film (1989). The original story is noticeably sadder and more brutal than the Disney princess version.

Martti Manninen plays Prince Erik, with whom Ariel falls in love. The witch Ursula promises to turn the mermaid into a human for three days if she gives her vote in return.

If Erik doesn’t kiss Ariel, she returns to being a mermaid and becomes Ursula’s slave.

Sonja Pajunoja copes admirably with a role where you have to hang in the air and sing at the same time. Martti Manninen dazzles with his beautiful and strong singing voice. But above all the others is Sanna Saarijärvi in the central role of Ursula.

Full applause! Saarijärvi is absolutely stunning. She is such a charismatic and expressively evil witch that you are startled when her furious face appears in the big video frame.

There is a lot of silliness and humor as well. For example, Tuomas Uusitalo, an excellent
Chef Louis. There is Oscar-winning music.

If there’s one thing that flattens the musical, it’s the obvious ending of the princess fairy tale.

The premiere ended with a standing ovation.

Samuel Harjanne has succeeded again. She has conjured up the Little Mermaid into an entire
an international-level musical that entertains the family.