Tanz der Vampire - Seinäjoki, Finland
> (10 September 2011, the premiere)
>
> General impressions:
>
> Vampyyrien tanssi is easily the best musical production I
> have ever seen in Finland, and tops most musical
> productions I have ever seen anywhere, including the big
> international stages in West End. It's done with love,
> passion and devotion, every detail has been thought of,
> the atmosphere is unbelievable. Granted, the theatre is
> quite small and they don't have resources for sets as huge
> as in Germany etc., but they make that up with lots of
> creativity and sense of style and have chosen the
> quality-over-quantity approach. And it works. I thought I
> would compare it to the standard directing when watching
> but in the end I didn't, and I think that's the way you
> should take it, as an independent production. It has its
> flaws of course, but nothing major, just a detail or two
> like Sarah's too red wig.
>
> To those who wondered it, the storyline and the songs
> follow the basic European productions and there have been
> no changes for example in the text. Olli-Matti Oinonen's
> directing highlights different things and brings a
> different mood into the musical, but the basics are still
> there. The directing concentrates very much on characters
> and their feelings: how the characters relate to each
> other, how they interact, what their motives are, how the
> motives are displayed and how the characters react to the
> happenings and the world around them. In that sense it
> feels more like a play than a musical spectacle, it gets
> more directly into your feelings, is more realistic and
> strips everything out of the light sugar coating that
> sometimes defines big musicals like this. It's a fairy
> tale for adults, amusing and beautiful, but feeling-wise
> there's also something very rough and brutish behind it
> all, quite a cruel undertone. Characters like Professor
> Abronsius, Herbert and Rebecca are no caricatures but real
> persons, and the humour comes from what they do or say,
> not from what they are, if you get what I mean.
>
> The ensemble is excellent, there aren't weak links in
> there. The Finnish translation is a bliss to listen to, it
> has depth, wittiness and style and it fits the mood of the
> scenes perfectly.
>
> The sets are beautiful. The crypt is impressively gothic,
> the library huge and very library-ish, the big staircase
> effective, and the castle itself is solid and stark and
> has a very brutal feeling in it, with two big fire torches
> at the iron gate. Chagal's inn, on the other hand, is a
> clever and cozy collection of stairs and different levels
> and family photographs.
>
> I also really like the costumes. Sarah has a plain white
> dress (and an awfully red wig, it looks a bit weird but
> the actress is so good that she could wear old mop on her
> head and she'd still be awesome), and her red silky ball
> gown is beautiful. The Professor is wearing a brown suit,
> and Alfred goes around in the familiar red coat and white
> trousers. Herbert is deliberately over-the-top, pink and
> fluffy and laced and adorable. Krolock has a long black
> fur-edged cloak only for outside use, in the castle he
> wears long coats and looks deadly stylish. And his hair is
> absolutely gorgeous.
>
>
> The cast:
>
> Count von Krolock - Jyri Lahtinen: What a voice! A velvety
> baritone with both opera and popular music background, and
> as a Krolock he's a good mix of the both and can
> effortlessly (so it seems) sing the role perfectly.
> Definitely one of the best singers I've ever heard in the
> role.
>
> Lahtinen's Krolock is a noble gentleman; cultivated,
> polite, sexy, a tiny bit sarcastic when needed, and
> definitely dangerous. Krolock is at first kept as a bit
> distant mystical figure that’s spirit kind of haunts the
> inn (not literally, just my feeling), but gradually his
> multifaceted personality and being is revealed more and
> more to the spectator. In Unstillbare Gier he's a tortured
> almost-human, at some point lying on the ground on his
> side/back and singing, but when he bites Sarah the savage
> beast inside him comes out. The bite scene is relatively
> harsh and brutal. These clearly are no nice and romantic
> ittybitty Twilight vampiwes – these are Vampires, closer
> to the old-school horror movie type.
>
> Professor Abronsius – Esa Ahonen: An excellent actor and
> an excellent singer, one of the true stars of the show.
> This Abronsius is not silly, daft or senile but clever and
> sharp as a knife – at least when it comes to his theories.
> He's also very fixed to his scientific goals and tends to
> forget everything else. Something in him reminded me of
> British comedy. He's subtly funny and has perfect timing,
> and he has quite an attitude to his work. Easily one of my
> favourite characters in this production.
>
> Alfred – Ville Salonen: A sweet, sympathetic young man,
> well-meaning and innocent, loyal to the Professor and
> Sarah but also searching for himself. I hate stupid
> Alfreds and Salonen thankfully isn't one of those; his
> Alfred is just sometimes a bit helpless and, well, young
> and new to the world. It's lovely to see how he grows
> during the story. Salonen nailed Für Sarah perfectly, his
> voice is awesome. His comical timing also works perfectly.
> Salonen is older than Alfreds usually but you don't notice
> it from him on stage, he's the type of guy who'll still
> play 20-year-olds believably when he's 50.
>
> Sarah – Raili Raitala: An adorable, down-to-earth Sarah
> with strong will and strong voice. The role very easily
> becomes a Christine-like emptyheaded girl who just follows
> this cool handsome man, but Raitala avoided that nicely
> and made Sarah a strong young woman seeking for her own
> freedom, even if the cost of it would be her death. I
> loved her especially in Die roten Stiefel / Das Gebet, the
> decision between the safe home and the wild freedom felt
> so real.
>
> Herbert – Jouko Enkelnotko: Herbert is probably the
> biggest shock for those used to the standard productions
> and their pretty-boy Herberts. You know the teenaged girl
> type with too tight trendy clothes, too much make up and
> badly blonded hair with dark root growth? Mix that with a
> 1,90 m hairy robust man and a lot of pale pink or
> cream-coloured silk and satin and lace, and you have the
> Finnish Herbert. I know it sounds unbelievable, but the
> character works extremely well and is probably the most
> Herbert-y Herbert I have ever seen in my life. You just
> have to see it. He's grotesque, daddy's spoiled little
> princess, used to get everything he wants. Like his
> father, Herbert is oozing danger, and I felt so much pity
> for the somewhat hypnotized Alfred when Herbert took his
> hand in the Act I finale and led him in the castle.
> Enkelnotko's Herbert already has a horde of fangirls, and
> I don't wonder it. You can't help loving him.
>
> Chagal – Heikki Vainionpää: Probably the only actor I did
> not like very much. Vainionpää sings very well and his
> human!Chagal is tolerable, but the character doesn't feel
> funny. He overacts too much for my taste, licks his lips
> and giggles and runs around, and his funny lines fall a
> bit flat. In vampire!Chagal it becomes even more clear.
>
> I do like it how much Chagal and Rebecca (Leena Rousti)
> feel like a married couple here, though. They dance
> together in Knoblauch, clearly have fun and like each
> other, but Chagal apparently happens to be the type of
> person who just can't settle with one woman. You can see
> that the Salami Scene has happened dozens of times before
> with different girls.
>
> Rousti's Rebecca kicks ass, by the way. Rebecca is not an
> old ugly hag but a normal middle-aged, albeit rather
> strong-willed woman who probably is the person really
> running the inn. Rousti is an excellent actor and a great
> comical talent with an impressive voice. I very nearly
> started to cry when she mourned over Chagal and Sarah.
> Rebecca can also hear the vampire choir going "Sei
> bereit!" which makes me think that she may have been in
> Sarah's situation herself in the past but has chosen
> differently than her daughter will. She's also clearly a
> loving mother, cares for Sarah and is worried about her.
> Generally there's a lovely family-like feeling among the
> innkeepers.
>
> Magda – Anne Vihelä: Magda definitely had some girl power
> in her. Now when I think of it, she came across almost
> cynical. She had a cold in the premiere, but her voice is
> powerful and I liked hed Tot zu sein ist komisch.
>
> Koukol – Antti Railio: The Finnish Koukol is not exactly a
> hunchback, he reminded me more of the classic Igor-kind of
> manservant of gothic horror stories. Railio is a big man
> and he's made even bigger with a thick fur coat and a top
> hat. With all that fur and beard there was something
> almost animal-like in his appearance. Reminds me of
> shamans.
>