'La Cage aux Folles' Finland = Lainahöyhenissä

Yet another show ticked off my to-track-down-and-see list of musicals. Initially my dad offered to come and see this with me. I politely declined. Although I did not precisely know the story beforehand, I knew it would be about drag queens and would most likely contain a lot of sexual references. The kind of stuff you would not necessarily find so funny with your dad sitting next to you. So I opted to see this with two wonderful musical-theatre-fanatic friends of mine.
How better to pass the day of a New Year's Eve than by going to see a musical comedy? The Finnish title, Lainahöyhenissä, literally means 'In borrowed feathers' (Finnish is such an awesome language that those three words can be expressed as one).

Thanks to Riikka for the pic of the poster.

Lainahöyhenissä at Helsinki City Theatre, Finland
Performance: 31st December 2011 at 14:00
Seat: Stalls right, second row (Areena stage)
Cast included: Pertti Koivula (Georges), Sami Hokkanen (Albin/Zaza), Antti Timonen (Jean-Michel), Marika Westerling (Anne Dindon), Markku Haussila (Jacob), Eero Saarinen (Edouard Dindon), Leena Rapola (Marie Dindon), Riitta Havukainen (Jacqueline)


I had never seen anything on this particular stage before (the Helsinki City Theatre has a couple of different auditoriums so they can have several plays going on at once). The auditorium was fairly small and modern and the genius things was that we had so much legroom that we did not have to stand up to let people past us while in our seats. The majority of the audience were middle-aged and above. The funny thing is that that used to be the image I had of theatre when I was younger: Excluding plays that were specifically aimed at children, it was only older people who went to the theatre. I don't think going to the theatre is in the least fashionable in Finland. The Finnish production of Wicked may have brought together some theatre addicts from the younger generation but West End is still a whole other story. 


I would be very interested in seeing an English production of La Cage aux Folles now that I have seen this. I greatly enjoyed it and I would love to know what kinds of original choices had been made with the costumes and props. There were a couple of things such as a chair with a penis-shaped back rest and photographs of naked men on the walls which I did not consider to be out of place because... it was a Finnish production. Somehow that makes it okay. I just could not imagine the same happening in a Broadway/West End production (so I would be intrigued to hear about an English-language production or indeed another international production from anyone who has seen one). I guess that is because whatever happens in 'big theatreland' will make the headlines. Those productions will be seen by tourists who come from different cultures. There is more pressure for whatever is shown to be appropriate and accessible. In Finland the circles are smaller. The language barrier usually prevents tourists from going to the theatre in Finland so you feel like an insider when you are able to do it. I think that might be why the atmosphere in the Finnish theatres is so different compared to the West End and there is a particular bond between actors and the audience (fellow Finns are welcome to present their opinions on this). 


One thing that struck me about this musical was the plot that was surprisingly complicated for a musical. One could spot the French origin in it. It reminded me slightly of a production of Mark Camoletti's Don't Dress for Dinner which I saw last summer. It might have been a little dragged out but generally musicals can be excused for that. The plot was wonderfully funny and so awkwardly funny that I ended up putting my fist in my mouth (the equivalent of a face palm but without blocking my view of the stage) so many times that my hand was sore afterwards due to me having been biting it. For those who do not know the plot: In short, it is about an aged gay couple who own a gay night club and perform there. One of them, Georges, has a son who has found a girl to marry. The problem is that the girl's father is a famous political figure known for his anti-gay views. Somehow Georges and Albin as well as Georges's son, Jean-Michel, need to survive the meeting of these parents. 


The costumes were fantastically flashy and really grabbed my attention (I love sparkly things and have recently started wishing that I was good at textiles so I could attempt some replicas of my favourite costumes). The Cagelles (the backing singers&dancers at the night club consisting of six men dressed as women) moved so comfortably in heels and dresses that it was unreal. Not even just dancing but doing cartwheels and flips in those clothes. I can imagine that the guys must have had a ball rehearsing and that they probably have a ball every time they get to perform it. 
Speaking of men dressed as women, a honorary mention goes to Sami Hokkanen who flawlessly put on mascara and lipstick on stage while singing. The mention for the best singing voice goes to Pertti Koivula. I was not surprised to find out that he was a trained classical singer. 


One of my favourite moments in the musical: When Albin comes on wearing a white Marilyn Monroe style dress and a guy rolls a fan on stage and positions it behind him to make the dress flow like in that famous picture. 


Conclusion: Finns, go see it. It's entertaining and laughs are guaranteed. Warning you though, if you don't want to end up being asked to touch Albin's fur coat, you might not want to sit by the middle aisle in the stalls. However, if you sit in the few front rows, you might get a cheeky wink from one of the hot guys! 


Photos from the production can be found here: http://www.hkt.fi/ohjelmisto/play.php?name=zaza&tab=3
Oh, and the trailer for the production can be found  on YouTube:

Inadequate explanation of absence and update

So, I did not use this blog at all in the way I intended to. In fact, I did not end up using it at all.
What happened? I have no idea. Anyway, by this time, I have returned to live in the UK. Not because I did not like Finland (on the contrary, after getting over the initial problems, I ended up having an absolute ball) but rather because I felt the need to return. After all, I did have a university place waiting for me here in Nottingham.


Over the six months I spent in Finland, theatre became an even greater part of my life than it had been before.
I went to see the Finnish production of Wicked in March at the Helsinki City Theatre. I was already a fan of musical theatre and having seen several shows in London's West End, I went in with an embarrassingly prejudiced attitude: "There is no way a production in Finland will beat a West End show." (N.B. I had never seen Wicked in the West End and I did not know the story behind the musical even if I had heard some of the songs.) Already after the first act I could not contain my excitement. The show was one of the most fantastic things I had ever seen on stage.

Delving deeper into the world of Finnish theatre, I found that, despite being a country with a small population, there is a surprisingly large number of plays going on at a surprisingly large number of theatres, particularly in the capital. And, naturally, this would not be the case if there were not a significant number of people seeing them.
One cannot leave out the summer theatre culture, of course. All the big theatres are closed in the summer, giving the small open air theatres (not rarely located in the middle of nowhere) a chance to shine. And speaking of shining, the weather usually agrees with this tradition, which is lucky seeing as some of the theatres are completely uncovered. One might expect these productions to be cheap and amateur-made but this is so far off the truth that... I can't even come up with a piece of imagery to describe it. An expensive set or lots of special effects simply is not the point of summer theatre. That would be very much out of place, I think. Besides, the talent of the actors keeps the audience engaged. 


Interesting piece of trivia:
The Finnish production of the musical The Producers had translated Max's line, which originally read:
"I am the director who invented theatre in a square."
as
"I am the first director who put on summer theatre in the winter."


It is a shame tourists do not particularly get to be a part of the Finnish theatre culture due to the language issue. In addition, the budget of shows is rarely of a size allowing the sets and costumes to be particularly flashy like they tend to be in the West End or Broadway, so most of the time there is not even a visual element for tourists to follow. The best bet, if one does not speak Finnish would be to go and see one of the musicals at the Helsinki City Theatre (as far as I understand, the productions of Broadway musicals they put on there, are of high quality and very enjoyable to watch, especially if you know the story beforehand).


I have a feeling that my blog (which I will try to update regularly) will take a slightly more theatre and musical theatre orientated approach. But cultural differences are such a curious topic that it will certainly feature.

The essential introduction

I was planning on blogging in Finnish to begin with but I think I have settled for English now. It's easier for me anyway. And if I feel like it, I could always change. Finnish is my native language so feel free to comment in that as well. I also speak fluent Swedish and decent French, if you prefer. :)

Briefly about me: I moved to Espoo, Finland at the beginning of January after spending 4,5 years in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. By ethnicity I am as Finnish as one can get: my entire family are citizens of this particular Nordic country (apart from a few cousins several times removed whose grandparents moved to the USA almost a century ago) which most people know nothing about. Despite being back in my native country, I have come face to face with a culture shock which will feature in my blog.

For more info about me, please have a look at the second tab at the top of the page :)