3 Comments

• Mark April 30, 2012

  Had the pleasure fo seeing the show twice over the Easter Break. Sold out performance in what can only be said to be a theatre that really looked after its patrons. Comfortable well spaced seats without feeling cramped. Merchadise was very reasonably priced. For anyone who wanted there were extra cushions and translating gadgets. A few customers on stand by were allowed to sit on occasional seats at the end of steps by balconies. Best of all it’s the first time in ages I’ve been to the theatre when everyone was impeciably behaved, no mobile phones went off and no one got up to go to the toilet mid performance. London theatres and audiences take note!
  It’s a long show – it’s billed as 3 hours 35 minutes including he interval, but lasted bang on 4 hours (probably realised the audience need a longer interval after sitting for slightly over 2 hours for the first act). Apparently 20 minutes has been cut from the original show.
  What blew me away was the intermacy of the theatre (only has 690 seats) and the fantastic acoustics. I don’t think there can be a bad seat in the theatre – even the ones on the extreme right and left of balconies make them nearer to the stage.
  I have never seen the original Swedish production so have nothing really to compare it to. The first thing that struck me was that how different the singing sounds with a Finnish accent, much softer. All the leads were great, but then they had alot to live up to after the stunning performances by Sjohom, Ekberg and Joback in the orignal staging. The lead which I thought had the best voice, presence and acting was the lady playing Ulrika. The guy playing Karl Oskar sings far less bombastically than Ekberg – more passion than anger. Krisitna comes across through the staging as a much less bland character than I’d expected.
  What’s exciting about this production is that from what I’ve heard it loses no impact for having a cast and orchestra half the size of the orginal. I think several fo the songs have minor changes lyrics wise, with a few cutting sections out – most noticiably the scenes on the ship which moves very quickly. The “Lice” song cuts out almost entirely the section sung by Fina Kajsa and there is another small part sung by Kristina in the Min Lust Pa Dej after the opening song. The Red Iron song in the second act is beautifully staged and cuts out this charcater, simply giving more to the part of Njord who narrates and sings sections. The Battery Park song also has verses and choruses cut.
  What surprised me was there was quite a bit of humour, obvious from the audiences reaction, devoid from the concert version I saw at the Royal Albert Hall.
  The whole show is so simply staged, no wow scenery, costumes or special effects, but simply lets the music and lyrics flow, with no real changes of scenes the whole things flows well and before you know the 4 hours is over.
  I did expect the ending death scene to leave me more moved. To be honest I found the response from the audience quite subdued. Perhaps the Finns are more restrained?
  What the Helsinki company and the production demonstrates is that this epic show can be staged in a much smaller setting with a scaled down company and budget. My only worry on the show coming to the New York or London is the viability of a 4 hour performance – perhaps possible at a setting such as the London’s National or New York’s Lincoln Centre where various productions run together filling the theatre for both evening and afternoon performances, managable as they are subsidised settings and quick turn around with staging. I wonder whether union legislation with working hours would realistically mean the show could only work in rep – in Helsinki it only does 5 performances a week, alongside 2 other shows.
  Definitely worth a visit to Helsinki for the show alone. I’d expected Helsinki to be really expensive, but it’s certainly no dearer than anywhere else in Europe at the moment. Certainly much cheaper than Sweden. There’s certainly plenty of reasonably priced hotels and flights are not too bad to get there and at 3.60 euros for the bus to the city centre in 30 minutes is good value for money.

• Alistair Thomas May 1, 2012

  Finally booked my ticket to see the show in October. Have been listening to the 3CD set for several years and glad to finally be getting a chance to see the full show in a theatre production. Excited, you bet!

• Glenn Korbel July 12, 2012

  I can’t speak for the applicable rules guiding performance length on the West End but a four-hour show or even one trimmed down to 3:30 or so has little or no chance of being staged in New York.

  Les Miserables is about the lengthiest show to play in New York and it came in under three hours (2:55). (The RSC’s “Nicholas Nickelby” was longer–8 hours–but it was performed in two parts on consecutive nights. Peter Brooks “Mahabharata” ran 9 hours and was similarly staged.)

  Having seen the concert at Carnegie Hall, I feel certain this show can be trimmed down to a more acceptable 2:45 but it would take a major reworking of the book.

  I don’t think Lincoln Center is a realistic alternative unless it was presented as an opera in its native language. The Met’s calendar is ALWAYS full. The New York City Opera might have been a better choice but it is now out of business.

  I don’t enjoy being pessimistic about a NYC run.As thrilling as the concert at Carnegie was I left with the absolute conviction that it would need to undergo a major reworking to get people out of the theater before 11:00, even with a 7:30 curtain.