Woah, posting this took forever. I actually finished this text in January, but it took over two months to get the courage to change this blog's language to English.
Anyway, here are my thoughts of the Finnish version of Phantom of the Opera, hope you enjoy. :)
I have been a fan of Phantom of the Opera for over ten years - I first heard about it when I was about 8 years old.
Anyway, here are my thoughts of the Finnish version of Phantom of the Opera, hope you enjoy. :)
I have been a fan of Phantom of the Opera for over ten years - I first heard about it when I was about 8 years old.
I loved the movie despite it's really bad singing, listened many recordings and absolutely loved Sarah Brightman and Sierra Boggess.
I have dreamed for a very long time to see this musical live and it finally happened.
The musical had probably the biggest budget I have ever seen in Finland - Finnish musicals are usually done with small budgets and small theathers, which don't have a lot of backstage, so the sets cannot be very big.
Phantom of the Opera was made in the Finnish National Opera House, so bigger and more impressive set was possible.
I really liked the costumes, they were a lot simpler than the ones used in the States, but still very beautiful.
Christine's white dress during Think of Me was very beautiful, and I absolutely loved Carlotta's silver corselet during Don Juan Triumphant.
I loved the set during the song Phantom of the Opera, the set gives an eye tricking illusion that the Phantom and Christine move to the other side of the set within few seconds.
Also the design of Phantom's cave was really nice, it had many good details.
Christine was played by amazing Finnish soprano Iida Antola.
Her Christine was incredible, and she became easily my favourite Christine.
She had very operatic voice compared to other Christine's, and she demanded attention from the viewer.
When the song Phantom of the Opera came, her voice gave me chills and I completely forgot about Phantom's presence.
I have always wanted the hear the song sung by a very operatic voice, and now I got it.
Phantom was played by Ilkka Hämäläinen.
He is an opera singer, and had a good voice, but I felt he did not fit the part.
Phantom in the production was done in a little bit strange way, usually he's portrayed as a handsome man, now he looked like a homeless person if I'm being completely honest.
He did not give me the feel what I expected from the character, and he did not command the stage like I expected.
Carlotta, my favourite character in the musical, was portrayed by Kaisa Ranta.
She had a good voice, and her rendition of Hannibal was amazing - I could literally feel her voice.
Not may be the best Carlotta but she was still very good - I liked her voice and her acting.
My biggest problem with her is how she disappeared behind the other actors, especially if Christine was on stage.
This version of Christine commanded so much attention that when she was on stage, I literally watched and listened only her.
This kind of annoyed me, Carlotta should command the attention when she's on stage, she's an opera diva after all.
What bothered me was that during Prima Donna Carlotta did not change clothes, and in the next scene she was in new clothes.
What bothered me was that during Prima Donna Carlotta did not change clothes, and in the next scene she was in new clothes.
The chorus was amazing, and I could hear the opera singers in it.
I was surprised by how good the supporting character's voices were, especially Madame Giry's (Emilia Vesalainen-Pellas) voice was very good and very operatic.
During Don Juan Triumphant, they had a large metal female torso on stage.
I do not know if other productions had something similar, but that was really weird for me.
Overall, I did enjoy the musical, and I sat on third row, so I saw it really well.
My look during the show~
The second time I saw the show was 29.12.18.
This time I sat at the balcony, and it was nice to see the show from completely different view - last time I sat so close to the stage I could not see the entirety.
Christine was still played by Iida Antola, who was still as good as she was the first time.
Phantom was played by Kevin Greenlaw, an American opera singer.
I had heard he is an amazing singer, and he did not disappointed me - I really liked his Phantom.
He had the the power and control of his character, he sung with awesome power.
I still did not like Phantom's look in this production, but Greenlaw's singing made me forgot about it.
This time Carlotta was performed by Hanna-Leena Haapamäki.
I really liked her Carlotta, she sung amazingly well and she did not disappear behind the other actors.
I also really liked her acting, she played the diva Carlotta is perfectly.
Raoul in both shows was played by Olli Tuovinen.
I have never been the biggest fan of Raoul, in every production of Phantom he annoys me, the way he acts because he's just so good (and the movie version of that character was the worst portrayal of Raoul I have ever seen).
I was really surprised that I liked this production's version of Raoul.
Tuovinen's Raoul felt soft and caring towards Christine, and they really had chemistry.
I also really liked his voice, he could sing both soft notes and powerful ones.
My look when I saw the show second time.
Since I was sitting in the balcony, I could see the whole stage differently, and I could really see the decor and all the details they put on it.
The decor was really big, bigger than I could see from the third row, and very detailed.
I have already mentioned some sets of the show, but the layer of Phantom, the graveyard and the roof of the Opera house were really nicely done.
I watched the 25th Anniversary same day I watched the Finnish production, and even though the American version is done with a lot bigger budget, I liked that some things were done better in the Finnish production. Finnish production had better sets, and I have to say that Kevin Greenlaw and Iida Antola both have better voices than in the filmed version (even though Sierra Boggess will always be one of my favourite Christine.)
Also the chorus in the Finnish version was better, I always felt odd when in the American version the chorus sung badly even though they could sing (this was in the Broadway soundtrack too).
If you like this musical I highly recommend watching the 25th Anniversary, it is really good. :)
The second time I saw the show was 29.12.18.
This time I sat at the balcony, and it was nice to see the show from completely different view - last time I sat so close to the stage I could not see the entirety.
Christine was still played by Iida Antola, who was still as good as she was the first time.
Phantom was played by Kevin Greenlaw, an American opera singer.
I had heard he is an amazing singer, and he did not disappointed me - I really liked his Phantom.
He had the the power and control of his character, he sung with awesome power.
I still did not like Phantom's look in this production, but Greenlaw's singing made me forgot about it.
This time Carlotta was performed by Hanna-Leena Haapamäki.
I really liked her Carlotta, she sung amazingly well and she did not disappear behind the other actors.
I also really liked her acting, she played the diva Carlotta is perfectly.
Raoul in both shows was played by Olli Tuovinen.
I have never been the biggest fan of Raoul, in every production of Phantom he annoys me, the way he acts because he's just so good (and the movie version of that character was the worst portrayal of Raoul I have ever seen).
I was really surprised that I liked this production's version of Raoul.
Tuovinen's Raoul felt soft and caring towards Christine, and they really had chemistry.
I also really liked his voice, he could sing both soft notes and powerful ones.
Since I was sitting in the balcony, I could see the whole stage differently, and I could really see the decor and all the details they put on it.
The decor was really big, bigger than I could see from the third row, and very detailed.
I have already mentioned some sets of the show, but the layer of Phantom, the graveyard and the roof of the Opera house were really nicely done.
I watched the 25th Anniversary same day I watched the Finnish production, and even though the American version is done with a lot bigger budget, I liked that some things were done better in the Finnish production. Finnish production had better sets, and I have to say that Kevin Greenlaw and Iida Antola both have better voices than in the filmed version (even though Sierra Boggess will always be one of my favourite Christine.)
Also the chorus in the Finnish version was better, I always felt odd when in the American version the chorus sung badly even though they could sing (this was in the Broadway soundtrack too).
If you like this musical I highly recommend watching the 25th Anniversary, it is really good. :)
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