Casa Naisia in the Helsinki Music Centre (Sonore), the 31st of May, 2018

The Master’s degree class of Sibelius Academy has created as their final stage work a musical theatre act called ”Casa Naisia” (Pack of Women). The story tells about a district cultural society’s effort to make a summer opera called “Hurjat huvit” (Fierce Fun).

Due to somewhat challenging schedules I didn’t decide until at the last minute to go and see this performance, but I was happy that I ended up seeing it. These young ladies had created a super amusing performance, where the audience could laugh on women/men/stereo types. They joked wittily about what kind of expectations people (especially women) face when it comes to looks.

The performance was free of charge and the programme (when read before the performance) was rather confusing. But when you re-read it after the performance, all was clear: all performers (excluding the pianist Nina Ranta) had both a male and a female character.

The performers were:

Iris Hernandez Toppari – Joonas/Maria

Sanna Iljin – Riku/Sofia

Aurora Marthens – Pertti/Annukka  

Niina Ranta – pianist Vladislav Seitan

Elisaveta Rimkevitch – Masa/Katja

Heta Sammalisto-Muhonen – Lasse/Erja-Riitta

”Casa Naisia” contained a couple of true diamonds. Heta Sammalisto-Muhonen is an incredible singer, but her acting was also fantastic (especially as the silent Lasse). If this lady will not reach huge success, nobody will!

Elisaveta Rimkevitch’s aria ”Addio, del passato bei sogni ridenti” from the opera ”La Traviata” was superb. The final note was one of the best I have ever heard.

Sanna Iljin and Aurora Marthens also did good. Marthens’ performance reminded me of her somewhat similar hearty role in “Rita” earlier this spring. The weakest singer of the group was in my opinion Iris Hernandez Toppari. Her voice never rose to its wings like the others.

The performance is definitely worth seeing and there is one more chance to see it (today, the 1^st of June in the Helsinki Music Centre’s Sonore). Worth the visit, though the dialogue is in Finnish, which may be an issue, if you are not rather fluent in Finnish (tons of slang and colloquial expressions).