Helsinki City Theatre
Helsinki City Theatre
4.5
About
The theatre house, designed by Finnish architect Timo Penttila, came into use in the autumn of 1967. The Theatre has currently six stages: big stage (947 seats), small stage (347 seats), studio Elsa (240 seats), Theatre Studio Pasila (324 seats), Arena stage (500 seats) and Lilla Teatern (267 seats), which is producing plays mainly in Swedish.
Helsinki City Theatre is also active in the fields of audience work and art education. Performance-related workshops are organized for various groups: children, adults and senior citizens. Theatre cooperates with various schools in art education projects.
Helsinki City Theatre patrons can use subtitle devices at performances on the main stage. Subtitles are currently available in Russian and Finnish, and sometimes in English too. The subtitling service is free, and they may be read either with the Thea app on the spectator's own smart phone (iPhone or Android), or on an iPod supplied by the theatre. Subtitle devices must be reserved at the same time as tickets, and the head usher will hand them out and explain how they work in the lobby before the performance. For more information please call to ticket sales.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
23 reviews
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Mikael F
Helsinki, Finland31,125 contributions
Mar 2022
Bolla tells a tragic story about forbidden love between a married family man Albanian Arsim and Serbi Milos during the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s.
The story is based on a novel written by Finnish author Pajtim Statovci who was born in Kosovo in 1990. The novel was published in 2019, and in the same year, it won the esteemed Finlandia Award.
There is so much war around at the moment. Probably because of that, the play felt very distressing. The acting performances were excellent.
The seats are quite cramped on the small stage.
The story is based on a novel written by Finnish author Pajtim Statovci who was born in Kosovo in 1990. The novel was published in 2019, and in the same year, it won the esteemed Finlandia Award.
There is so much war around at the moment. Probably because of that, the play felt very distressing. The acting performances were excellent.
The seats are quite cramped on the small stage.
Written March 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jmx123
Helsinki, Finland125 contributions
Nov 2019
We went to see Litte Mermaid musical at Helsinki City Theatre. Theatre itself is spacious well functioning theatre. But the show was spectacular. Well re-produced Disney production, beautiful performance, fantastic effects! Might be a bit scary for the youngest children.
Written November 21, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TomiJ
19 contributions
Feb 2015 • Couples
Long time since last visit. Good show with top actors. Totally enjoyed watching this from second row. Nice place and service is quite fast while a lot of people.
Written February 1, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mikael F
Helsinki, Finland31,125 contributions
Dec 2022
This sparkling musical full of famous disco hits and glitter was so entertaining. It was at least as good as the movie released in 1994. The staging and the costumes were fabulous.
Written December 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mikael F
Helsinki, Finland31,125 contributions
Apr 2019 • Friends
This over 50 years old theatre building was opened to the public in August 2017 after extensive renovations. Now it was our first time to see what has changed.
Visually we didn't notice very much. The black design chairs in the foyer had been changed to new ones which resembled the old ones.
The biggest change for us was to be heard. It was the new sound system in the auditorium. It was excellent.
This theatre has many musicals in its repertoire. So it is essential to have a state of art sound system.
Kinky Boots musical was sensationally good and entertaining.
Visually we didn't notice very much. The black design chairs in the foyer had been changed to new ones which resembled the old ones.
The biggest change for us was to be heard. It was the new sound system in the auditorium. It was excellent.
This theatre has many musicals in its repertoire. So it is essential to have a state of art sound system.
Kinky Boots musical was sensationally good and entertaining.
Written April 19, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heli P
Helsinki, Finland7,705 contributions
Mar 2019 • Solo
The building hugging the sloping park in Kallio was designed by Timo Penttilä in 1967. Besides the National theatre this municipal one is also big with similar repertoire of light entertainment combined to more serious plays. Kinky boots musical has been the hit show this season, though ticket prices are quite high. The Saturday matinee drew a full house, many guests had also preordered refreshments which looked delicious. The lobby has a small steel sculpture by Eila Hiltunen, the horse and rider statue in the garden is Thalia and Pegasos by Kari Juva.
Written April 2, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
vedet
Turku, Finland302 contributions
Mar 2019 • Couples
This is the largest theatre in Finland, regarding as well the scope of the stage and the number of the personnel. Fortunately performance are also good, at least those I have seen. The latest was Anton Chekhov's Cherry orchard, directed by L. Maijala; it was excellent.
Written March 19, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FromTurkuWithLove
Turku, Finland371 contributions
Dec 2018 • Friends
Renovated theatre is a beautiful place, the service is smooth and you don't have to cueue a lot even though the show was fully booked.
Written January 6, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OT-Lohja
Lohja273 contributions
Nov 2018 • Couples
Helsinki City Theatre has a nice location by a bay. We went to see Kinky Boots, Finnish version. The theatre was sold out and the musical was excellent, excellent performers, singers, dancers, lay out, roling. I have never before been in theatre where everybody in the audience after the play, musical was applauding standing for five minutes. We left the theatre feeling great. We loved the musical.
Written November 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ArghyaKolkata
Kolkata3,947 contributions
May 2017 • Solo
Like NYC's Time Square or Singapore's Orchard Road, Aleksanterinkatu is the central commercial street of Helsinki. Shops, cafes, restaurants and the Stockmann department store all in one convenient location. This is one attraction tourists should not miss out on when visiting Helsinki. A stone's throw away from Senate Square, it has access to entrances of the University of Helsinki, the Ritarihuone, the Helsinki Cathedral and the Nordea Bank.
Aleksanterinkatu marvels especially during summer season when the street sparkles with exciting lights, painting a beautiful picturesque evening during the holidays.
Aleksanterinkatu marvels especially during summer season when the street sparkles with exciting lights, painting a beautiful picturesque evening during the holidays.
Written November 26, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
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