Pyynikki Summer Theatre premieres Harmony Sisters, a musical about the Valtonen sisters

According to a press release from ePressi, Harmony Sisters is set between the 1930s and 1950s and follows Vera, Maire and Raija Valtonen as they rise from modest beginnings in Kotka to national fame as a three-part singing trio. The musical, based on true events, explores love, longing, sisterhood and the price of success, including tours in Nazi Germany and a difficult postwar reception in Finland and Sweden.

The production opens at Joselininniemi in Tampere on Wednesday 10 June and runs through 8 August.

Director Olka Horila frames the piece as a deliberate contrast to last year’s The Unknown Soldier at the same theatre. "The story of Harmony Sisters is, in my view, a counterpoint to Pyynikki Summer Theatre's production of The Unknown Soldier last year," Horila says. "It tells the same era, but the perspective is women's, the home front and a society where young men are only passing through. It tells of a time when you must seize the moment and live fully, because tomorrow is uncertain."

Piia Soikkeli, the theatre's CEO, says the production aims to resonate with contemporary audiences rather than present history as a museum piece. "This is not museumized history," she says. "We again live in a time when people seek hope, community, lightness and comfort, and a reminder that difficult times can be overcome. Harmony Sisters offers all this. It reminds that Finnish courage and creativity endure."

Principal roles are played by Anna-Sofia Tuominen (Maire), Nomi Enckell (Vera), Matleena Junttanen (Raija) and Anna-Maija Tuokko (Ester). The cast also includes Petra Ahola, Petja Pulkkinen, Kai Vaine and Jaakko Wuolijoki, plus students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences' musical theatre programme.

Olka Horila adapted Elina Snicker's plays and directs the production. Key creative credits include assistant director Saija Viljanen, set designer Riikka Aurasmaa, costume designer Ulla-Maija Peltola, music arranger Niina Alitalo and choreographer Katri Liikola. Production photos will be available from 5 June.