May Day Concert
Maria Ylipää vocals
Anna-Maija Tuokko vocals
Eeva Kontu, conductor & piano
Marko Hilpo and Marzi Nyman arrangements
Reija Wäre choreography and direction
Niina Lahtinen script
Anna-Maija Tuokko and Maria Ylipää are versatile actor-singers who, over the course of their 20-year careers, have worked in theater, musicals, films, and TV series. They became friends in the early 2000s at the Helsinki Theater Academy and have since shared their lives both offstage and onstage. Together they have given birth to five daughters, and Anna-Maija has spent hundreds of hours scrubbing the green paint off Maria’s back in the Helsinki City Theater shower after performances of the musical Wicked.
This concert features music from throughout Anna-Maija and Maria’s careers, including musicals such as West Side Story, The Producers, Wicked, Kristina från Duvemåla, and The Addams Family. The evening will also pay tribute to musical legends such as Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, and Carol Burnett!
The concert will feature a spectacular display of music, choreography, and performance never seen before on concert stages. Also on the program are numbers set to the music of pop icons who have inspired Maria and Anna-Maija — such as Madonna and Lady Gaga — along with sparkling banter and musical scenes drawn from the performers’ personal histories, all in the service of the art of the stage and life. Unprecedented leg-kicking, glitter, and a celebration of friendship!
