Tanz and Fans

I saw the Finnish version of Tanz der Vampire in Seinäjoken kaupunginteatteri yesterday again, for the fourth time. My last time.

That's a shame. I love Tanz. After seeing it for the first time, I rushed back the next week, I was that impressed. It's the most entertaining musical I've ever seen. What's more, the Seinäjoki production is so filled with insanely talented people that it's been pure joy to watch, every time.
The production closing is a shame for another reason, too.
Continuing the trend Wicked started, though with an even grander force... Tanz seems to have a huge fanbase, by Finnish standards at least. It's a musical that gathers fans wherever it's being produced, and I'm glad it's been brought here. I find it really nice that the standard Finnish way of going to theatre - the buses full of often uninterested senior citizens (I've heard of a play's start being postponed because they had to wait for a bus of seniors stuck in the traffic) - is changing a little, at least in some cases.

During the last few months, the ÅST Les Mis started gathering a small fandom. A small fandom: doing a headcount of the fellow fans I know, eight people. Seeing I can't know everybody, I guess it's safe to suppose the production had about twenty big fans by the end.
This Saturday alone, at least twenty big Tanz fans gathered in Seinäjoki. Probably more. Just sitting in my seat, I was surrounded by fans: behind me sat a kid with his mother who had seen the show four times. Next to me, a guy who had been there seven times. Chatting with them cheered up my day. Normally, strangers don't talk to each other in theatre (or anywhere else, for that matter) in Finland, but yesterday, it was surprisingly easy. "How many times have you seen this?" turned out to be a great conversation-starter!
What makes this, in my opinion, extraordinary, is that yesterday was just a normal day. It wasn't the last show or anything, just a standard matinee performance. With probably a half of the audience seeing the show not for the first time. Some with vampire makeup.

Talking to a couple of fans during the intermission, and just looking around, keeping my eyes and ears open... I'm actually a bit sad that I'm not a full-time member of the group. It seems like a fun fandom to be a part of!
I've seen Tanz and I appreciate it, but I don't love it in the same way I love Les Mis. That's also why I've been distracted from it. By normal people standards, four times is already a lot - but if Les Mis didn't exist in Finland at the same time as Tanz, I'd probably done twice as many visits to Seinäjoki during these past few months. As it it, however, I don't feel I'm involved enough to call myself a huge fan: I haven't seen any other productions, I don't have clear knowledge about actors who have played the roles before. I just enjoy the Finnish version. And even then - I haven't even drawn proper fanart of it...
Despite that, I'm in a state of refusal about having seen the show for the last time. Yesterday was, performance-wise too, the best time I've ever had seeing the musical. I want more! I feel there's still a lot for me to discover. I'd need a couple times more to observe all the details and then a couple more to think about what they actually mean.
But, unless a miracle happens, Tanz'll close next month. We got to keep the ÅST Les Mis for a year and a half. I've a feeling Tanz would have what it takes to keep going just as long, and probably longer. People from all around Finland were present yesterday, it's not as if only people who live near Seinäjoki come to see the show. And still, Tanz's fans can't even have one full season.
I don't know about you, but this seems unfair to me.

Dear Tanz fans, scream a little on my behalf in the derniere, too?

Picture from Seinäjoen kaupunginteatteri's website.
My review of the Seinäjoki Tanz: click!