As a writer and theatre enthusiast living in the Amsterdam area, I'd love to be your guide to significant developments and background information from The Netherlands and nearby countries. Despite being a small country, where theatres can't rely on tourists to fill seats, the musical culture is thriving and diverse. International musical theatre mogul Joop van den Ende has his homebase here and musical theatre performers and creatives from the UK and US are often warmly welcomed in the Netherlands to work in (creating) local and international productions.
De Nationale Reisopera, a Dutch opera company dedicated to operatic productions that tour the Netherlands, will present Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD in 2014.
Tim Driesen, Dieter Spileers, Robbert van den Bergh and Rene van Kooten will be portraying Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons in the Dutch version of JERSEY BOYS, due to open on September 22nd in Utrecht.
Watch Willemijn Verkaik, Broadway's current Elphaba in WICKED, perform 'Defying Gravity' in the three languages she has performed the role in: Dutch, German and English.
After Celinde Schoenmaker, who currently plays the role of Fantine in West End's LES MISERABLES, another Dutch musical actress has been cast for this role: Na-Young Jeon, best known for playing Kim in the Dutch 2012 revival of MISS SAIGON.
The Dutch musical theatre community participated actively today in the festive ceremony with which HRH Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands passed the torch to her son, Willem Alexander.
BroadwayWorld brings you a sneak peak into current and upcoming musicals in the Netherlands through the commercials that have been put online for each of them.
Theme park 'De Efteling', the largest theme park in the Netherlands, announced a new musical to be performed in the Efteling theatre: Klaas Vaak (Sandman).
Stage Entertainment in the Netherlands has issued a casting call for a Dutch version of JERSEY BOYS, the hit musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
The extraordinary success of the Dutch musical SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE (Soldier of Orange), based on the movie by the same title, shown no signs of coming to an end soon.
The first of the three cast changes has been announced for the Antwerp run of the Dutch production of SHREK, currently playing the RAI Theatre in Amsterdam.
In the upcoming musical exploring the relationship between Liza Minelli and Judy Garland, Janke Dekker will portray Liza, Jelka van Houten will play Judy.
In June 2012, she celebrated her 1000th performance as Elphaba in three subsequent production of Wicked: in Stuttgart and Oberhausen (Germany) and in Scheveningen (The Netherlands).