Sparky's Scratches Real friends don't care if you're a little different…

Yes, there’s a #1 in the title, as I’m sure there will be a follow-up 🙂

Seen: March 25, 2012
Circustheater, Scheveningen

When I joined the ‘Willemijn Verkaik‘ Page at Facebook, I got in touch with several other fans, many of them from Germany, where Willemijn played Elphaba for 3 years. One of them – Lola – announced that she had tickets for March and it seemed the right opportunity to meet her, so I said I would be there too.

It was fun meeting her and her friends and I was glad to hear that they enjoyed Saturday’s performance AND that Willemijn would be there for the Sunday matinee (sigh of relief!)

Jim Bakkum  was scheduled to play Fiyero and as Chantal Janzen had the day off Céline Purcell would be Glinda. I saw some videos of Chantal as Glinda and wasn’t too happy with her high notes, so I welcomed Céline. But after hearing Lola’s comments about how awesome Chantal as Glinda was, I now really hope to see her before she steps down from te show (that hasn’t been announced yet, so I think there’s still time).

I don’t want to be nitpicking – as the show on the whole was awesome – but some of the Dutch lyrics just don’t sound right. I know how difficult it is to translate into Dutch, but some things are simply better in the original language (in this case English). To make the translation sound like ‘normal’ spoken language instead of words that have been put in a strange order to make things rhyme is an art by itself and I sure wouldn’t want to try. Overall it wasn’t bad, but here and there the lyrics lost their power because of the translation.

Having said that, there was nothing else that disappointed. The gorgeous costumes, the lighting, the set, it was close to perfection.
I couldn’t wait to see Willemijn on stage. The minute I had been waiting for, for years, ever since I saw the announcement that she would be the original German Elphaba. And there she was… I felt my heart leap 🙂 She was everything I expected her to be… and so much more.

Regular visitors will know that I often shed a tear at musicals – lol. If it’s good, I cry. Well… I cried A LOT!  Willemijn’s first solo is ‘The Wizard and I’ and although that is a great song, it never moved me to tears. This time I was completely blown away by Willemijn’s talent. Her voice is phenomenal and it seems like she doesn’t act the part, but IS the character. You can’t do anything but follow her on her journey through life, her emotions, her disappointments, her hope and her victory. No resistance, you get sucked in. And because of that you (well.. I) feel her emotions far more than I did with any other Elphaba (and I thought Kerry Ellis was hard to beat!).

As I’d only seen the show from up-close, it was refreshing to see it from a distance. I didn’t want to sit in row 28 (a seat that was one of the options when I booked) but opted for the ring and it was a pleasant surprise. Good overall view and I saw things, especially in the lighting and the scenes with the complete cast on stage, that I missed when I was sitting closer to the stage. Another confirmation that it’s good to see a show more than once and from different angles.

Can’t wait to see it again!

Posted in Blog, Theatre by Antoinette at Saturday, March 31st, 2012
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