Dutch LOVE STORY Cancelled

Only 5 weeks after it was announced, the Dutch version of LOVE STORY has already been cancelled. The auditions, which were in full swing, have been halted. LOVE STORY was slated to play the Beatrix Theatre in Utrecht. Instead of LOVE STORY, the current occupant of the theatre, Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID has been extended.

Dutch musical theatre actor Freek Bartels (LES MISERABLES, NEXT TO NORMAL, JOSEPH) had already been announced to play the male lead, "Oliver Barrett IV" who looks back at his life after his wife passes away from leukaemia.

The musical, based on the book and movie by the same name, was conceived at the Chichester Festival in 2010, and transferred for a limited 10-week West End run to mixed reviews. The show featured an onstage pianist and a septet of strings. A US version recently played the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.

This is the second show featuring Bartels to be cancelled. He was to play "Carl" in GHOST until the production was unexpectedly cancelled altogether. LOVE STORY has now suffered the same fate as GHOST.  

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.

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