WICKED to Close Today in the Netherlands

The Dutch production of WICKED, currently playing the Circustheater in Schevening, will close today, January 11, 2013 after about 400 performances. The show currently stars Willemijn Verkaik as "Elphaba". Verkaik previously played the role in Germany to great acclaim.

Stage Entertainment's production WICKED opened in Scheveningen on November 6th 2011. It was originally announced to play a limited engagement of "365 days" in Scheveningen. Although critics raved about the production, it struggled to compete with the newly written Dutch musical SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE (Soldier of Orange), an open-end production that was hailed by critics as a revelation. It took Stage Entertainment various coupon and discount incentives to maintain healthy attendence levels.

The intricate set of this production of WICKED was built for the 2007 Stuttgart production and played Oberhausen before moving to Scheveningen. No announcement has been made where it will move to after January 11.

After WICKED vacates the Circustheater, the Dutch production of SISTER ACT will reside in Scheveningen, opening on March 2nd.

Photo credit: musicals.nl

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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