What can be experienced in the coming year in the field of theatre, dance, music and cabaret? We offer you a preview!
Theatre
John Leddy plays the deceased in 1987 actor Ko van Dijk in ‘Ko!’ (from October 1). And there is more creeping in on the stage. Meral Polat and Victor Löw are Anne Frank and Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels in Anne and Goebbels (from February 21).
Pierre Bokma, Han Römer and Helmert Woudenberg, among others, alternate as Hitler in the tragicomic ‘I loved Hitler’ (from 2 Apr).
Also popular: stage adaptations of well-known books. Bos Theater productions throws ‘The Twins’ (from February 26) in battle, after the book by Tessa de Loo. Colline Theater Productions comes with ‘Do I have Alzheimer’s?’ (from 4 March), based on the book ‘Ik have Alzheimer’ by Stella Braam. And the National Theater adapted the novel ‘Tirza’ by Arnon Grunberg for the stage (from 5 March).
Original foreign stage classics are also doing well. How about ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Beckett (East Pole Theater Group from 6 October), Chekhov’s Cherry Garden (National Theater from November 14), “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky (RO Theater from October 17) or ‘Deception’ by Pinterest (Rick Engelkes Productions from November 27)? The fat smile at the end comes from ‘Bed secrets’ (from October 3) with Mary-Lou van Stenis. And from the king of farce Jon van Eerd, who ‘Orange Up’ (from 6 November) assisted by Nelly Frijda.
Music
The musical ode is in. Jazz singer Mirjam van Dam pays tribute to the First Lady of Jazz Ella Fitzgerald in ‘Ella’ (as of Nov 5). Niki Romijn throws herself into the music of pop diva Kate Bush in ‘Kate’ (from 6 Nov). And Audrey Bolder ‘does’ Dusty Springfield in ‘Dusty’ (from February 18).
In addition, a number of singers come up with personal song programs. Angela Groothuizen for example, her identity crisis sings in ‘Label’ (as of January 13). And Willeke Alberti invites you to her club Chez Alberti (from February 1) for a musical journey through her life. A special place has been set aside for her father Willy Alberti, who passed away 25 years ago in 2010.
Ruth Jacott recently launched her CD ‘Passion’, which contains Latin American songs with Dutch lyrics. The theater tour of the same name will start on 21 October. Petra Berger, Jan Vayne and Martin Mans combine classical and modern music in a new series, just like last year ‘Cathedral concerts’ (as of Nov. 7). And bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof enters ‘compassion’ (from 22 October) interpret poems by Jorge Luis Borges with his own tango orchestra.
Musical
The retro trend in the theater reaches a peak with the musicals. Most musicals fall back on successful foreign musicals and films, popular music from the past or by celebrities who have since passed away. The musical of all musicals ‘West Side Story’ can be seen in the original English version (from September 22). The Broadway Production ‘Chicago’ dates from 1975; the Dutch version can be seen from 6 November.
The Abba musical ‘Mamma Mia!’ (from August 29) was previously only performed in Utrecht, but is back with a new cast and a tour.
‘All Shook Up/Love Me Tender’ (as of November 5) is not about the life of Elvis Presley, but there are 25 Elvis hits.
And in ‘Dreams are lies’ (from 2 October) hits from fifty years of Dutch pop history are central. After the TV series and the feature film, the musical was inevitable: ‘Yes sister, no sister’ (as of October 20). Smaller-scale musicals pay tribute to famous artists. Carolina Dijkhuizen is going to do the jungle dance in a banana skirt ‘Josephine Baker’ (from 13 February). Karel de Rooij and Peter de Jong (Mini & Maxi) started their career with Tom Manders and honor him 38 years after his death with ‘Dorus the musical’ (from 9 January).
Classic
The Nationale Reisopera has fallen from its faith for once: the ambitious project ‘The Ring of the Nibelungen‘ will not travel, but can only be seen in the National Music Quarter in Enschede. The intention is that one episode of this impressive epic by Richard Wagner will be on the program for the next four years. The first part ‘Das Rheingoldstarts on Sept 26. The Nationale Reisopera is going on tour with ‘The Unknown Haydn‘ (from November 7), on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn’s death.
The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off the season in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with ‘Smetana-Ma Vlast‘ (September 21 and 22).
As the resident orchestra of De Nederlandse Opera in the Muziektheater in Amsterdam, the acte makes the presence in Halévy’s masterpiece ‘La Juive’ (from 4 September), which deals with the current theme of religious intolerance. The Dutch Opera offers a total of fifteen productions this season, including Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’ (starting September 29), which is also at Opera South is on the program (from 26 September).
Dance
The Nederlands Dans Theater celebrates its fiftieth anniversary from 29 to 31 October in its own Lucent Danstheater in The Hague with ‘50 Years of Challenging Dance‘. Subsequently, the two ensembles of the NDT (NDT I and NDT II, respectively for dancers from 23 years and up to 23 years) go on tour with ‘Challenging Dance‘. The Nederlands Dans Theater is internationally regarded as one of the most prominent companies in the field of modern dance, thanks to the innovative work of the resident choreographers Jirí Kylián and Lightfoot León.
Performances can be seen abroad just as often as in the Netherlands. In 2010 tours of ‘beyond time‘ (NDT I, from
4 February) and ‘True to II’ (NDT II, from 25 February) planned.
Scapino Ballet Rotterdam gives in ‘Holland’ the history of the Low Countries in abstract dance (from 2 October). From December 1, the ballet classic returns ‘The Nutcracker’ back to Scapino. The ballet company of the State Opera of Tatarstan is now a regular guest in Dutch theaters around the turn of the year. It features grand sets and massive ballets. Between December 15 and January 31 ‘La Bayadère’, ‘The Nutcracker’ and ‘Swan Lake’ on the program.
Cabaret
Many cabaret performances are slowly taking shape in the theater with try-outs. In this way, comedians can gauge the reaction of the audience and try out something while improvising. This is how Sanne Wallis de Vries takes plenty of time for her new program ‘Kaka Passa’. She will be doing a test run from September 10, which culminates in a premiere on November 19. According to Vincent Bijlo we still have enough time to enjoy the dark when we are dead, so he pays tribute to life in ‘lit up’ (as of October 17).
Lenette van Dongen plays her program from last season
‘Nikè’ just a little longer (from September 15).
Maarten van Roozendaal won the most important cabaret prize last year, the Poelifinario. He plays from October to December in ‘And call it friends‘ with a band in the bigger venues. And from February it’s back to basics in’without friends‘, that he plays solo in the small halls.
The men of NUHR and Bert Visscher temporarily join the Zuidelijk Toneel for Around the World in 80 Days (from October 7th). It’s not a classic cabaret, it’s not a stage, but it’s for laughs.
Exhibition
From 9 October, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will be dominated by ‘Van Gogh’s letters’. It is a special exhibition because about 120 letters (mostly addressed to his brother Theo) are exhibited simultaneously with 340 works of art that Van Gogh wrote about. The original letters are also rarely seen because of their sensitivity to light.
‘Art Deco and Art Nouveau from Belgium’ is the title of a major exhibition in the Drents Museum in Assen (from 6 October). In ‘Beyond the Dutch’ leaves the Centraal Museum see in Utrecht what influence the Dutch colonization of Indonesia has had on the visual arts of both countries (from 17 October).
The Kunsthal in Rotterdam focuses on American modern painting in ‘Modern Life’ (from September 26) and De Lakenhal in Leiden sought collaboration with Tate Modern in London for an exhibition on Theo van Doesburg – the founder of the art magazine De Stijl (from 20 October).