Willemijn Verkaik (; born 16 June 1975) is a Dutch singer and actress. She is best known for her stage roles in ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...

'' and '' Elisabeth'', and for providing the singing voice for Elsa in both the German and Dutch versions of Disney's '' Frozen''. She was the longest running

Elphaba Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in '' Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West'' by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, ''Wicked''. In the original 1900 L. Frank Baum book ''The Wonde ...

in the musical ''

'', having played the role over 2,000 times, and is the only person to have played the role in three languages. Her first performance as Elphaba was on 31 October 2007, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany, and her final performance was on 22 July 2017 in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

Early life

Verkaik was born in

Son en Breugel Son en Breugel () is a municipality in the southern Netherlands just outside Eindhoven. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . Son en Breugel used to be two different villages: 'Son' and 'Breugel', with ...

, Netherlands, on 16 June 1975, and grew up in

Nuenen Nuenen () is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten in the Netherlands. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen. In 1944, the town was a battle scene during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect is ...

near

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Rotterdam Conservatory Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its origin ...

."Willemijn Verkaik and Mark Seibert"
Zibb

Career

Before her acting career began, Verkaik sang in various pop bands for over ten years."Willemijn Verkaik maakt debuut in New York"
''Musical Reports'', 2 August 2011 Her first professional theatre role was that of an ensemble member in the Dutch production of '' Elisabeth''."Diva Talk: A Chat with Dutch Actress Willemijn Verkaik, Star of Broadway's ''Wicked''"
''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

'' In 2004, Verkaik recorded the singing voice of Erica in the Dutch version of the animated movie ''

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper ''Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper'' is a 2004 computer-animated musical fantasy film. It was released to video on September 28, 2004, and made its television premiere on Nickelodeon on November 14, 2004. This film is the first musical in th ...

''. In 2008, she was the Dutch voice of Lydia in ''

Barbie & the Diamond Castle ''Barbie & the Diamond Castle'' is a 2008 direct-to-video computer-animated musical film directed by Gino Nichele and produced by Mattel Entertainment with Rainmaker Entertainment. It first premiered on Nickelodeon on September 7, 2008, and it was ...

''. Since then, her musical theatre credits have included ''Elisabeth'' (in Holland and Thun, Switzerland),"Willemijn: alweer Nederlandse Elisabeth"
Musical Site ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'', ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

'', and most notably, ''

'', in which she was chosen as the "Wicked Personality of the Year" in 2010, out of all the actresses who had played the role, in an online poll with over 16,000 voters. Verkaik is the only actress in the world to play Elphaba in three languages: she has performed in the German, Dutch, Broadway, and West End productions. Verkaik originated the role of

in the original German-language production of ''

'', which was entitled "Wicked: Die Hexen Von Oz", and began performances in

on 1 November 2007, prior to an official opening night on November 15. Sabrina Weckerlin was her original alternate, appearing in the two shows a week in which Verkaik was not contracted to perform. Willemijn-verkaik-1416487259

Verkaik soon repeated her performance in the Dutch-language production, which premiered in

Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...

on 6 November 2011, after previews from 26 October. This required her to learn the role in her native language. The run ended on 11 January 2013 and Verkaik then transferred to North America, making her Broadway debut in the English-speaking New York company of ''Wicked'' and marking her third language production. Verkaik played a limited 15-week engagement at the

Gershwin Theatre The Gershwin Theatre (originally the Uris Theatre) is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street, on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New ...

from 12 February 2013 to 26 May 2013. Verkaik subsequently played the role of Donna in the Stuttgart production of '' Mamma Mia!'' for a limited run starting 26 July 2013, before playing the role of Elphaba again. Beginning on 18 November 2013, she made her West End debut in ''Wicked'' at the

Apollo Victoria Theatre The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre on Wilton Road in the Westminster district of London, across from London Victoria Station. (The theatre also has an entrance on Vauxhall Bridge Road.) Opened in 1930 as a cinema and variety th ...

, London. Due to health reasons, Verkaik had to depart early from the West End production of ''Wicked'' on 19 July 2014, and was replaced by original cast member

Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at L ...

. She can be heard on ''Wickeds German-language

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

, as well as Scott Alan's album ''What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up'' and on the Scott Alan album ''LIVE'', which was recorded at the Birdland jazz club in New York City on 30 April 2012. The CD was released on 26 June 2012. Verkaik also provided the Dutch speaking and singing voice and the German singing voice of Elsa, the Snow Queen in Disney's 2013 animated movie '' Frozen'' (the German speaking voice was provided by Dina Kürten). She also performed the song "

Let It Go "Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...

" in English at the UK premiere of the movie. It was announced on 24 October 2014 that Verkaik would be joining the cast of the musical, ''

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' ( es, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. The film brought Almodóvar to ...

'', alongside Tasmin Greig, Ricardo Afonso, Hadyn Gwynne, Jérôme Pradon and Anna Skellern, in the role of Paulina. The show's previews started on 16 December 2014 at the West End's

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

with an opening night on 12 January 2015. The show ran until 23 May 2015. This was Verkaik's first role after her surgery in 2014. It was announced on 14 July 2015 that Verkaik would be returning to Stuttgart as Kala in ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'' in August 2015, at the Stage Apollo Theater. On 14 September 2016, it was revealed that Verkaik would return to her starring role of Elphaba in the West End production of ''Wicked'' beginning 30 January 2017 as part of the production's 10th anniversary celebrations. She played her final performance on 22 July 2017 and was succeeded by Alice Fearn. Verkaik confirmed in her speech at the end of her final performance that, after 10 years, it was her last ever performance as Elphaba. On 10 September 2017 it was announced that Verkaik would star in '' Ghost – Das Musical'' in Berlin from 7 December 2017 to 7 October 2018, in the role of Molly. She next appeared as Sloane in the

Metronom Theater Metronom Theater is a theatre in Oberhausen, Germany. Productions * 1999 – Juni 2001: ''Tabaluga & Lilli'' * November 2001 – December 2001: ''Vom Geist der Weihnacht'' * April 2002 – June 2002, September 2002 – December 2002: ''Falco m ...

production of ''

Bat Out of Hell ''Bat Out of Hell'' is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It is one of the best-selling albums in history. The album was developed from a musical, ''Neverland'', a futuristic rock version of ''P ...

'' from 8 November 2018 to 30 March 2019, with previews starting from 2 November. She then played Pepa in the Amsterdam production of ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' from 4 July 2019 to 14 July 2019. She toured the Netherlands playing Miss Hannigan in ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'' from 26 November 2019 to 24 May 2020, with previews starting 5 November in Hoorn. On 14 November 2019, it was announced that she will play the lead role of Jenna in ''

Waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

'' in the Netherlands in 2020–2021. On 9 February 2020, Verkaik was called in to join American actress and singer

Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in musicals on the Broadway stage and having achieved mainstream success across stage, film and music, Menzel has garnered the honorif ...

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

and eight more of Elsa's international dubbers to perform the song " Into the Unknown" during the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...

. Every international performer sang one line of the song in a different language: Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg in

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, Verkaik in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Takako Matsu (born June 10, 1977) also known as is a Japanese actress and pop singer. Personal life Matsu was born to a family of buyō and kabuki actors, including her father Matsumoto Hakuō II, her mother and businesswoman Noriko Fujima, her uncle, ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, Carmen Sarahí in

Latin American Spanish The different varieties of the Spanish language spoken in the Americas are distinct from each other as well as from those varieties spoken in the Iberian peninsula, collectively known as Peninsular Spanish and Spanish spoken elsewhere, such as in ...

Lisa Stokke Lisa Stokke (born 25 March 1975) is a Norwegian singer and actress, active in Norway and Great Britain. She appeared in the original West End-staging of the musical '' Mamma Mia!'', and later appeared in ''Guys and Dolls'' and in the UK televis ...

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

, Kasia Łaska in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Anna Buturlina Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, Gisela in

European Spanish Peninsular Spanish ( es, español peninsular) (also known as the Spanish of Spain ( es, español de España, links=no), European Spanish ( es, español europeo, links=no), Iberian Spanish ( es, español ibérico, links=no) or Spanish Spanish ( es ...

and Gam Wichayanee in

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

Personal life

Verkaik is multilingual, speaking Dutch, German and English. She is married to musician Bart van Hoof, a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

player.

Theatre

Performances

* Pfingstgala (Tecklenburg, Openluchttheater, Whit Monday 2006, 2008, 2014 and 2020) * Concert with Mark Seibert (Stuttgart, Palladium Theater, 26 May 2008) * Dance Benefit Gala (Hamburg, TUI-Operettenhaus, 29 September 2008) * Benefit concert with Roberta Valentini (Oberhausen, Metronomtheatre 30 August 2010) * Simply the Music of Scott Alan (Londen, New Players Theatre, 26 September 2010) * Backstage with Philippe Ducloux (Essen, hall Lukas, 22 and 23 January 2011) * Concert with Scott Alan (Hamburger Kammerspiele, 20 June 2011) * Performance with Jason Robert Brown & Scott Alan (New York, Birdland, 22 August 2011) * Concert with Alex Melcher (Oberhausen, hall Ebertbad, 31 March 2012) * Concert with Scott Alan and Friends (New York, Birdland, 30 April 2012) * As I Am (Scheveningen, Circustheater, 26 June 2012) * Concert with Patrick Stanke (Hamburg, Stage Club, 10 August 2012) * Concert with Scott Alan (Amsterdam, M-Lab, 5 November 2012) * Exclusevening with Willemijn (Utrecht, Boerderij Mereveld, 20 November 2012) * Concert series ''Musical & Xmas'' (Thun, Bern, Switzerland, 12–16 December 2012) * Concert with Scott Alan (Londen, O2 Arena, 4 August 2013) * Wow, Here Comes The Girls (Dunstable, The Grove Theatre, 27 April 2014) * Musicals in Concert (Amsterdam, Ziggo Dome, 15 en 16 November 2014) * Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert – Maria (Amsterdam, DeLaMar Theater, 16 March 2015) * Soloconcert (Amsterdam, DeLaMar Theater, 31 mei 2015 en 31 October 2015) * Soloconcert (London, Ambassadors Theatre, 25 August 2015) * Soloconcert (New York, 54 Below, 27 & 28 August 2015) * Musicals in Concert (Amsterdam, Ziggo Dome, 13 & 14 November 2015) * From Broadway to Breda (Breda, Chassé Theatre, 15 November 2015) * Exclusevening with Willemijn (De Weistaar, Maarsbergen, 6 June 2016) * Live in Concert (Cambridge Theatre, London, 31 July 2017) * Bevrijdingsfestival (Amsterdam, Amstel, 5 May 2018) * SpaceXperience (Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, 3 November 2018) *92nd Academy Award Ceremony (Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, U.S., February 9, 2020)

Discography

Cast recordings

*Jeans 11 (Jeanscompany, 2001) * Eternity (Orkest Kon. Luchtmacht, 2003) *Drie Musketiers (''Three Musketeers'') (Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties, 2003) – a DVD was also released *Wicked, German cast recording (Stage Entertainment Germany, 2007) *Frozen, Dutch cast recording (Walt Disney Records, 2014) * Olaf's Frozen Adventure (Walt Disney Records, 2017)

Other recordings

* Musical Gala Ludwigsburg (2008) *Best of Musical Gala 2010, Promo CD from Stage Entertainment Germany (2009) *Musicalballads Unplugged – with Mark Seibert (2010) * Superstars des Musicals – collection of 3 CDs (2010) * Scott Alan: What I Wanna Be when I Grow up (2012) *Scott Alan: Live – double CD recorded in Birdland (2012)

Filmography

Awards

*In 2008 and 2010 Verkaik was elected best actress by readers of the German music magazine ''Da Capo'' for her portrayal of Elphaba in the German production of ''Wicked''. *In 2009 she was elected best actress by readers of the German music magazine ''Da Capo'' for her portrayal of Amneris in the German production of ''Aïda''. *In 2009 and 2010 she won the audience prize from the German magazine ''Musicals'' for best musical actress. *In 2010 Verkaik won the voting organised by the site ''BroadwayisWicked.com'' where people could vote for the best Elphaba that played in a production of ''Wicked'' worldwide. She received 49.9% of a total of 16,705 cast votes. *On 9 January 2012 it was announced that Verkaik again, in a voting organised by ''BroadwayisWicked.com'', was titled ''Wicked Personality of the Year 2011''.Willemijn Verkaik is Wicked personality of the year 2011
/ref> She received 55% of a total of 590,000 cast votes. *In May 2012 Verkaik won the ''Musicalworld Award'' for "best female lead in a big musical" for the portrayal of Elphaba in the Dutch production of ''Wicked''.

References

External links

* * * * , " Defying Gravity",

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

market, outside the

2014 Laurence Olivier Awards The 2014 Laurence Olivier Awards was held on Sunday 13 April 2014 at the Royal Opera House, London. The awards were presented by Gemma Arterton and Stephen Mangan. The highlights programme was presented on ITV after the ceremony. Winners and nomi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verkaik, Willemijn 1975 births Living people Dutch stage actresses Dutch musical theatre actresses People from Son en Breugel People from Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten German-language singers Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting Nationaal Songfestival contestants 20th-century Dutch actresses 20th-century Dutch women singers 21st-century Dutch actresses 21st-century Dutch women singers 21st-century Dutch singers